400 new SEND school places to be created in Lancashire

Almost 400 new school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are set to be created in Lancashire.

They will be delivered in the form of two brand new special schools, the expansion of three others and a college, and the creation of five new SEND units within existing mainstream schools.

Lancashire County Council’s Reform UK cabinet has agreed to the principle of the schemes – some of which are designed to plug significant gaps in the tailored education that is on offer which will all be subject to formal consultations before they can be confirmed.

A report presented to members said that the projects would help ensure there are enough “high-quality schools and places for children and young people with SEND, close to where they live” – reducing the need for costly transport and long journey times. They will also increase the proportion of SEND youngsters educated in maintained or academy special schools, rather than independent settings.

The proposed mainstream SEND units continue a longstanding push by the county council to create such facilities since the turn of the decade. They are designed to ensure that pupils have access to dedicated areas to meet their needs, but are also “able to feel fully included in the wider school”, the report explained.

Cabinet member for data, technology, customer and efficiency, David Dwyer, said the plans showed “our administration’s commitment to increase the number of school places for those children and young children people…[who] require specialised provision”.

The provisionally agreed projects are:

***new social, emotional and mental health special school, East Lancashire – 70 places for ages 9-18, due to open September 2028.

There is currently no post-16 provision for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health issues in the east of the county. The county council currently owns a vacant school site in the Hyndburn district within what is described as “appropriate travelling distance” of Rossendale, which could be used for the new facility;

***new autism special school with access to mainstream curriculum to GCSE and A Level, East Lancashire – 70 places for aged 9-18, due to open September 2027.

There are currently no maintained facilities for young people who are autistic or have attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and who require a small specialist setting, but with access to “mainstream academic pathways with high academic challenge to GCSE and A level standard”.

The county council says young people in that situation often attend mainstream school, but with their school career characterised by “severe absence” – or they are removed by their parents to become electively home educated.

There are very few independent special schools in Lancashire who areable to meet the needs of this group – and those that can are a “considerable travelling distance” from the eastern districts.

A potential site for the new-build school is currently being explored.

***White Ash Special School, Hyndburn – 40 additional places, due for completion September 2027

To include additional early years spaces and places for autistic young people with “intensive sensory and learning support needs”;

***Kirkham Pear Tree Special School, Fylde – 30 additional places, due for completion September 2027;

***Mayfield Special School, Chorley – 30 additional places, due for completion September 2027;

To include additional early years spaces and places for autistic young people with “intensive sensory and learning support needs”;

***Five new secondary mainstream school SEND units for speech, language and communication needs (including autism) – 20 places to be created within schools yet to be identified in each of West Lancashire, Wyre, Lancaster, Chorley and Burnley. Due for completion September 2027;

***post-19 specialist college on the site of Sir Tom Finney Special School in Preston – approximately 40 places, due for completion September 2027;

Intended for young people who continue to require educational provision after the age of 19, delivering “bespoke pathways to support young people into adulthood”.

WHERE WILL THE CASH COME FROM?

The county council receives funding from the Department for Education to increase places for SEND young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – documents that set out the support they need and are entitled to in order to access education – through a capital funding cash pot.

Lancashire has approximately £57m in available funding. However, there are £12.6m worth of calls on that cash from projects due for completion in the coming months, including to provide 108 new places in mainstream SEND units and 169 further special school places.

Cabinet members were told in a report that the specific schemes they were being asked to consider for 2026/27 were expected to receive “additional” capital cash to ensure they could be delivered, but that projects thereafter would be “dependent on future allocations”.