Vital schools funding plan gets go ahead

A plan for future school provision in Lancashire has been given the green light this week.

Lancashire County Council's Education Capital Strategy sets out how demand for school places will be identified, funded and met over the next five years.

It was considered by the county council's cabinet on Thursday 9 October.

The Education Capital Strategy explains how detailed data analysis will be carried out on demand levels across the Lancashire County Council area.

This will be based on factors including birth rates, school census, migration, housing development, school admissions data and capacity, as well as commissioned SEND places and home to school transport.

The Strategy outlines how the data will be used to create a 'heatmap' of demand for school provision, with potential solutions to meet this including investment, allocating existing resources and partnerships.

Concrete measures to address the issues identified could include:

Expanding existing schools or creating new schools for new mainstream school places for pupils aged five to 16

New or expanded specialist provision for children with SEND aged 0-25 years

Conditions funding, or maintenance money for eligible schools for building issues

Developer contributions, where there is a rise in demand due to housing development

Meanwhile, the strategy's suggested approaches include:

Requesting more contributions from housing developers

Making more government grant applications

Looking for more opportunities to boost existing investments

Increasing local SEND provision and reducing reliance on independent sector placements and home to school transport.

The county council has a duty to make sure there are enough suitable school places available for all children and young people within its boundaries under the Education Act 1996 and the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

It also has obligations under the Children and Families Act 2014 to meet the needs of the children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities within its remit.

Councillor Matthew Salter, cabinet member for Education and Skills, said: "We know that demand for school places, and particularly SEND provision, has increased in Lancashire.

"We also know that some school buildings have been showing their age and need bringing up to modern standards.

"It's absolutely essential that we look at these issues and that we have a robust and transparent framework to allow these vital improvements to happen.

"Our new Education Capital Strategy will create sustainable, equitable, and forward-thinking school provision by focusing on balancing demand, optimising resources and collaborating with partners.

"It will mean we will be able to ensure the high-quality learning environments that all children and young people in Lancashire deserve."