HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
CABINET
MONDAY, 20 February 2012 AT 2.00PM
PROPOSAL TO CHANGE THE BOARDING PROVISION AT HEATH HOUSE, HEATHLANDS SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS (SEN) SCHOOL, ST ALBANS
Report of the Director Education & Early Intervention
Report Author: Andy Cunningham, Head of New Academies & School Providers (01992 555740)
Victor Wan, Planning Officer (01992 555860)
Executive Member:Frances Button, Education & Skills
Local Member:Allan Siao Ming Witherick (St Albans North)
- Purpose of Report
1.1To inform Cabinet of the outcome of the public consultation on the proposal to change the boarding provision from 40 pupils to up to 25 pupils at Heath House, Heathlands Special Educational Needs (SEN) School in St Albans from 31 May 2012.
1.2To enable Cabinet to decide whether to:
(i) accept the proposals and authorise the Director Education & Early Intervention to publish a statutory notice;
(ii)take no further action; or
(iii)initiate fresh consultation on any alternative suggestion(s).
- Summary
2.1Heath House provides weekly boarding provision for both primary pupils and secondary aged students and is attached to the primary department at HeathlandsSchool in St Albans.
2.2Historically Heath House has had the capacity to accommodate up to 40 boarding pupils, based on the physical capacity of the site. However, the number of children requiring a boarding place in the last five years has decreased and the school forecasts this will decrease further.
2.3A public consultation was held from 21 November 2011 to 16 January 2012 to change the boarding provision at Heath House, HeathlandsSENSchool. This consultation was for an 8 week period. There is no statutory provision which confirms the amount of time that a consultation is to run. The Department for Education (DfE) guidance on Making Changes to a Maintained Mainstream School (Other than Expansion, Foundation, Discontinuance & Establishment Proposals) states that although “regulations do not specify the consultation’s duration, the Department strongly advises that the proposers should allow at least 6 weeks for this.” Officers are of the view that this consultation was robust in that it was been undertaken whilst the proposal was still in a formative stage; adequate information was provided to consultees; and the consultation was open for more than 6 weeks. A total of 11 responses were received. 4 respondents agreed to the proposal; 6 disagreed and 1 did not know.
3. Recommendation
3.1The Education and Skills Cabinet Panel will consider a report on this item of business at its meeting on 7 February 2012. The recommendation being made to the Panel is that its recommends to Cabinet
“That:
(a) the Director Education & Early Intervention be authorised to publish a statutory notice, to change the boarding provision at Heath House, Heathlands SEN School, St Albans from 40 to 25 places;
(b)if there are no objections, the Director Education & Early Intervention be authorised to determine the proposal.”
3.2The Panel’s recommendations to Cabinet will be reported orally at the meeting and circulated to Members in the Order Sheet.
- Background
Context
4.1Heath House provides weekly boarding provision for both primary pupils and secondary aged students and is attached to the primary department at HeathlandsSchool, St Albans.
4.2 Heath House provides care for pupils who may require residential provision in addition to their Special Educational Needs. The intake is from a wide catchment area. All pupils have a statement of special educational needs with a requirement for sign language to access the curriculum.
4.3 Historically Heath House had the capacity to accommodate up to 40 boarding pupils, based on the physical capacity of the site. However, the number of children requiring a boarding place in the last five years has decreased and the school forecasts this will decrease further.
4.4The proposal to reduce the number of boarding places is projected for the following reasons:-
- Historically, Heath House has been able to take up to 40 boarding pupils; the level of demand for the boarding places in the last five has never exceeded 25 places at the school.
- There has been an arrangement in place for Heathlands students to be taught off site in accommodation located at Townsend School. This arrangement is set to end and the additional space arising from any reduction in boarding provision will be required to accommodate the day time provision for secondary students who will be coming back to the HeathlandsSchool site.
- The school forecast that the demand for boarding provision is not expected to exceed 25 places.
- Retaining any excess places at the school where the demand is not needed is not considered an effective use of financial resources.
4.5HeathlandsSchool has carefully considered the demand for boarding provision at the school and officers of Hertfordshire County Council are of the same opinion that a reduction from 40 to up to 25 boarding places is appropriate for the above reasons.
4.6Should the proposal to reduce the number of boarding places be agreed, the school would re-model existing accommodation to provide 20 beds, with an additional 5 reserved beds that could be made available immediately when required.
5Process and Timescale
5.1An eight week public consultation was carried out on the proposal from 21 November 2011 to 16 January 2012.
5.2 A consultation letter was sent to all parents/carers, governors and staff of HeathlandsSchool, as well as to other schools in the area, neighbouring local authorities and to all other statutory consultees. All local authorities that used the boarding provisions at Heath House were also sent a consultation letter. The letter was available on the County Council’s website. A copy of the consultation letter is attached as Appendix 1 to this report.
5.3Cabinet is asked to decide whether to authorise publication of a statutory notice. If agreed, the statutory notice would run for six weeks from 22 February 2012 to 4 April 2012 during which time comments/objections may be made. If objections are received during this period a report will be presented to Cabinet on 14 May 2012 for Members’ consideration.
6Results of the Public Consultation
6.1There were a total of 11 responses to the public consultation.
Agree / Disagree / Don’t knowParent/Carer / 2 / 4
Voluntary Organisation / 1
Other: grandparent / 1
Pupil / 1
Other: Diocese of St Albans / 1
Local Authority / 1
6.2Those who wrote in favour of the proposal recognised the declining numbers of boarders at the school and that reducing the number of boarding places was an appropriate and good use of resources.
6.3Those that did not agree with the proposal raised the following key issues. An officer’s response, shown in italics, is also included below:-
6.3.1One respondent raised concern that the consultation period was only 8 weeks and not 12 weeks.
The DfE guidance does not prescribe a specific duration for a public consultation, although the DfE do strongly advise that at least 6 weeks be given. Officers and the school believe an 8 week consultation (inclusive of Christmas) is a reasonable period for representations to be made on a proposal such as this.
6.3.2One respondent asked, how will the alterations be funded?
The proposal will be largely met from HeathlandsSchool’s own capital and Dedicated School Grant (DSG).
6.3.3In addition to the above key issues on the proposal to change the boarding numbers, respondents raised wider issues about the need for having a better communication strategy from the school and the wider context relating to education provision at HeathlandsSchool. These respondents felt communication from the school was unclear; including a lack of articulation about the position of the school in relation to integration and the future strategy for HeathlandsSchool in general. One respondent questioned the synergy with the wider consultation on the plans for provision for deaf children and young people.
These issues are not specifically related to the reduction in boarding places but have been passed to the school so that the school management and governing body are aware and can respond as appropriate.
7.Financial Implications
7.1 Capital:
The cost of the proposed adaptations will be met largely from Heathlands School’s own capital and DSG earmarked for integration. An allocation of up to £100k may be required from the DfE capital grant funding.
7.2 Revenue:
There is no implication for the County Council revenue budget. Next year there may be a saving to the DSG of approximately £250,000 when integration funding will cease.
8.Equalities Implications
8.1The Equality Act 2010 requires the Council when exercising its functions to have due regard to the need to (a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited under the Act; (b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it and (c) foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. The protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 are: race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious belief and pregnancy & maternity.
8.2 Members must be fully aware of, and have actively considered, the Council’s statutory obligations in relation to equalities. This will include paying close attention to any equalities impact assessment produced by officers.
8.3As explained above the position at Heathlands School has been that since Autumn 2007 there have never been more than 25 boarders at any one time nor does the School expect this number to increase. In light of the fact that the Council is merely seeking to take forward the process it is obliged to follow in order to ensure it complies with its statutory duty and to regulate the current levels of provision being utilised, officersdo not feel that there are any Equality Implications in this matter.
Background Information
Report to the Education and Skills Cabinet Panel, February 2012
Dear Consultee
Consultation on the proposal to change the boarding provision at Heath House, Heathlands Specialist Special Educational Needs (SEN) School, St. Albans, from April 2012
I am writing to let you know of a proposal to change the boarding provision at Heath House, the residential department of Heathlands Specialist Special Educational Needs (SEN) School, Heathlands Drive, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 5AY.
Why is this proposed?
Heath House provides weekly boarding provision for both primary pupils and secondary aged students and is attached to the primary department at Heathlands School.
At Heath House a four-night weekly boarding cycle operates. Pupils arrive on Monday mornings and return home on Friday afternoons. A minority of pupils board on a part time basis. Heath House provides care for pupils who may require residential provision in addition to their Special Educational Needs. The intake is from a wide catchment area, totalling approximately twenty local authorities as well as Hertfordshire. All pupils have a statement of special educational needs with a requirement for sign language to access the curriculum.
Heathlands Primary Department provides a balanced curriculum for pupils from 2 to 11 years old.
Heathlands at Townsend is a department with over 40 students aged 11 to 18 based at Townsend School, a local secondary school in St Albans. Students are on the roll of Heathlands and the department is managed by the head teacher and the Leadership Team of Heathlands.
Heathlands at St Luke’s is a department with over 20 students aged 11 to 16 based at St Luke’s School, a local secondary school for pupils with learning difficulties in Redbourn. Students are on the roll of Heathlands and the department is managed by the head teacher of Heathlands.
Heathlands School currently has a total of 96 students on roll at the date of the January 2011 school census. Historically Heath House has been able to offer boarding provision for up to 40 pupils, based on the physical capacity of the site. However, the number of children requiring a boarding place, in the last five years, has not been in excess of 25 pupils. The table below shows the total number of boarders (according to the school census) at the school over a five year period: -
Border, 6 nights or less a weekAutumn 2007 / 24
Spring 2008 / 24
Summer 2008 / 24
Autumn 2008 / 25
Spring 2009 / 25
Summer 2009 / 24
Autumn 2009 / 23
Spring 2010 / 24
Summer 2010 / 23
Autumn 2010 / 24
Spring 2011 / 24
Summer 2011 / 22
Autumn 2011 / 18
Heath House is proposing to change the boarding provision to provide for up to 25 pupils. Whilst the school currently has 20 beds in place for boarders, the school has reserved a space for up to 5 further boarders and this can be made available immediately when required. There are four reasons for the change:-
- Historically, Heath House has been able to take up to 40 pupils; the level of demand for the boarding places in the last five has never exceeded 25 places at the school.
- The secondary arrangements with Townsend School will be ending and the physical space made available by the changes in the boarding provision will be able to accommodate the secondary students at Heathlands School.
- Retaining any excess places at the school where the demand is not needed would not represent an effective use of financial resources.
- The forecast for the future demand of boarding provision is not expected to exceed 25 places.
How can you let us know your views?
The County Council would like to hear your views on these proposals.
You have eight weeks from the date of this letter to let us know your views. You can do this by one of the following methods:
- completing the online form on our website at:
- completing and returning the attached form (freepost)
Your comments must be received by Friday 13 January 2012. All responses may be available in public reports, although personal details will be removed to respect individuals’ privacy. While we will not be able to acknowledge or respond individually to your comments, they will be taken into account, as explained below.
How will the decision be taken?
This is a consultation and no decision has yet been made. All comments received will be made available to elected members who will make the final decision.
The following timetable outlines the decision-making process. Please note that meetings marked with * will be open to the public.
Process / DatePublic consultation / Friday 18 November 2011 – Friday 13 January 2012
Education Panel considers the response to the consultation* / 7 February 2012
Cabinet decides whether or not to proceed to statutory proposals* / 20 February 2012
Statutory notice published / w/c 20 February 2012
Decision if no objections to statutory notice (delegated to Director of Education and Early Intervention) / w/c 16 April 2012
Decision if objections to the statutory notice (Cabinet*) / 18 June 2012
Although it will not be possible to inform everyone individually of the decisions made, you will be able to access this information throughout the process at
Yours faithfully,
Justin Donovan
Director of Education and Early Intervention, Children Services
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