Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department consulted with relevant stakeholders on the closure of the hearing units at (a) St Margaret's Primary School and (b) Spires College in Torbay.

There are separate processes for removing special educational needs (SEN) units or resourced provision at academies and maintained schools, which we expect the relevant accountable bodies to follow.

In maintained schools, such as Spires College, where a local authority decides to remove a SEN unit or resourced provision at a foundation school, they must follow the statutory prescribed alterations process. The statutory guidance on this topic is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-organisation-maintained-schools.

In academies, SEN units and resourced provision are formally recognised in a funding agreement. Closing a SEN unit or resourced provision at an academy would be a significant change and would therefore require the funding agreement between my right hon. Friend, Secretary of State for Education and the academy trust to be amended. More information on significant changes is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-significant-changes-to-an-existing-academy.

In this instance, the responsible bodies are St Margeret’s Academy and Torbay local authority.

Local authorities are responsible for managing the sufficiency of school places in their area, including the provision for children with SEN. The department expects local authorities to work in collaboration with parents, schools, academy trusts and other local partners to balance the supply and demand of school places to ensure a sustainable and viable educational offer.

Where it has been identified that a unit for SEN is no longer needed at a school, the processes set out above and a consultation with local stakeholders are required for removing this provision.