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Extra £16m funding for SEND school places across Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Council has welcomed the recent announcement that it is to benefit from an extra £16m funding to ensure educational places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and alternative provision.

The funding, announced by the Department for Education, will be allocated over two years and will be used to secure additional pupil places for those with special educational needs. 

This additional funding will directly support the council’s target to create 490 additional SEND school and alternative provision places by 2026, to address the growing demand for more specialist school places across the county.

The government provides Nottinghamshire County Council with High Needs Provision Capital allocations (HNPCA), specifically to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This extra £16m will enable the council to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s target is to create 490 new places in specialist provision by September 2026, as part of its SEND strategic place planning strategy. The priorities set out in the strategy will be used by the council and education partners to determine how the new funding will be spent to meet local needs.

From 2021 to 2023, the county council delivered an additional 97 specialist educational places, with an investment of more than £5m. The council has also contributed to the rebuild of Yeoman Park Academy in Mansfield to secure an additional 28 places by early 2025 and has approved a new special school, also in the Mansfield area, which will provide up to 160 additional places. 

After briefing all of Nottinghamshire’s MPs on the county’s SEND school place and funding position and asking them to join him in lobbying Ministers, Councillor Sam Smith, Cabinet Member for Education and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), welcomed this extra £16m and said:

“I am delighted with this news. Every child deserves access to quality education and support services, and we are committed to making sure that every child in Nottinghamshire can reach their full potential. It is vital that children with additional needs get the support they need, including more specialist places near to where they live. This government investment will directly support the council in delivering more special school places and an education that meets the needs of all children with SEND.”