Special-school leaders have asked lawyers to explore launching a judicial review claim against a council’s controversial plan to redesignate the provision at some schools in its county.
In a letter sent to other school leaders in Kent this week, seen by Tes, headteachers of special schools say they have taken the decision “to instruct counsel to bring a claim in judicial review against the decision of Kent County Council to proceed with the redesignation of special schools”.
Kent County Council is pursuing plans to change the designation and admissions guidance for some of the special schools in the county.
The authority has said that this is being done to create “equity of access to special-school places for those children with severe and complex special educational needs”.
Planned changes for special schools
However, the group Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KSENT), which represents all 24 state-funded special schools in the county, has said it believes consultation on the proposed changes was not carried out appropriately.
In a letter sent to the Kent Association of Leaders in Education, it adds that it has instructed legal counsel to examine the review “as we feel the process has been lacking in detail, evidence and true collaboration”.
Kent County Council’s plans would change the designation of five maintained special schools and could also lead to a change for two special academies.
A recent council report on the proposed changes says the aim is that children and young people who have severe and complex educational needs “can access suitable special-school places in or near to their local community”.
The report adds that Kent County Council has historically planned some special-school places whose curriculum pathway “is aligned with children in a mainstream school”. These are children who, in other local authority areas, have their needs met in mainstream schools.
Tes has previously reported concerns that reforms of SEND provision in Kent were being primarily driven by a need to bring down spending because the council is signed up to a Safety Valve deal with the government to remove a high-needs deficit of more than £140 million.
SEND provision criticised in reports
The council’s plans follow two critical reports looking at SEND provision in the county by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
In a statement, the KSENT group said that “consultation was not conducted appropriately [and] is lacking in detail, evidence base and financial modelling”.
It added: “There has been little or no work done towards properly preparing both special schools and mainstream schools for the changes proposed The resulting provision will be discriminatory to certain groups of children and young people with SEND.”
KSENT added that the council’s special-school review has failed to evidence how children’s outcomes will be improved or how the system will be prepared for the proposed changes.
This would include “change to buildings and environments, staff training and planning for special schools and mainstreams to work together”.
Kent County Council’s children, young people and education cabinet committee voted at the end of last month to endorse the proposed decisions to change the designation of up to seven special schools.
However, the council’s cabinet member for education and skills, Rory Love, has committed to waiting for the outcome of a council scrutiny committee’s “focused inquiry into Kent’s SEND improvements” before making final decisions on changes to designations of individual special schools.
A Kent County Council spokesperson said: “Each of the schools highlighted for a change in their designations will have their own project planning and decision-making process.
“We are aware of representations made by a member of KSENT. We continue to work constructively with school leaders, including leaders of special schools, to deliver on our reforms, which will enable children and young people to have the right education in the right place, and reach their full potential.”
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