The Governing Board of Mill Water School and Devon County Council are formally consulting on a proposal to increase the number of places from 100 to 112 in the age range 3-16 at Mill Water School from September 2023.
There is a pressure on special school places across the County resulting in the need to commission the independent sector which is costly and subject to the risk of market failure.
The SEN Strategic Review, endorsed by Devon County Council’s Cabinet in March 2018, identified a strategic need for increased specialist places to meet the increasing demand. Between 2015 to 2021, Devon saw a 49% increase in the number of children issued with an Education and Health Care Plan.
The increase in the number of registered places will bring additional capacity into Devon’s Local Offer and increase the opportunity for pupils to access appropriate local provision. It will offer a maintained, cost effective, viable alternative for students currently having to attend independent special schools as there is no maintained equivalent.
The proposal to increase the number of registered places from 100 to 112 does not require any capital works and no planning consent is required.
An informal consultation took place between 22 February and 31 March 2023. A consultation meeting with parents was held during this period on 8 March 2023.
The consultation document is available via: Mill Water School: Proposal to close Post–16 Provision and increase numbers in the lower age range – Have Your Say (devon.gov.uk)
There were 16 objections received to Proposal 1: to close the post-16 provision. Many parents raised their objection and concerns at the consultation meeting to the proposal to close the post-16 provision. This proposal has now been withdrawn.
In respect of Proposal 2: to increase the number of registered places, 1 response was received.
You can object to or comment on the proposal: to increase the number of registered places, to Devon County Council, as the decision-maker, by:
Completing the survey on line via: forms.office.com/e/RJ723b7RVv
Emailing: schoolconsultations@devon.gov.uk
Writing to: Strategic Planning – Children’s Services, Room 120, Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD
by the closing date of 3 July 2023.
The Full Proposal is published under ‘Consultation method’ below, as well as the Brief Notice which has been published in the Western Morning News 5 June 2023.