The Director of Children’s Services introduced her report which advised that in January 2014 the Cabinet agreed to undertake a consultation on the closure of The Lyndale School.  Following the consultation, which closed in June 2014, the Cabinet agreed at its meeting on 4 September 2014 to publish formal statutory notices advising the public of the proposed closure of the school. 

In accordance with the statutory guidance, the statutory notice (Appendix 1) and statutory proposal (Appendix 2) were published on 22 October 2014.  The process allowed a four week period for representations to be made on the proposals, during which time any person could make comments or objections on the proposals.

The report and appendices set out all the relevant information that should be considered in making a decision on the proposal to close The Lyndale School.  Measures required to mitigate the effect of the proposal, if agreed, were also outlined. 

The Cabinet was informed that the Council was the decision maker in respect of the published proposal.  The proposal could be approved, rejected, approved with modification or approved subject to meeting specific condition(s). 

The closure of the Lyndale School was being considered because the viability of the school had been compromised by its small size and falling roll.  There were also two other primary schools in the Council’s administrative area providing good and outstanding provision for children with complex learning difficulties.

The report recommended that the Cabinet approve the proposal to close The Lyndale School with a modification to the closure date to 31 August 2016. 

Appended to the Director’s report for Cabinet Members’ information was:

·  The Statutory Notice (Appendix 1)

·  The Statutory Proposal (Appendix 2)

·  Statutory Guidance (Appendix 3)

·  A detailed list of the issues raised during the representation period (Appendix 4)

·  Redacted Representations (Appendix 5)

·  The Equalities Impact Assessment (Appendix 6)

The Director of Children’s Services recognised that it had been a difficult and challenging time for all concerned and she informed that she intended to work positively with everyone to accomplish the closure of The Lyndale School, if the Cabinet agreed that this was the way forward.

Following the Director’s presentation Cabinet Members asked a number of questions which were answered by her as appropriate.  Issues raised included the following:

·  Children’s Services will discuss with parents their preferences for other schools and, if The Lyndale School is to close, will also work with parents to complete each pupil’s Education Health and Care Plan.  Whatever was identified in individual Education Health and Care Plans would be replicated in either of the two other schools (Elleray Park and Stanley).  Therefore, if the Cabinet’s decision was to close The Lyndale School, there would not be a detrimental impact.

·  For the 2014-15 financial year The Lyndale School had set a balanced budget of £743,345 based on funding for 40 places, when it had 23 pupils on roll at the January 2014 Census. Any single place reduction would represent a loss of £10,000 to the base budget for the school.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118