The Local Authority has been successful in securing capital grant funding under the national Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP) which will result in the rebuild of Foxfield School. Early dialogue with project managers within the Education Funding Agency, Children and Young People’s Department and the school explored a preferred location for the new building. Co-location of Special Schools with a main stream school is the preferred option and a suitable site on New Hey Road, Woodchurch has been identified and would allow co-location with Woodchurch High School. As the distance between the current location of Foxfield School and the proposed site is more than 2 miles in a straight line, national regulations mean that a “prescribed alteration” notice must be issued for which consultation must take place.

To meet schedules 2 and 4 of The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to maintained Schools (England) Regulations 2007) a consultation process prior to publishing “notice” of the change of site must take place as the main entrance of the new site is more than 2 miles of the main entrance of the existing site.