Councillors raise questions after RBWM withdraws from special school scheme

A cross-party group of Royal Borough councillors has raised questions around the lost funding and ‘restricted’ opportunities for scrutiny following a decision to withdraw from a Government programme to build a special school in Windsor.

In 2023, the Royal Borough was successful in its bid to take part in the Department for Education’s (DfE) programme for a wave of new special free schools across the country.

The special educational needs school for children aged seven to 16 was planned on a site in a new housing development to the west of Windsor, between the A308 and Dedworth Road.

The Chiltern Way Academy Trust (CWAT) was provisionally chosen to run the 100-place school in 2024.  It would have provided specialist provision for children with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).

On December 11 last year, council officers were told that almost all of the Government’s planned special schools across the country were either being cancelled or delayed until the mid-2030s.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (February 24) councillors heard Windsor’s special school would be  ‘significantly delayed’ and decided to withdraw from the programme instead.

After the meeting, Reform, Conservative and Independent Alliance councillors raised planning, financial and educational concerns around the decision.

A statement signed by Cllr Sally Coneron (Con, Ascot and Sunninghill), Cllr David Buckley (Reform, Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury), and Cllr Wisdom Da Costa (Ind, Clewer and Dedworth West) said the decision ‘looks like a blatant attempt to sidestep democratic scrutiny’.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after the meeting, Cllr Coneron said ‘there is a big why’ around the scrutiny.

She said: “Why do we only hear about this three days before it goes to cabinet with no opportunity for an exceptional meeting to discuss it or anything. I think there is just a big why question. I can’t see any particular reason why that would have happened and whether or not it is, it looks underhand.”

A report presented at the cabinet meeting said to comply with the council’s constitution, the leader and the chair of the Adults, Children and Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel agreed the notice period can be ‘waived’ on this ‘key decision’.

The DfE had to be informed about the council’s decision by Thursday (February 26), according to the cabinet report. 

By withdrawing from the programme, the report added RBWM will lose the ‘potential’ £10m-£12million investment from the DfE — which would have been used to build the school.

Instead, the DfE will give £5.4million of High Needs capital to RBWM on top of what it already receives, over the next three financial years, to invest into SEND.

The aim is to use this money to cover 100 specialist places, what the new school would have provided.

But the cross-party statement said residents are ‘entitled’ to question how the loss of the school would impact strained SEND services.

It said: “The loss of a school would represent a significant setback for families who rely on high-quality local provision and for schools already operating under pressure.”

In response to the cross-party concerns, speaking to the LDRS, Cllr Amy Tisi, cabinet member for education, children’s services and Windsor, said families in the borough need the support now.

She said: “We know that children and families in the Royal Borough need the right support now – not in ten years’ time, which is what would happen now that the Government is unable to confirm that we will have a special school in place before the mid-2030s.

“It makes more sense for us to use that money to build on the wide range of specialist and local provision already available to support young people in our borough to receive high-quality education.”