Proposals to approve £6.1million funding to open a new special school on the site of a former council care home in Keynsham have been set out.

If approved, more detailed work would start to develop a school that would meet the needs of young people aged 11-17 with highly complex needs.

A single member decision report before Councillor Paul May, cabinet member for children’s services, seeks approval to repurpose Charlton House into a small residential and day school.

It also seeks approval to invest £6.1m High Needs Provision Capital Grant funding to remodel Charlton House to accommodate the young people.

Bath & North East Somerset Council wants to open the new provision to provide for one of the most vulnerable cohorts of young people whose needs cannot be met within any existing local provision.

Councillor Paul May said: “I welcome this report and will consider the recommendations before me carefully. The council’s purpose is to improve people’s lives and this proposal would see the life outcomes for young people, and their families, much improved with the opportunity of local education with a residential element for those in care.

“Opening our own provision and commissioning a Single/Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) to run also provides an opportunity to keep placement costs at a much lower rate than currently being charged by the independent sector and therefore would bring considerable savings, including a reduction in transport costs, to the council.”  

The SMD report says the proposed school would accommodate 12 residential places and an additional 18 day places, totalling 30 placements.  The provision would cater for young people aged 11 -17 with complex special educational needs in the area of autism with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

Currently the average cost of an out-of-county day placement at an Independent Special school stands at £96k.  The cost of residential SEND placements currently stands at £318k.

This project would result in estimated savings to the council of £2,171,075 (education and transport) and £2,043,859 (residential) per annum.

The transport saving applied to education savings is based on a journey of around 30 miles each way at an approximate cost of £15k for day placements and £3,000 for 38-week residential placements.

Charlton House is attached to Hawthorn Court in Keynsham. Hawthorn Court is an adult care home providing extra care housing for older people.  Charlton House is no longer used as a care home and is currently empty.