The decision was taken in order to ensure high quality sustainable educational accommodation for children and young people with social emotional and mental health special needs in Herefordshire. Matters taken into account when taking the decision, were as follows –
•Condition of the current buildings at the Brookfield School is adequate, apart from the building inhabited by the Arrow cohort of Brookfield students which is offsite, temporary and of poor quality.
•Compliance of the current buildings and of the site is poor for all age phases
•Future maintenance liability is highly likely for the off-site building
•Consultation with head teachers and governors showed recognition of the need for improvements at the Brookfield School.
•Consultation with parents and carers of children and young people with SEND showed recognition of the need for improvements at the Brookfield School
•Capital funds previously allocated and spent on improvement at the Brookfield School are not equitable with those spent at other SEND settings in the county.
•There is potential for the government funding to be matched with other identified funding in the Herefordshire council capital programme to enable a high quality project that will resolve compliance and quality issues in a strategic and sustainable way.
The decision taken impacts positively on the achievement of the principles set out in the published Herefordshire Schools Capital Investment Strategy pages 10 and 11.