Proposal to expand special school capacity expected to be approved

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Proposals for a “much needed” increase in pupil capacity at a special school are expected to be rubber-stamped by senior councillors.

Pen-y-Cwm in Blaenau Gwent is a special school catering for children and young people aged three to 19 with a wide range of disabilities and difficulties, ranging from severe learning difficulties (SLD) to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as visually and hearing-impaired pupils.

Since moving into a new school building in 2012, the school roll has increased by 30 per cent.

At a special meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Labour Cabinet on Thursday, April 30, senior councillors will be asked to consider two options on the proposal to increase the number of places at Pen-y-Cwm special school following the statutory objections period.

They will either continue with the proposal and formally agree the decision, or reject it.

Cabinet had already agreed to increasing the school’s capacity at a meeting in February, allowing the process to proceed to a month-long objections period, which took place from February 26 to March 26.

This followed a public consultation held from December 8 to January 18, which saw 87.5 per cent of respondents — 112 out of 128 — indicate their support for the proposal.

The report said: “The statutory notice/objections period provided the opportunity for anyone wishing to make objections to the school organisation proposal to do so.

“The Welsh Government School Organisation Code stipulates that an objections report, containing a summary of any statutory objections, must then be published along with the proposer’s response to the objections.”

It added: “During the statutory notice period, there were no formal objections received.”

Under the rules of the code, the council will be required to formally publish the decision notification within seven days of the decision being made.

Copies of the notification will be provided to consultees, bringing the legal process to a close.

The report said: “Following the decision, implementation of the proposal will be monitored through existing education and council governance arrangements, including pupil number planning, financial monitoring, and capital programme oversight where applicable.”

If agreed, the increase in capacity would take place in two stages.

From September next year, the school would be able to take 205 pupils, up from the current maximum of 175.

In 2029/30, capacity would be increased again to 250 pupils.