Capital Investment

The Children and Families Act 2014 places important statutory responsibilities on local authorities for supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

This is a vital role for local authorities, in an increasingly school-led education system.
It requires planning that is:

  • long-term and strategic
  • informed by detailed local knowledge
  • enhanced through consultation with parents and carers, and good relationships with local schools.

Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient good school places for all pupils, including those with SEND.

How we are supporting this work

To support this, we are working to make sure a capital strategy is appropriately targeted and is responsive to the needs of our community.

In specialist settings where admission requires an education, health and care plan (EHCP), our statement of intent for this strategy is that:

  1. All Camden children and young people with education, health, and care plans for SEND are educated in high-quality, fit-for-purpose buildings.
  2. Enough space is available to commission places in settings that meet needs within Camden where possible.
  3. A well-planned approach to capital improvement projects in specialist SEND settings is followed. This is to ensure clear priorities and best value investment by the council Camden Council

We are working through the Camden High Needs subgroup to define capital projects that flow from this strategy. Any projects or proposals will be based on the following analysis:

  1. Document, track, and analyse the number of EHCPs awarded in Camden, and compare this with national and similar local authority numbers
  2. Document, track, and analyse the number of pupils educated in specialist settings
  3. Use available information from the government, local authorities similar to Camden, and council colleagues to plan for enough places in the future
  4. Investigate and note the number of spaces available now, the suitability of spaces available, and the condition of our current sites and buildings used by children and young people with SEND
  5. Look at a range of solutions to any identified accommodation that would help us make sure there are enough high-quality spaces for SEND pupils now and in the future, and include proposed solutions in the strategy

The programme of works that result from this process will be published on this site.