‘Increasing concerns’ over government delays to 250-place Leigh Academies Trust special school for Kent in Swanley

by Simon Finlay, Local Democracy Reporter

Fears are growing a brand new special needs school for 250 pupils may be in jeopardy.

The new facility in Swanley was given the government go-ahead more than two years ago but progress has been “incredibly slow”, Kent County Council (KCC) papers have revealed.

Progress on building a new school for pupils with special educational needs has been described as “incredibly slow”. Stock image: iStock

Officers told the Children and Young People and Education cabinet committee meeting the Department for Education (DfE) was concentrating on “live” school developments and the new facility, called Leigh Academy Birchwood, had effectively been paused.

Assistant education director Ian Watts told the cross-party panel yesterday morning (November 18): “We won’t get any ministerial decision until the spring.”

KCC Liberal Democrat deputy opposition leader, Cllr Richard Streatfeild, said he was “not satisfied at all” and added that it would leave the county “even further behind with the number of placements available”.

He worries the school serving his division in Sevenoaks “won’t happen”.

Leigh Academies Trust (LAT), the provider chosen to run the new school, says it too is becoming “increasingly concerned” about the delay.

Leigh Academies Trust already runs Snowfields Academy in Maidstone. Picture: Leigh Academies Trust

KCC papers stated: “In July 2023, KCC was informed that it had been successful in bidding for a new 250-place profound, severe and complex needs (PSCN) special school in North Kent (Swanley).

“The school had an initial target opening date of September 2026 and was to be funded and built by the Department for Education (DfE).

“However, for a number of reasons progress has been incredibly slow and there are now concerns that the school may not progress any further.

“Even if it were to continue, that school would not be built until 2028 at the very earliest and as the data shows, provision is required now.”

Mr Watts said council officials and the cabinet member for education, Cllr Beverley Fordham (Reform), would push the DfE for confirmation of the new school’s status.

Liberal Democrat deputy opposition leader, Cllr Richard Streatfeild

It is to be built on the site of the old Birchwood Primary School which has been cleared in readiness for work to start.

The committee also agreed to the expansion of two schools to provide extra spaces.

Parkwood Hall Co-operative Academy will increase its capacity from 120 to 192 with a broader age range.

Members also voted to permanently increase the formal designated number of Broomhill Bank School, Hextable, from 318 pupils to 490.

The papers read: “There is…a proposal to expand Parkwood Hall Cooperative Academy, but this alone will not produce sufficient places to meet current demand, as that expansion primarily relates to additional places for primary age children.

Today's KCC education committee meeting where concerns were raised

“Therefore, Broomhill Bank School is the most appropriate and viable option to also increase its designated number.”

Cllr Streatfeild said: “I’m very worried a long-promised, much-needed special school in the Sevenoaks district won’t happen.

“In a national context it may seem insignificant but locally it is vital. Extra places in existing schools are a sticking plaster solution.”

A LAT statement said: “Leigh Academies Trust is increasingly concerned about the delays affecting the opening of Leigh Academy Birchwood, a vital new special free school in Swanley.

“While we were delighted to receive approval for the project approximately 18 months ago, the subsequent lack of information from the Department for Education is deeply frustrating for a project so urgently needed by pupils with severe and complex needs in west Kent.”

Education observers believe the government is waiting to publish its White Paper on SEND provision.

The DfE announced in June that the White Paper, part of the government’s spending review and which was meant to be published this autumn, has been pushed back to “early” 2026.

Government statistics show that 19.6% pupils have some form of special educational need and although KCC has been working to integrate some SEN pupils into existing mainstream schools, some more complex cases in the high needs block will need specialist settings.

According to the government, the Public Accounts Committee said the system for supporting SEN children “is reaching or, arguably, has already reached crisis point” despite extra funding.

The KCC papers warned: “If no further action is taken in the longer term, KCC will find it extremely difficult to provide sufficient state-funded special school provision in north Kent.”