LEADING members of a local authority which has seen its special education services come under intensive pressure in recent years are set to consider setting up a specific fund “to enhance the suitability and quality of learning environments”.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s executive next week will hear over the past decade the amount of investment on maintaining special schools had been minimal compared to that for mainstream schools.

Since 2010 the council has received £118m to maintain schools’ condition ,of which only £3.8m – three per cent of the total - has been invested in planned maintenance or improvement projects at North Yorkshire special schools.

Meanwhile, recent years have seen a significant growth in the number of students classed as needing specialist educational help to the authority having to buy a significant number of placements for special educational needs pupils in the independent sector. Given that the cost differential between an average cost of place in the independent sector and the average cost of a place in a special school is typically £42,000 this places significant additional pressure on the council’s stretched budget.

An officers’ report to the meeting states: “It is considered that significant investment in both extending the range and remit of specialist and targeted provisions, and enhancing the suitability and quality of learning environment in our existing facilities, could both improve the learning outcomes and experience for a wider cohort of young people and reduce the dependency on out-of-county placements.”

Officers have recommended for £1.6m to be invested in “modernisation and suitability schemes” for specialist provision over the coming year, representing 28 per cent of the total for such work.