Surrey County Council approves use of major investment to increase specialist school places and improve support for children and young people

Surrey County Council’s Cabinet has agreed a significant package of decisions that will accelerate the creation of specialist education places across the county, ensuring more children and young people with additional needs and disabilities can learn, thrive and receive support closer to home. 

At its meeting on 24 February 2026, Cabinet approved a series of measures that mark an important step forward for the council’s ambitions to ensure that every child can access high quality education in their local community. 

Cabinet approved the use of Surrey’s 2025/26 High Needs Provision Capital Allocation (HNPCA) Grant, totalling £16.14 million, to deliver projects that will create at least 220 new specialist places for the 2026/27 academic year.  

Part of the Council’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Capital Programmes, these projects include new and expanded specialist school provision, adaptations to mainstream schools to strengthen inclusion and additional capacity through SEN Units and specialist support spaces. 

These investments will help meet rising demand for specialist places and reduce reliance on non-maintained and independent provision, ensuring children receive support in high quality settings closer to home. 

Cabinet also confirmed that Surrey County Council will write to the Department for Education (DfE) to ask them to proceed with delivery of two new specialist free schools in the county; Betchwood Vale Academy, a 180-place school for children with social, communication and interaction needs, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Mole Valley and Frimley Oak Academy, a new 170-place school for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH) in Surrey Heath. 

Both schools already have Academy Sponsors and will be fully funded and delivered by the DfE, providing a total of 350 new specialist places across East and West Surrey. 

For the third proposed DfE-funded specialist free school, focused on SEMH needs, Cabinet agreed with the DfE’s recommendation not to proceed with the original school plan. Instead, Surrey will receive £8.1 million in alternative capital funding to deliver 150 places through a range of local projects, such as new SEN Units, satellite provision of existing specialist schools, and expansion of existing schemes. 

This also enables the Council to release £3 million previously earmarked for site preparation, ensuring the funding is used where it is most needed. 

A positive step forward for Surrey’s children with additional needs and disabilities, Cllr Helyn Clack, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning, said: 

“We are all acutely aware of the national issues families of children with SEND are experiencing. In Surrey, we know families can face delays and long journeys, and too many children are placed in independent settings, often far from home, simply because we do not yet have the places available locally, and we’re taking robust action to tackle this.

“These decisions represent a major milestone in our ongoing work to transform support for children with additional needs and disabilities. By expanding specialist provision and strengthening inclusion in mainstream schools, we are delivering on our commitment that every child in Surrey can access the right education, in the right place, at the right time.” 

A commitment to strong local provision of high quality, modern education environments across Surrey, the programme will contribute to better outcomes for children and young people, reduced travel distances for families, more resilient, sustainable local services, and a reduction in long term pressures on the High Needs budget.  

Since 2021, Surrey County Council has delivered 1,577 new specialist places, 66% of the capital programme target, and today’s decisions strengthen the pathway to increase sufficiency in the coming years. 

ENDS 

Notes to editors:  

The approved projects support Surrey’s Inclusion and Additional Needs Partnership Strategy (2023–2026), which aims to ensure children and young people aged 0–25 with additional needs and disabilities can lead the best possible life within their local communities.