Row breaks out over the closure of Chipping Sodbury SEND unit

A row has broken out over who is to blame for the impending closure of a "vital" centre for SEND pupils.

Councillors at South Gloucestershire Council blamed the planned closure of the unit, which opened at Chipping Sodbury School in 2014, on the academy that runs it.

But opposition groups have blamed the council, saying they are "disingenuous" to shift the blame.

A petition aimed at keeping the centre open has received 997 signatures.

At a council meeting on Wednesday, parents appealed directly to the district's political leaders, saying how vital the centre was for their children, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Services (LDRS).

The school's 10-year contract with the council expires in 2024 and The Athelstan Trust says it cannot renew it because its funding has been slashed. It is due to close by next September.

The trust's chief executive Tim Gilson said it is a "horrible situation", adding there was a lack of funding to the council from central government for pupils with special needs and disabilities.

A letter to parents from head teacher Katherine Turner said the £40,000 it used to receive per pupil had not increased over the past decade and it now faced being left with a base of just £15,000 per pupil, which is not enough to meet the children's needs.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Claire Young said the parents will "almost certainly" have had a long battle to get their child into the centre, and now when they thought they had the answer they see it being "snatched away".

Lib Dem Councillor Adrian Rush told Conservative council leaders they were "disingenuous" to say it was the Athelstan Trust that closed it, as although they took the decision "you forced their hand".

Conservative cabinet member for education Councillor Erica Williams said the trusts decision came "out of the blue [and] we don't see why there is any reason for it to close... [as] there will still be sufficient funds for that access centre to remain open".

However, Mr Gilson said as staff at the unit provide specialist one-to-one support for the students "we simply can't staff the access centre to the level needed to support the students on the current levels of funding".

He said he was not blaming the local authority as "they do not have easy choices and neither do we".

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