Peterborough City Council works on new SEN strategy

A council is developing a new strategy for children with special educational needs and disabilities as demand grows.

Peterborough City Council said requests for assessments for additional education and healthcare needs had risen by 20% in the past year.

A proposal for more funding is being drawn up for the 2024/25 financial year.

It will be finalised in February when all councillors will be asked to vote on the plan.

The authority said it was currently spending about £4m per year on placements for children outside of Peterborough, on top of a further £1m of transport costs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It said work was being undertaken "to see what opportunities there might be to provide transport effectively, at reduced cost" in future, with last year's spend projected to go over budget.

Placing children in schools outside the area was "not an ideal solution", it said, but was sometimes necessary when suitable provision could not be found within.

The council's previous strategy for children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities runs until 2025, but the process of replacing it has already begun.

This is partly because it was drawn up alongside Cambridgeshire County Council, which was previously involved in disability services for children in Peterborough.

Now, the city has its own dedicated executive board, which brings together local authority representatives as well as those who represent local schools and healthcare services.

The authority said it had also "considerably strengthened" its information hub for parents and carers of children with disabilities.

More ideas for the new strategy will be discussed by councillors on 15 January.

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