(UK) Hants: Council spending $3M to increase SPED places "driven by increasing demand"

Feb 24, 2025, Hampshire County Council: Hampshire County Council invests in two new special needs projects 

https://www.hants.gov.uk/News/20260224SEND 

More children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Andover and Bramley will soon access the right support closer to home, thanks to two new projects which have received Hampshire County Council’s seal of approval

At his Children’s Services Decision Day earlier today (Tuesday, 24 February 2026), Councillor Steve Forster, Executive Member for Education, agreed investment in new facilities at Harrow Way Community School and Bramley CE Primary School.

The larger of the two schemes is at Harrow Way, where a new Resourced Provision (RP) will create up to 15 specialist places for pupils with autism, opening in phases from September 2026. Resourced Provisions are specialist environments based within mainstream schools that allow children with additional needs to receive the tailored support they require while also accessing all the benefits of mainstream education.

The £1.09 million [$1.2M] project includes:

Refurbishment of existing buildings to create two specialist classrooms

A life skills room and two calming rooms‑skills room and two calming rooms

Additional facilities tailored to the needs of pupils with autism. . . .

Councillor Forster also approved a £1.35 million [$1.8M] improvement scheme at Bramley CE Primary School to further strengthen its ability to support children with SEND. . . .

Both projects are subject to final funding approval for the County Council’s capital programme for Children’s Services. Councillor Forster welcomed the projects as part of the County Council’s ongoing commitment to high-quality inclusive education and its wider ambition to create 1,000 new specialist places by 2030.

It comes as the County Council and many other local authorities around the country continue to face significant financial pressures, driven by increasing demand for SEND provision. Hampshire alone now maintains over 20,500 Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), the legal documents which outline the additional support that children with SEND require to meet their specific needs. Of Hampshire’s EHCPs, around 40 per cent currently require specialist provision, either in a mainstream or special school.   . . .