(UK) Medway Council to spend $33M (US) for school for 200 SPED students

Mar 1, 2019, Kent Online: Council takes control of £25 million special school from Medway Commercial Group https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/council-takes-control-of-25m-school-199814/ Medway Council is taking on a £25 million [$33M US dollars] school project for more than 200 special needs children. Initially, the authority’s trading arm Medway Commercial Group (MCG), which is currently under investigation, was overseeing the school scheme. An internal audit and review on MCG was ordered by council chiefs following concerns over the firm’s handling of the Towns’ CCTV network. … During the 2019 Medway Council budget meeting last Thursday, council leader Cllr Alan Jarrett (Con) announced the authority would be taking forward the building project in Cornwallis Avenue, Gillingham. The school, which will increase capacity for special educational needs (SEN), including pupils who suffer from autism-related conditions, was previously under the stewardship of MCG. Labour’s spokesman for children and young people Cllr Clive Johnson said: “We have been supportive of the principle of increasing the SEN provision here in Medway long before this school was formally proposed. …