An organisation is being given £700,000 by Nottingham City Council to help increase the number of school places for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Greenwood Academy Trust currently runs 38 academies across Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Leicester, Lincolnshire, Peterborough, West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire.
In a document released by Nottingham City Council, £700,000 will be given directly to the trust to help it increase the number of school places for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by 28 by January 2027.
The money will be used to carry out work at Nethergate Academy in Clifton and Clifton Youth Centre which the trust recently agreed to occupy.
The city council submitted plans to turn Clifton Young People’s Centre in Green Lane into an educational facility for 16 to 19 year olds with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the start of July.
The refurbishment of the youth centre will allow the trust to accommodate 32 sixth formers – an increase of four against its current 28-pupil capacity.
Work at Nethergate Academy mean the trust will be able to increase its capacity for five to 16 year olds by 24 pupils by January 2027 – going from a 141-pupils to 165.
This means the £700,000 will create 28 new SEND places by January 2027.
The refurbishment at Clifton youth centre is already underway and is “due to complete by October 2025”.
Pupils who have an Educational Health and Care Plan – a legal document detailing a person’s health and support needs – will be supported at the refurbished youth centre.
The document states: “These pupils have primary needs in the area of autism and complex learning difficulties.
“The only other school able to offer this type of education is Rosehill Special School. However, Rosehill already have an expansion plan progressing.
“It is essential that there are sufficient local places for growing numbers of high needs pupils to avoid the need to place pupils in costly out-of-area independent provision.”
A spokesperson for Greenwood Academy Trust said: “We are, of course, very aware of the critical need for additional special school places across the city.
“We have been in ongoing discussions with the council about how we could support an expansion of places as part of our high-performing Nethergate Academy, and are delighted to be identified as a potential commissioning partner.”
Councils are given funding from the government to support the creation of new SEND places.
By the end of the 2024/25 financial year, the council’s reserve balance for this funding stood at £17.87 million.
Once all places are filled, the extra 24 spaces at Nethergate Academy will cost a total of £380,376 a year.
• Man arrested after suspected hit-and-run collision involving pedestrian
