Cheshire East's former Sandbach HQ will be converted into a special school despite arguments from some councillors it should not be at the expense of 'pausing' plans for Middlewich.

The children and families committee yesterday (Monday) voted to press ahead with plans to turn Westfields into an 'all through' school for children with special needs (SEN).

But because the government won't fund the Westfields scheme, the council will now foot the bill, which means 'pausing' plans to convert Cledford House in Middlewich into a 60-place special school.

Middlewich councillor Garnet Marshall (Ind), speaking as a visiting member, told the committee: "The Westfields project is not certain."

He said the proposed opening date was 2028/29 and this delay would add to the council's DSG (special needs budget) debt.

"Cledford is oven-ready and, once baked, it will bring 60 SEN places by September 2026. It doesn't make sense to put it back in the freezer," he said.

The council's officers said if Cheshire East funded both Westfields and Cledford, it would not be able to provide extra support for special needs provision in mainstream schools.

Helen Wallace, head of education, said: "It's not that we don't want lots of special school places, we do, but we know we've got to address a really huge issue that we've got with mainstream inclusion."

Joanne Prophet told councillors Westfields was being prioritised because it could take about 140 pupils, possibly more.

"The community benefits will include the additional SEN places, job creation and support for our local community in Sandbach," she said.

"The location is a significant advantage as it's a central position, which could reduce travel time and transport costs."

Cheshire East currently has to pay for many children with special needs to attend out-of-borough or independent schools.

This is because when the unitary authorities were formed in 2009, the bulk of Cheshire County Council's special schools were in what is now Cheshire West.

Independent schools can charge in the region of £60,000 per pupil – and children can spend hours travelling each day.

Councillors were told converting Westfields would save the council about £56 million over 10 years.

Cllr Jos Saunders (Poynton, Con) said both the Westfields and Cledford schemes were needed.

She said the government's 'dither and delay' had increased costs for the council.

Committee chair Laura Crane (Sandbach, Lab) said the government was 'all about inclusivity' and 'we need to make sure that we've got funding to be able to deliver that'.

Committee chair, Councillor Laura Crane. (Photo: Cheshire East)

"But we also know that we desperately, desperately need SEN provision in this borough so that our kids are not spending hours in taxis and buses getting to their provisions," she said. "We know that Westfields is central."

She added: "We're not cancelling Cledford, we're pausing it to make sure that we can deliver on the majority of the things that we need to do."

But Cllr George Hayes (Congleton, Con) said: "If we pause Cledford and invest the money in our mainstream schools and making them more inclusive, that money is gone.

"Cledford is cancelled if that's the case, because capital money is spent once, not renewed."

The committee voted to go ahead with plans to convert Westfields and to 'pause' Cledford.

The Westfields scheme will have to go through the usual planning process.

Two former school sites – St Gregory's at Bollington and Vernon Infants at Poynton – were also declared 'surplus to requirement' so they can be sold off at a later date.

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