The Corporate Director Education and Family Support presented a report informing Cabinet of the outcome of the consultation to open provision for pupils with ALN establishing a LRC for pupils with MLD at Ysgol Cynwyd Sant; presenting the findings of the consultation in a detailed consultation report (Appendix A) and seeking approval to progress to the publication of a statutory notice as prescribed in the School Organisation Code.

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support outlined the background to the report. He then explained that in order to progress the proposal, consultation exercises were carried out between 6 January 2022 and 17 February 2022 in accordance with the statutory School Organisation Code. The consultation document invited views and opinions to be submitted in respect of the proposal. A summary of the issues raised by consultees and the local authority’s responses were provided in the Consultation Report as detailed at Appendix A of this report. Cabinet would need to consider the Consultation Report and determine the preferred way forward. Should Cabinet wish to proceed with the proposal, the next stage of the process was to publish a statutory notice outlining the proposals which would need to be published for a period of 28 days and any formal written objections would be invited during this time. If there were no objections during the public notice period then the proposal could be

implemented with Cabinet’s approval. If there were objections at this public notice stage, an Objections Report would be published summarising the objections and the Authority’s response to those objections. Cabinet would need to consider the proposal in light of objections. Cabinet could then accept, reject or modify the proposal.

The Corporate Director Education and Family Support outlined the financial implications. 

The Cabinet Member for Education thanked all those at the school for taking part in this initiative. It was a great move forward and he hoped it would be as much of a success as they were hoping.

The Leader explained that this was undoubtedly progress. This was about inclusive education and that was at the heart of the strategy for supporting children with additional learning needs. The LRC was the first in the north of the borough in the medium of Welsh. The whole school would benefit from this resource as there could be other children within the school that may not be eligible for direct support but they could benefit from the specialist staff.

RESOLVED:       Cabinet:

·      noted the outcome of the consultation with interested parties as detailed in the attached consultation report (Appendix A) and appendices;

·      approved the consultation report (Appendix A) for publication; and

authorised the publication of a statutory notice in respect of the proposal.