Council shelves proposals to redesignate special schools in county following threat of legal action
Kent County Council has confirmed that it will “rethink” the redesignation of special schools as part of its new inclusion strategy, following the threat of legal action.
The council had made a number of proposals after being criticised by Ofsted for failing to tackle “a lack of willingness” among some schools to accommodate children with SEND.
It therefore planned to redesignate seven special schools in Kent - to move more children out of special schools and into mainstream provision, and to reduce the number of children with complex needs being educated in specialist provision out of county.
However, law firm Rook Irwin Sweeney claimed that the effect of these redesignations "would have been that children in Kent who had special educational needs but did not have complex learning difficulties, would not have had special schools available to meet their needs.
“For example, there would no longer be any special schools for children with severe physical disabilities, or for children with autism and mental health needs who did not have complex learning difficulties.”
The law firm was instructed by eight children and their families in a proposed judicial review challenge to the council’s Special Schools Review, supported by the Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KsENT), which represents special schools in the region.
The parents claimed that the local authority’s decision was based on a “lack of evidence” that the proposals were workable (including in terms of the costs of the proposals) and that they were made without consideration of the impact upon many groups of disabled children.
Rook Iwrin Sweeney said: “It was alleged that the decision to redesignate the schools was based on a flawed assumption that many children currently in specialist placements could have had their needs met in mainstream settings.
“However, many of the claimants were disabled children who had previously attended mainstream settings that had been unable to meet their needs. There was therefore a concern that these children would also then have to seek independent or out of county placements, if there were no longer any special schools available to meet their needs in the county.”
In a pre-action letter to the council on behalf of the claimants, the law firm challenged the lawfulness of the council’s decision to implement the Special Schools Review, and asked Kent to withdraw the decision until “all legal requirements had been complied with”.
In response to the threat of legal action, Kent by letter of 21 March 2025 agreed the following: “KCC agrees that no steps will be taken to implement or give effect to the decision dated 3 January 2025.
“KCC will revisit the decision once it has completed the further work it has identified as being necessary. A fresh decision on how KCC wishes to proceed will be taken in due course, in accordance with KCC’s normal decision-making process. It is not expected that any such fresh decision will be taken before the local elections in Kent in May 2025.”
A Kent County Council spokesperson said: "The council remains committed to ensuring there are the right school places to meet pupil need and that, as far as possible, children and young people can attend school in their local community.
“Our officers continue to work with special schools […] who are planning to expand their offer to children and young people with more complex needs.
"As was made clear in recent council meetings, KCC has continued to engage with and listen to parents following the consultation that took place last summer, and to work with school leaders. Their feedback, together with further work and gathering additional information, will inform the decisions to be taken in due course on how to proceed in relation to the Special Schools Review.”
Lottie Winson
