Sites in Enfield Town and Southgate would cost council £26m to develop, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Two sites in Enfield have been identified to provide 136 extra school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Portcullis Lodge Car Park in Enfield Town and Addison House in Southgate have been classed as ‘priority sites’ to help meet the growing demand for Send provision, with the cost of developing the sites expected to run to £26million.

A report presented to Enfield Council’s children, young people and education scrutiny panel on Wednesday revealed the number of pupils with an education, health and care plan – which provide extra support for Send pupils – is expected to grow by 10% over three years.

The report adds that 468 young people with Send are being educated in other boroughs, costing the council around £14,000 extra per pupil compared with in-borough schooling. This can lead to young people being separated from their communities and experiencing longer journey times, along with added costs for travel assistance.

Last year, cabinet reports stated that there had been a “significant increase” in Send provision during recent years, with the civic centre putting in extra resources and commissioning designated units within mainstream schools. But because of a “limited capacity” to extend existing schools, the council had decided to establish new facilities.

Neil Best, the council’s head of strategic resourcing and partnerships, told Wednesday’s meeting the council had “almost maxed out” in terms of availability of large Send schools in the borough. He added there was “huge demand” on the ‘high needs’ element of the dedicated schools grant – provided by the government to support schools – and it was currently £13m in deficit.

The council has applied to the Department for Education to have the two priority sites included in its ‘free school wave’, which would see the government provide funding if the projects are delivered in partnership with free school providers. Neil said the council would find out next April if it had been successful.

Andrew Thorp, a Conservative committee member, said the acceleration of the council’s Send development programme would lead to a “step change” in the number of available places, and he was “incredibly disappointed” by the decision to pull the paper from a cabinet meeting held last month.

The withdrawn report sought cabinet approval to establish new Send provision at Portcullis Lodge and Addison House, with £1.6m needed to progress development work

Officers acknowledged the decision would delay the opening of a new school. Neil added: “The other thing in terms of delay that is quite important right now is the cost of delivery – construction – has gone up and up and up, and it is not likely to reduce.”

Cllr Thorp said that as well as extra construction costs, the delay would mean children continuing to be sent outside of the borough for their education.

Officers also told the meeting that falling pupil numbers at some existing schools could provide an opportunity to increase Send provision on those sites.

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