Central Bedfordshire Council secures £6.5m to expand local SEND provision
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
We’ve agreed to accept £6.5m capital funding from DfE to create more specialist places for children and young people with SEND.
The decision follows a formal offer from the Department for Education (DfE), after the previously proposed new SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) Free School in Biggleswade was paused at national level. We now have the opportunity to secure capital funding to deliver the same number of specialist places through flexible local solutions, helping bring provision forward more quickly and within local communities.
After careful consideration, our Executive agreed to proceed with the capital funding option. This approach will enable additional SEND places to be delivered with greater flexibility and certainty over timescales and cost, while supporting more children and young people to access the help they need within their local area. It also aligns with the principles set out in the Government’s Schools Bill, which promotes a more inclusive, community-based SEND system.
The original Free School proposal had been paused by the DfE and no longer has an identified site or sponsor. Progressing that route would have required re-entering national approval processes, identifying a new site and appointing a new sponsor — potentially leading to significant delays.
By contrast, the capital funding allocation of £6.565 million will be profiled over three years, with the first payment released in summer 2026 alongside High Needs Capital funding. This will allow the Council to begin preparatory work in advance and bring forward projects more quickly.
Rather than being tied to a single new school in one location, the funding can be invested across a range of local settings. This may include:
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expanding Additionally Resourced Provisions (ARPs) in mainstream schools
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adapting and enhancing existing school buildings
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strengthening specialist capacity where demand is highest
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supporting the transition from a three-tier to a two-tier education system
This distributed approach will help ensure children can access high-quality support closer to home.
We have confirmed that there will be no loss of planned SEMH capacity as a result of this decision. Fifty SEMH places have already been delivered at primary phase, with further opportunities to develop secondary provision through local solutions.
The funding option will enable us to deliver at least the same number of additional specialist places originally envisaged under the Free School proposal, while also supporting other areas of SEND need.
The decision aligns with our SEND Strategy and its commitment to ensuring that children and young people with additional needs can access appropriate education within their local community wherever possible.
Councillor Gareth Mackey, Executive Member for Children’s Services said:
This is about making sure children and young people with SEND get the support they need, when they need it. I am acutely aware that we need more local, community-based services as soon as possible. This approach improves outcomes for our children and families. It allows children to keep in touch with friendship groups more easily and eases the burden to travelling away from a familiar environment. By securing this funding, we can move forward with a more flexible and locally responsive approach that delivers provision faster and closer to home.
We will now develop detailed proposals for how the funding will be deployed, working closely with schools and partners to ensure new provision meets current and forecast demand.
Further updates will be provided as projects progress.