Council bosses have failed in a bid to get Government funding to build a new special school in Newcastle.
City education chiefs say there is a “significant need” to build a new school for children with autism, with demand for specialist provision having risen substantially in the past few years. But Newcastle City Council officials have been left bitterly disappointed after the Department for Education (DfE) did not approve a funding application for the project.
Deanne Taylor, the local authority’s head of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) told councillors on Thursday: “Unfortunately, despite the DfE saying that our bid was approvable we were not successful. We know that there is a significant need for a new special school in the city so we are exploring other avenues to create such a provision.”
