MP criticises seven-year delay in opening new special school in town
Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols spoke in the House of Commons on Thursday about Seymour Academy, a 56-place school for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Plans were formally submitted for the school, on a disused sports field on the corner of Blackbrook Avenue and Birchwood Way in Padgate, in October.
The application was approved by Warrington Borough Council in January, but Ms Nichols says that funding was granted in 2018.
She criticised the delay by the Department for Education and called for a debate about the process for opening new schools.
Speaking in Parliament, Ms Nichols said: “In 2018, Warrington Borough Council applied for and was successful with a proposal for a new 56-place special free school for pupils with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, whose needs cannot be met by our current provisions.
“The free school is part of an expansion plan to address that issue, and the implications of dither and delay from the Department for Education have exacerbated the funding challenges that the local authority and our schools face when sending pupils to out-of-borough independent placements, which cost circa £8.5million from the high needs budget in 2024.
“May we have a debate in Government time about the process for opening new schools, and ensuring that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families, can have their needs met in their own boroughs?”
The question was answered by Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons.
She said: “I am sorry to hear of the challenges facing the free school in Warrington that is designed to support those with autism and special education needs.
“I am sure she will recognise that the situation we inherited was not delivering for parents, not delivering outcomes, and was on its knees in terms of SEND provision.
“This issue gets raised regularly with me in these sessions, and I will ensure that she gets an update from the minister on that application, and hope it can be expedited.”
Speaking afterwards, Ms Nichols added: “In Parliament, I raised the proposed new SEND school in Padgate, which was agreed in 2018 but is still not built due to various delays by the Department for Education.
“This is not just extremely disappointing for the cohort of pupils whose needs cannot be met in our current provisions and their families, but puts additional strain on council finances for out-of-borough placements and transport.
“The estimated £2.5million annually that would be saved by having this provision in Warrington would allow that money to be better spent on driving up high quality SEND provision in our special, resource provisions, and mainstream schools.
“I will continue to liaise with the council and the Department for Education to expedite the Warrington Free School proposal.”
The new two-storey specialist SEND school will feature a main hall, general teaching and specialist classrooms, dining hall, kitchen, staff offices, and reception.
The site would also feature a multi-use games area, outdoor space, hard and soft landscaping, external canopies and a polytunnel.
In addition, a new access road will be built with a designated drop-off and pick-up system, with the site also to include 40 car parking spaces, two accessible bays, and two mini-bus bays.
The building has been designed to be net-zero carbon in operation, plans state, utilising on-site renewable technologies such as air source heat pumps and solar panels and the creation of a ‘green roof’.
The school would be run by The Sovereign Multi-Academy Trust, which runs four special needs schools in the Greater Manchester area.
A separate project will see Warrington’s iconic Peace Centre building repurposed as a post-16 and post-19 educational facility for SEND use, and this is scheduled to be occupied by September 2026.
