Expansion of places at Beaconside CE Primary School, Penrith

Overview

What is the consultation about?

Westmorland and Furness Council is in receipt of funding from house builders to provide additional school places for children. This is intended to meet additional demand for school places as a result of recent housing developments in the Penrith area.  This is known as ‘Section 106 funding’ and its purpose is to make sure that there are sufficient school places for the existing local population as well as those living in new housing. This consultation is regarding the Council’s proposal to increase the number of mainstream school places at Beaconside CE Primary School, and to create some additional specialist places within a resourced provision (resourced provision provides specialist support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), within a mainstream setting).

What happens next

What happens next?

Once the consultation period has closed, Westmorland & Furness’ Cabinet will receive a report in December 2023 summarising the responses received.  Taking into account those responses, the Cabinet will decide whether to proceed to the next stage of the process, which involves the publication of a detailed proposal for the expansion of school places, as well as the school’s RP provision. Publication would trigger a statutory 4-week ‘representation period’, which provides another opportunity for interested parties to make their views known.

At the end of the representation period, the Cabinet will again consider any views submitted, and will make a final decision on whether the proposal should progress. We expect that final decision would be taken at the Cabinet’s meeting in March 2024.