Report on Central Bedfordshire Council's £40million plan for special educational needs school leaked on social media

Contents of a paper to Central Bedfordshire Council’s executive next month were unveiled on a Facebook page serving the Leighton Buzzard and Linslade community.

A “researched and costed plan for a major rebuilding and renovation project, due to be completed and operational by December 2028” at Ivel Valley’s Hitchmead Road site is the centrepiece of the report to the committee meeting on April 1.

The post by Independent Leighton Linslade West councillor Russ Goodchild confirms “extensive feasibility studies and talks with key stakeholders, including the Ivel Valley headteacher” have led to a preferred option of revamping the present site and expanding into the adjacent Stratton Farm site.

This approach would “provide the necessary 330 specialist school places to meet growing demand and as proposed in our specialist school place plan” and ensure a cost-effective solution within the agreed budget for special school places, without exhausting all council resources.

It would also “strengthen our ability to offer local special educational needs (SEN) places, reducing the need for placements outside Central Bedfordshire and daily journey difficulties for some of our most vulnerable children, while delivering a high-quality learning environment within a realistic time frame”.

Mark Tripp, who chairs Ivel Valley’s governing body, commented on the Facebook post by the Central Bedfordshire SEND Action Group: “A truly professional way to find out what the preferred outcome is for our school, not via appropriate channels.”

And he wrote: “For clarity, you’re correct a discussion took place with our headteacher about all the options on the table eventually, and this isn’t our preferred choice nor will it ever likely be.”

In his own Facebook post, executive member for children’s services and Independent Leighton Linslade South councillor Steve Owen said: “I promised that CBC officers were working at top speed to identify a workable and affordable solution at Ivel Valley School.

“Despite the sceptics, here are the fruits of that work. These efforts have produced a proposal which meets the local authority’s original plans for a 330 place school at Ivel Valley, while leaving enough money in the capital programme to create other urgently-needed SEN places elsewhere.”

News of the leaked exempt material emerged during the CBC SEND sub-committee’s work programme agenda item, when Central Bedfordshire Community Network and Biggleswade West councillor Hayley Whitaker raised it with chairman and Conservative Heath and Reach councillor Mark Versallion.

“I’ve just been sent some of the exempt item on Ivel Valley by a parent, about which a member has posted a fair amount of detail on Facebook,” explained councillor Whitaker.

“That’s not appropriate at all. It should be open to discussion, as it’s in the public domain now.”

Councillor Owen replied: “The matter of the Ivel School is the subject of a detailed paper and will be discussed in public at the executive on April 1.

“It’s not on the agenda for today (Monday, March 25) and it can’t be discussed here, and councillor Whitaker knows that.”