Page 35 - BR-May-2018

May 2018 May 2018

DORSET COUNTY COUNCIL REPORT

Bovington & Bere Regis School

More than £3M is being invested in education for
children with special educational needs and
disabilities (SEND) in Dorset. Dorset County Council’s
Cabinet has recently agreed to spend just over £2M
– plus a £1M grant from central Government –
catering for children with complex communication
needs. However, the costs will be fully recouped
over a short period of time.
This includes a new purpose-built school in Bovington
for September 2020. Funded by the Education and
Skills Funding Agency, it will provide places for 160
children with autism, as well as social, emotional and mental health needs. The
school will support pupils from Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole. This will provide an
essential service to the Community whilst saving considerable time money and
effort as many of these pupils are currently transported a considerable distance
for their education, many out of County altogether. The old school in Bere Regis
will be used in the interim from September 2019 for one year with up to 40 pupils
being housed there before they transfer to the new school in Bovington. Not only
is this good news educationally but it will provide an injection into the economies
of both Bere Regis and Bovington with a large number of ancillary jobs and
services being required to support the schools.

Boundary Review
We are conducting a boundary review to coincide with the elections to the single
rural authority in May 2019. The proposals are currently being worked up and will
be presented to government and will then be the subject of a public consultation
from 3 July to 27th August of this year. If agreed it will be announced by
rd
September or October 2018 in time for the 2019 elections. There are currently over
200 Councillors, District and County, and the proposal is to reduce them to 82
which is double the number of existing County councillors. All wards will be brand
new and there will be an aim to have single member wards where possible.
Average electorate will be 3757 per ward. The three key criteria are electoral
equality of voters, Community cohesion, and effective governance; however, it
appears that the first is by far the most important. As soon as I know of the
consultation details I will publicise them.

Minerals Consultation

DCC has submitted the Minerals and Waste Plans. Having been formally

58 35