Nationally, children and young people on Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP)’s have been increasing, and in Torbay the increase has been 5%. Supporting all our children and young people with their individual needs is important to us, which is why we regularly review their needs to ensure we are supporting everyone equally.

During our recent review, it showed that those children and young people with a Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) need is at 25% of the total EHCP’s. For those with a hearing impairment as their main area of need, this is 0.7% of the total EHCPs.

In Torbay there are currently two Hearing Impairment Units. One in a primary school, St. Margarets Academy, and the other in a secondary school, Spires College. Both of these Units have been running at less than 50% capacity for more than five years. The needs of those who currently receive support through the Units can be supported in a different way.

Taking all of this information on board and knowing that the support for those hearing-impaired students can still be provided, we have made the difficult decision to decommission the two Hearing Impairment Units.

We understand that any potential change to provision can be worrying and cause concern. We want to reassure families that as mentioned, we are not proposing to remove support from those children and young people who currently use the Units. Funding will go directly to the schools to ensure the specialist teaching and support required is still delivered.  Devon County Council will also be providing a similar service to those children who reside in Devon.

We expect that both schools will continue to utilise the extremely dedicated and knowledgeable staff expertise from the Units to deliver the support within the school.  This support will be delivered in each young person’s classroom.  They will continue to receive the specialist interventions they need from a Teacher of the Deaf and other specialist staff.  Individual grants will be made available for any specialist equipment needed.

The community events previously run for both the young people and their families will continue through our popular Family Hubs.  This will mean that even more children and young people with hearing needs, including those who have not met the criteria for a place in a unit, can be included in these events.