Concerns over reduction in pupil referral unit places

Education leaders have raised concerns over the reduction in pupil referral unit (PRU) places in Herefordshire.

A PRU is an alternative education placement which is specifically for children who cannot attend a mainstream school.

This could be because they have an illness, have been excluded, or are a new starter waiting for a place in a mainstream school.

In Herefordshire, the number of PRU places has been reduced from 80 to 50 since 2019.

Chris Lewandowski, trade union representative, called on Herefordshire schools forum to review the impact this reduction is having.

“Sometimes it is easy for people to make decisions in education to get carried away looking at downsizing,” he said.

“This is at the risk of side-lining the educational priority the needs of the children, which I think is paramount.

“My first area of concern is the reduction in numbers of the PRU.

“In 2019, it was 80. In 2021 there will only be 50 commissioned places. This is a very serious reduction.

“What are the consequences going to be?

“I would like to suggest that there is a review into the consequences of this reduction. Including details of how many pupils were denied a PRU place because it was full. Or denied a place because mainstream schools found the cost so prohibitive.

“And for this review to report back to the Schools Forum in 2022.”

Les Knight, head of additional needs, said the schools forum was a financial vehicle and some of the issues Mr Lewandowski raised may fall outside its remit.

“When we had 80 PRU places we were going way beyond the local authority statutory duty of providing places for those who are permanently excluded,” he said.

“The calculation at the time was that, of those 80 places, 50 as an absolute maximum were required to facilitate permanent exclusion.

“If we are running a budget for 80 pupils and there’s only money for 50 coming in, we have to do something.

“The risk to the budget is something of the order of £300,000 to £350,000 if we carry on in the current trajectory.”

Assistant education development and skills director Ceri Morgan said it would be wrong to categorise the reduction as a cost saving exercise.

“What we are trying to do is reorganise the PRU to protect it,” he said.

“Where we’ve fallen foul here, the pandemic has challenged the model we set up before we got off the ground.”

Council officers agreed to have a separate discussion on the issues affecting PRUs and report back to the schools forum.