THE county council is set to formally back plans to build a new special school in Malvern.

Cabinet will be asked next week to endorse the work done so far in establishing a school for children with autism.

This includes approving the 125-year lease of the Sunshine Children’s Centre site in Poolbrook to the Department for Education.

A report going before cabinet on Thursday, March 28, says the site is the only council-owned property in the area that meets all the right criteria.

Councillors will also need to approve the funding of 120 full-time places when the school opens, which is expected to be in September 2027.

The school will be a free school, which means it will be funded by the government and will not be run by Worcestershire County Council.

This means it will be able to set its own pay and conditions for staff and won’t have to follow the national curriculum.

The final decision on appointing an academy trust to run the school rests with the education secretary and is due to be announced this year.

According to cabinet papers, the new school will not only provide the specialist places the county needs but will help the council balance the books.

The report says more than 80 children with autism needs are being educated in mainstream schools at an average cost of £58,000 per child - a total of £4.8 million a year.

“The new special free school will reduce the average cost of a place to £25,000 (dependent on level of need), an annual saving of £2.7m once at full capacity,” the report says.

“This will support the reduction in spend needed to reduce the current High Needs deficit.”

The council says it has been working with the current occupants of the Sunshine Centre to help them find new homes, and that some have plans to relocate before the summer.