Fees Paid to Special Education Needs Schools - Find a freedom of information request

I'd like to make an FOI request regarding the fees paid to SEN schools/academies within the Lincolnshire local authority area.

In regards to these schools:

• Willoughby Academy
• Ambergate Sports College
• The St Francis Special School
• Athena School
• Fortuna School
• Warren Wood - A Specialist Academy
• Aegir - A Specialist Academy
• The Pilgrim School
• St Lawrence School

1. What is the annual cost per pupil to the local authority? i.e. what does the local authority pay each school, per pupil. (If possible, please could this be listed for each school?) if the fees vary, the lowest fee and highest fee would be helpful.

2. Has the average fee amount per school changed in the last 1 - 5 years?

1. The table below shows the average annual cost per pupil for each of the named schools for the academic year 2021/22:

Notes: 1The lowest fee takes account of a band A pupil (the lowest band funding), plus an element of fixed costs of running the school. This element has been calculated by taking the variance between the indicative budget share less the band funding, and then dividing the difference by the number of pupils the LA has funded.

2 The highest fee is calculated using the same approach as above, but using the Band G rate (the highest band funding) as the base rate, plus an element of fixed costs. However, if a school has no band G pupils, then the highest banded pupil has been used. Lincoln Fortuna and Athena School are both Specialist SEMH settings and the funding for each pupil is the same – i.e. the average cost quoted.

3 Pilgrim School is funded according to how many pupils they have in each medical funding band. Band 1 is the lowest band and Band 2 is the highest.

2. Yes. Average cost per pupil for each school is indicated in the table below: