Closure of units for deaf children in Torbay to go ahead

Protesters say service will suffer

The noisiest protest heard in Torquay town centre for years greeted councillors arriving to make a decision on crucial services to deaf children.

Whistles blew, drums beat and passing drivers blew their car horns as members of a Torbay Council scrutiny board arrived at the Town Hall to debate the future of two specialist units at Torquay schools.

Parents urged them to think again over the plan to shut the units at St Margaret’s Primary School and the Spires Academy. They had a petition with more than 1,600 signatures to back their case.

But the council stuck to its guns. It says it is merely a change in the way the services are funded, and delivery will remain largely the same, with children being given individual attention in mainstream schools.

The actual amount of money being spent on the services will increase, but families using the two units say community support for vulnerable youngsters will suffer.

Felicity Morris, secretary of the parent teachers association at St Margaret’s, said the council is taking away specialist support ‘without meaningful or lawful consultation’.

“Parents were not consulted,” she said. “Qualified teachers of the deaf were excluded. The heads of both schools weren’t asked. They were just told.

“This is not only morally wrong but also legally risky. It is not about buildings and budgets - it’s about deaf children, and whether this council will stand by them.

“Don’t close the doors on the only spaces where they are truly understood.”

Martin Thacker, deputy director of the National Deaf Children’s Society told the meeting: “Torbay has done something special, but this decision puts all of that fantastic reputation at risk.”

Just five Torbay children currently have the official Education, Health and Care Plans that trigger the service and the need is declining along with the local birth-rate, but protesters say the council underestimates the number of children needing support now and in the future.

Cllr Nick Bye (Con, Wellswood) described the situation as ‘incredibly complex’, and said the Torbay children using the units would end up with more funding.

“We absolutely understand the anxiety of parents,” he said. “But those we have spoken to are content with the decision we are making.”

Councillors adjourned the meeting briefly so that a decision could be taken, and Cllr Yvonne Twelves (Con, Kings Ash) told colleagues: “This is a difficult decision that has not been taken lightly, and it is clear that we haven’t taken the parents on the journey with us in the way that we should have done.”

The committee agreed to go ahead with the planned closure of the units, but conceded that consultation and information could have been handled better.