Nick Bye: I might be 'gung-ho' but it was the right call

If you want to be popular then stick to selling ice cream or even electric cars.

Any venture into politics is bound to upset someone whether you're an advisor to the President of the USA or simply trying to make the right call in the Town Hall.

I believe the recent decision to decommission the units for children with a hearing impairment at St Margaret's (Primary) & Spires (Secondary) schools was absolutely correct and I was pleased colleagues from both main political groups considered the issues at length at last week's Overview and Scrutiny meeting, deciding against asking our Director of Children's Services to reconsider or rescind her decision. So the decision stands.

These are the facts as I see them:

First, there is no change of support for these children but rather a change in the model of financing this support. Instead of continuing to commission 16 places in total in these two units, with just five Torbay children currently taking up places, funding will in future support individual children according to their needs as specified in their Education Health and Care Plans.. This will be at a generous level already agreed with the schools, so for example St Margaret's will actually receive MORE funding after September when this change takes place.

Secondly, as the numbers of children in these "units" has diminished in recent years then children are spending more time in mainstream classrooms with their friends. When I visited St Margaret's in December I observed a very inclusive/integrated approach. The important thing is to have the appropriate support to meet the needs of individual children rather than maintain a "unit" per se.

Thirdly, both schools have considerable autonomy in how they arrange things going forward. St Margaret's is an academy so self governing. It's absolutely the case both schools will continue to provide the most appropriate support for these children, most likely with the same experienced teachers. Our Torbay Council Hearing Support Service will continue to provide support for ALL our children with a hearing impairment at whichever school they attend.

Fourthly, over the years an increasing number of children with a hearing impairment have decided to attend their local school. When we started our discussions last year I assumed the great majority of Torbay children with a hearing impairment attended either St Margaret's or the Spires. In fact there are nearly as many children with a hearing impairment at the Outstanding Hayes School Paignton and at the highly regarded Churston Grammar School. These children thrive without Torbay Council commissioning a "unit", so why not at St Margaret's or the Spires?

The world has moved on and I would have thought most children would want to be taught at a school with their friends and to spend most of their time in a mainstream setting.

The various community events for children with a hearing impairment will in future be provided by our Family Hubs rather than the units within the two schools, hopefully making these activities more widely available.

I accept my somewhat "gung-ho" attitude captured on the BBC Spotlight interview upset quite a few people but the essential points I have been making are valid: you simply can't keep commissioning places in "units" which aren't taken up and if children thrive elsewhere in mainstream settings with individual, bespoke support, then this seems to me to be the best way forward.

I am confident these new arrangements will be successful and I look forward to visiting both schools again later in the year.

Another Town Hall meeting just a few days later would have been the envy of many councils up and down the land. The Overview and Scrutiny Board met to consider the substantial underspend achieved in 2024/25 with circa £350,000 available to be spent on new initiatives.

I was very pleased to hear support for £50,000 to go towards Youth Provision as it's in everyone's interest children and young people have worthwhile things to do. This proposal would be targeted at activities for older youngsters (a bit of a contradiction) in areas where we have noted increased youth offending. Another suggestion was more money for the Bay of Lights so we might have an ice skating rink. These suggestions will be considered by Cabinet and then all Councillors at our July meeting.

Finally, in all the enthusiasm of writing about Strictly Rowcroft, the Prat Pack & Cuthbert Mayne's Frozen in my last article, I completely forgot to mention the forthcoming TOADS production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Princess Theatre, July 2nd /5th.

It should be a great show for all ages & ticket sales are going well, especially for the Saturday matinee. So get yourselves down to the box office ...