Funding has been allocated to bring two new schools into Basingstoke.

As part of Hampshire County Council’s children’s services capital programme, money has been granted for the potential development of a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) school and a new primary school.

At a decision day meeting of the county council’s executive lead member for children’s services at the county council, Councillor Keith Mans, the decision was taken to support these ventures.

As such, the county council will allocate £33.58 million to developing schools around Hampshire. This includes a new SEND school called Austen Academy, in Shakespeare Road, Popley, offering 125 places for four-to-16-year-olds on the autistic spectrum.

This new SEND school will be run by Catch 22 Multi Academies Trust, with additional funds coming from the Department for Education.

Subject to any planning permission the school is set to open in 2021.

The county council is also investing £8 million to bring a new primary school, which will cater for the proposed Manydown development, which will see 3,500 new homes built on the site.

Cllr Mans said: “We are committed to ensuring that families in Hampshire have access to good, local schools and with new housing set to be built in the Manydown area, an investment of £8 million is planned for a new primary school to serve the families who will be moving in to those homes.

“The new school will offer a quality learning environment for a total of 420 pupils.

“As the school population increases, the proportion of children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) also grows.

“While we are helping mainstream schools to make sure they are equipped to support children with special educational needs, there are many children whose needs are more complex and are better met in dedicated specialist provision. As part of our strategy to meet this demand, we are pleased that our bid to the Department for Education was successful, enabling us to build a new special school in Basingstoke, to be called the Austen Academy.”