The Sutton Shareholdings Board is scheduled to meet on 4 November 2025 to discuss the mid-year performance and finances of Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (SDEN), Cognus, and Sutton Living Ltd. The board will also be asked to approve the minutes from the previous meeting held on 25 March 2025¹.

Cognus Performance and Finances

The Sutton Shareholdings Board is scheduled to discuss the mid-year performance of Cognus for 2025-26, as well as the company's finances for 2024-25.

Cognus, a local authority trading company (LATC), delivers education support services for Sutton. The report pack states that Cognus ended the financial year ending 31 March 2025 with an operating deficit of £410,000, which is £247,000 higher than the previous year. This was due to additional statutory expenditure of £739,000 for the Therapies team, which is linked to the increasing number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in the borough. Despite the deficit, the report pack states that Cognus' trading performance has grown annually since 2019.

The Sutton Shareholdings Board will be provided with performance headlines for Cognus teams against the Business Plan objectives for FY2024-25. These include:

• Virtual School: According to the report pack, 57% of children passed their phonics assessment in Year 1. At Key Stage 2, 45% achieved the expected standard in reading and maths. At secondary school, 97% of Sutton's Children Looked After in Year 11 secured a positive education, employment, or training destination to start Year 12.
• School Admissions: The report pack states that 91.6% of primary applicants were offered their highest preference of school, and 99% gained one of their preference schools. For secondary applicants, 72% were offered their first preference, and 97% gained one of their preference schools.
• Education Safeguarding Service: The report pack states that 100% of Sutton schools had a 3-year review, and the service maintained a network of over 250 Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) and Deputy DSLs².
• SEND Service: According to the report pack, the team are overseeing 2582 EHCPs³, a 12.1 increase on the previous year. 76.5% of new EHCPs were issued within 20 weeks, compared to 46.4% nationally.
• Clinical Psychology team: The report pack states that the team received London Practice Spotlight Recognition for their Post-Diagnostic 'A' Plan, and funding for the 'A' Plan Pathway was extended by Health as part of a local area partnership for delivering autism assessments.
• Attendance Service: The report pack states that the service implemented the 'Studybugs' database in partnership with Children's Social Care to deliver real-time attendance data for professionals, and held 190 Targeted Support Meetings with schools.
• Child Employment Service: The report pack states that the service issued 237 performance licences and 20 work permits, and delivered training and licensing for 88 chaperones.
• Traveller Education Service: The report pack states that the service increased the percentage of traveller children in suitable education from 65% to 92%.
• Elective Home Education: The report pack states that the service oversaw 278 active cases, with 87.4% confirmed as receiving suitable education following assessment.
• Sutton Information and Advice Support Service (SIASS): The report pack states that the service oversaw 1128 requests for service and responded to 100% of families within 2 working days.
• Paving the Way Service: The report pack states that the service triaged 228 new requests from schools for support, and partnered with 40+ schools to support inclusive practice and early intervention.
• Therapies Service: The report pack states that the service completed 30 joint SaLT⁴ and OT⁵ assessments, and delivered SaLT/OT support sessions for 175 family members.
• Assisted Travel Team: The report pack states that the team transferred 100+ pupils to new transport routes for the new Carew Academy site, and ended the 24/25 Financial Year £600k under budget.
• Children Missing Education team: The report pack states that the team was approved by the Border Force Agency to enable checks on families believed to have left the country, and reduced numbers registered from 40 to 28 within the last academic year.
• Early Years: The report pack states that the service worked with the ADHD Foundation to provide professional development for settings and support for parents.
• Inclusion Service: The report pack states that the service reduced permanent exclusion by 29%, and supported 31 families through monthly inclusion surgeries.
• Autism Advisory Service: The report pack states that the service hosted 12 workshops to train 64 autism champions in schools to extend reach and capacity in settings.

The Sutton Shareholdings Board will also be provided with a finance report, which confirms the 2024/25 operating deficit reported in the accounts was £411,000. The report pack states that the financial impact of the high demand for these services was shared between the company and the council. The report pack states that Cognus are working in partnership with the council to meet the demands whilst mitigating the financial risk through delivery of the SEND transformation programme.

The Sutton Shareholdings Board will also be provided with the draft audited accounts for Cognus Limited, and Sutton Music Trust⁶.

Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Performance and Finances

The Sutton Shareholdings Board is scheduled to discuss the mid-year performance and finances of the Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (SDEN) for 2025-26.

SDEN was established in 2016 with the aim of providing low-carbon heat to homes and businesses in Sutton. SDEN currently provides heating and hot water to residents on the New Mill Quarter development in Hackbridge. The council is the single shareholder of SDEN and retains ultimate control of SDEN's business activities.

The report pack includes an update on the progress of the New Mill Quarter development, and activities relating to the expansion of the heat network. The report pack states that SDEN is able to offer competitive pricing compared to alternative fossil fuel based energy suppliers.

The long-term strategic direction for SDEN is to expand the existing heat network to reach new customers. The report pack states that legislative changes will become effective within 2026 following on from the Energy Act that was introduced in 2023. Ofgem has assumed the role of regulator for heat networks and regulation is due to commence from January 2026. The new legislation will focus on customer service, improving reliability of energy supply, transparent billing and fair pricing. Heat Network Zoning regulation is also expected to be introduced in 2026 to designate geographic zones where heat networks are expected to be the lowest cost solution for decarbonising heat.

The report pack states that SDEN has now formally taken over the vast majority of the heat network infrastructure at New Mill Quarter. The total number of residential properties constructed and connected to SDEN is 805, with an NHS surgery and a Lidl store also connected. SDEN continues to utilise the primary heat connection from the Beddington landfill gas (LFG) site, and works are now underway to transfer the primary heat connection to the Viridor Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) from 1 April 2027.

Discussions with Clarion Housing are progressing relating to a connection of 348 existing properties on the local Lavenders Estate. The council has submitted a loan application for £1.015m to the London Mayor's Green Finance Fund, and received confirmation in September that the application has been successful. The council was awarded £877,000 from the Green Heat Network Fund in March 2025.

The Royal Borough of Kingston (RBK) is constructing their own heat network on the Cambridge Road estate. The report pack states that RBK and SDEN have now formally entered into contracts for SDEN to operate and maintain the new heat network infrastructure.

The report pack states that SDEN is actively exploring the viability of the heat network expansion, with focus being placed on large heat density sites which includes buildings previously identified within Sutton town centre. Discussions are at various stages with the relevant stakeholders for potential connections to existing buildings already constructed and also future planned phases of the London Cancer Hub. SDEN is in ongoing dialogue with the NHS Trust Green Plan Team as the NHS are evaluating decarbonisation solutions for their existing assets. The Croydon University hospital and potentially the St Helier hospital form part of the evaluation.

The report pack states that the SDEN Board of Directors are cognisant that the council has a desire to de-risk future large capital funding of the heat network expansion, and therefore any considerable funding would need to be sourced through an external investment partner. The SDEN Directors are seeking the council's approval to develop an external market investment strategy which would enable SDEN and the council to identify and secure a funding partner to support the company expansion and provide the relevant expertise to realise the future growth of the company. The report pack states that the initial cost to launch such a process would be up to £120,000, which would be funded by the council as the Shareholder.

The Sutton Shareholdings Board will be asked to note the performance update provided in the SDEN Performance Report April - September 2025, the draft Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Ltd Full Annual Accounts for 2024/25, and to agree to seek external investment into SDEN.

Sutton Living Ltd Mid-Year Performance and Finances

The Sutton Shareholdings Board is scheduled to discuss the mid-year performance and finances of Sutton Living Ltd for 2025-26. The agenda for the meeting states that further details on this topic are 'to follow'.