Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 10 January 2022). Further details are available on the Council's website. Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.
Minutes:
The Chairman reported that 4 members of the public had requested to speak at the meeting. A summary is shown below of the key points raised by the participants.
Anne Duddington
· Anne Duddington advised that she wished to speak to the Panel to give the perspective of a family carer whose son has a learning disability and complex health and social care needs. She had asked to speak in relation to All-Age Disability proposal, and specifically wished to address the aspects which focused on preparation for adulthood and the Young Adults Team (YAT).
· She praised the work of the Council’s Young Adults Team with their firm focus on preparation for adult services and their broad knowledge and expertise, as well as their implementation of the Mental Capacity Act and adult safeguarding. She highlighted that the work of the Team had been recognised both locally and nationally.
· She expressed dismay at the proposals to locate the YAT team in Children’s services and furthermore to disband it into locality teams and felt that the risks associated with a restructure had not been adequately explored. She was also concerned at a lack of an equality impact statement considering the impact of significant change could be lifelong.
· She highlighted that the proposals appeared to be at an early stage, with many unanswered questions and apparently no feasibility study undertaken to conclude that the proposed model should be taken forward. Also, the co-location of some Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) staff in the YAT did not seem to have been considered.
Alison Price
· Alison Price advised she was a family carer, having a daughter with learning disabilities and that she had come to speak about the All-Age Disability proposals particularly the plans for the YAT. She highlighted that 10 years ago she had had an active involvement as one of the family carers on the Working Party which had helped to design the YAT.
· She highlighted that the YAT was held in high regard by family carers and had achieved regional and national recognition for its work.
· She was concerned that the proposals would disperse the team, lead to a loss of identity and expertise and destabilise the quality of the service provided. She felt that moving the team into children’s services was contrary to the needs of families. She stressed that families needed to turn towards adult services as soon as possible as support for employment, housing and such like were all catered for within that service.
· She pointed out that the report focussed on the benefits of the proposals, but not of the risks. She felt the proposal should be rejected to allow the effective YAT service to continue.
Elena Round
· Elena Round had indicated that she wished to speak to the Panel about the outcome of the Ofsted report the previous week. She felt it would be prudent to temporarily delay any restructuring of the SEND provision until such time as the Ofsted report findings had been fully considered and an action plan drawn up to positively address the failings.
· She explained that her son has severe complex disabilities and when they moved to Worcestershire in 2018, he had a detailed Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) in place. This Council had then failed in its duties regarding this plan and had issued a new EHCP which removed certain therapies which her son had benefitted from previously. She had taken the Council to a tribunal and had been successful. She suggested that many carers had also been affected by mismanagement.
· She queried why staffing levels were so low and why it seemed to be difficult for the Council to retain staff. She also challenged the Council as to why it wanted to spend money on external fees to fight parents.
· She felt the Ofsted report showed that the fundamental issues were still the same as in 2018, so there had been no improvement in that time, which she found to be unacceptable.
Katrina Kear-Wood
· Katrina Kear-Wood advised that she was a Mum of two children, both of which had SEND. She thanked the Worcestershire Children First as there had been some improvement in recent times. She stressed, however, that she had spent 5 years battling the system and felt that neither child had received a suitable education.
· She felt that many children were failed when it came to the stage of needing an ECHP. She suggested that WCF had a disregard for the law, ignored timescales, put barriers in place and failed with respect to parents’ legal and representation rights.
· She questioned what WCF meant when it was said they were listening, and she questioned whether they understand the signs of failure referred to above?
· She highlighted that WCF was losing staff and asked what was being done about this? She had herself been a SENCO in another authority and she was astounded by the failures displayed by WCF. Children’s needs were not being met and many children were lost to the system.
The Chairman thanked all the speakers and advised them that they would receive a written response to the points they had raised.