Agenda item

The Cabinet considered the Joint Local Area SEND Inspection – Local Area Action Plan.

In the ensuing debate, the following principal points were raised:

·         The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Education and Skills introduced the report and commented that the rationale for the delegation of the decision to himself concerned the timing of the Stakeholder meeting on 17 July as it would be folly to approve an action plan without their engagement and he wished to receive the input of the Children and Families Scrutiny Group which met on 8 August. He therefore intended to make his decision around 9 August. The SEND Improvement Board had put a lot of work into the action plan. He was confident that working with the CCG, partners, parents and users, the action plan would improve outcomes for children with SEN. Working with parents needed to be the norm to ensure that the right strategies were in place for children and young people

·         The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Health and Well-being commented that everyone was concerned about the shortcomings that had been identified by the Ofsted inspection. However this was a priority issue for all partners not just for the Council including CCGs, Public Health and the NHS. Screening of Privacy and Public Health Impacts would be carried out if appropriate within the improvement plan

·         A member from outside the Cabinet commented that there were a number of concerning points made in the Ofsted/CQC letter, in particular the quality of EHCP plans, the need for a disability register and safeguarding issues surrounding the placements of vulnerable children. The Leader responded that safeguarding was a particular concern and a national issue had developed concerning Councils, particularly from London, placing children elsewhere

·         A member from outside the Cabinet queried the correlation of the advice from the peer review with that of the Ofsted report, the current financial pressures and the role and responsibilities of the education commissioners, whether the Cabinet member would be making his final decision on 9 August, and the role and buy-in of partners. The Leader advised that many of these points would be picked up in the action plan. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained that a Cabinet Member's report would be published in advance of the decision being made in line with normal publishing deadlines and all councillors would be notified

·         The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills added that the only possible delay to his decision might be if anything significant came out of the scrutiny process that would require him to re-write his report. The decision could be called in but he requested that this be avoided to prevent further delay to this process

·         The Director of Children, Families and Communities confirmed that the deadline for the submission of the action plan to Government was 20 August. The Council was well versed in the improvement process as a result of its social care work. The work with the CCGs was crucial in building trust with parents. Based on good evidence and data and great support from public health through the SEND Programme Board, she was confident that by next spring there would be a thorough, detailed and improving picture

·         The Leader commented that this was a service that needed to improve and would improve in partnership with health. There was a financial implication that would need to be addressed at the appropriate time. He had made the point to Government that although standards were being improved, adequate financial support had not been provided to support what was a local issue.   

RESOLVED: that

a)    the Joint local area SEND Inspection that took place 5 – 9 March 2018 and the consequent Ofsted/CQC letter to the CCGs and the Council dated 16 May 2018 be noted;

b)    it be acknowledged that progress is underway on the Written Statement of Action (Action Plan) to show how the agencies will tackle areas for improvement identified by that letter in order to improve outcomes for all children and young people with SEND, by helping them to achieve their full potential; and

c)    the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Education and Skills be  authorised, in the light of the required timescales, to approve the Action Plan on behalf of the Council for sending to Ofsted/CQC.