Agenda item

The Director of Education and Early Help, Worcestershire Children First (WCF) had been invited to the meeting to update the Panel on the Joint Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Written Statement of Action/Improvement Plan.

By way of introduction, the following main points were made:

·       The joint Ofsted/CQC local area inspection had taken place in March 2018 to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the 2014 Children and Families Act in relation to SEND.

·       The Written Statement of Action (WSoA) represented a whole system response involving schools and educational providers, health, and children’s social care.

·       Nationally, more than half of areas had now been inspected and, of these, half had been required to produce a WSoA.

·       Worcestershire’s WSoA had been signed off in August 2018 and had been monitored since by the DfE and NHS England.  To date, there had been 5 monitoring visits, the most recent being in October 2019.

·       The DfE and NHS England recognised that good progress was being made but there was still work to do.  Following the inspection, a particular concern had related to the capacity of management to cope with the changes needed.  At the latest monitoring visit, the DfE adviser had been confident that management capacity had improved with recruitment to a number of posts recently completed including the Assistant Director for SEND.

·       An Ofsted/CQC re-visit (effectively a re-inspection) was expected before the end of the academic year.  This would be a ‘no notice’ inspection involving a team of inspectors assessing progress against key concerns.  If further work was required, the WSoA would be adjusted and further monitoring visits would follow.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·       A letter had been received from the DfE in August 2018 to confirm that the WSoA was fit for purpose.

·       Following the monitoring visits, although feedback was given, no formal written report was provided.  The Director had been given the DfE Adviser’s draft notes giving professional observations.  This was very different to Ofsted monitoring visits which were more formal.

·       In response to a question about the parent/carer survey referred to in the agenda report, Members were informed that this had been carried out by Families in Partnership, Worcestershire’s official parent/carer forum, which had been established as a robust way of getting the voice of parents and carers.  The July survey was a prototype which had been shared with approximately 150 families, of which around 50% had responded.  There had been a range of feedback, including some negative comments relating to the Umbrella Pathway.  Members requested that the feedback from this prototype survey be shared with the Panel and the Director of Education and Early Help agreed to follow this up with Families in Partnership.

·       Members were informed that the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) had received an additional £50k in funding from the DfE but there had been strict criteria as to how the money could be spent.  For example, SENDIASS was not allowed to use this money to employ additional staff.  The Panel was advised that the SENDIASS Manager had recently given a presentation to the SEND Improvement Board and it was agreed that the presentation slides would be circulated to Panel Members.

·       Members were informed that the CCG had provided additional funding for a young person’s adviser and this was recognised as a positive commitment from the CCG.

·       In relation to the quality of practice across the local area, it was suggested that there were two main areas of reflection.  Firstly, in relation to the planning and review of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), it was important to recognise the importance of timeliness and ensure a customer focus by listening to the families.  Secondly, it was essential to make sure that staff really understood SEN assessment and planning.  The service was not yet seen as a profession and had evolved over time.  For example, it was only recently that professional development and training had emerged as something that all staff should undertake.

·       A School Level Inclusion Profile had recently been developed as a tool for schools to self-assess on their level of inclusion.  This was a method of recording management information and a way of challenging mainstream schools.  The Profile had now been sent to all schools (including academies) and there had been a range of feedback, with a generally positive response.  It was agreed that an example of the School Level Inclusion Profile would be shared with Panel Members.

·       In response to a question about how schools would respond if management information highlighted an issue, Members were informed that this would depend on the school.  An inclusive school might already be aware, whereas others may need external help.  The Profile was a useful tool to provide support and challenge.  Although the Profiles were not made public, some of the data used would already be publicly available such as Ofsted status and number on roll.

·       It was confirmed that the draft notes from the monitoring visits would be shared with the Panel when available.

·       It was confirmed that it should be possible for the Service to achieve 100% of Education Health and Care Plans being issued within 20 weeks, as this would meet the statutory timescale.  In July 2019 63% of EHC plans were issued within 20 weeks.  The next focus would be to use real time data and management information to improve the process.  It was confirmed that an EHCP could still be issued while officers were waiting for certain pieces of information.

·       In response to a question about whether any one particular contributor was causing a hold up, Members were informed that assessments which were required just before the summer holidays could impact on performance data.  It was confirmed that health colleagues were keen to work with social care and had shown a willingness to accept that if there was an issue in a specific area (such as Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy) there was now an arena for it to be brought to the table.  It was suggested that the issue of timeliness may be something that the Scrutiny Panel may wish to look at further in the future.

·       A colleague from Healthwatch asked about the new support model to reduce waiting times for the Umbrella Pathway.  Members were reminded that the latest data had been shared at the last meeting of the Panel.  The new approach was not yet sufficiently embedded to see an improvement.

·       A Member asked for further clarification on which service areas were still causing concern or were in need of further improvement.  It was confirmed that the Team was in the process of RAG rating the WSoA and this would be shared publicly when complete.

·       Management capacity had been a concern.  It was confirmed that an additional Assistant Director and two Group Managers had been recruited and would be in post by 1 January.  Leadership would be the key to improvement going forward.

·       It was important for all parties to have a clear understanding of joint commissioning responsibilities especially for children with the most complex needs

·       The service also had a fragile relationship with parents and carers and there was a need to fully understand this.

·       Concerns highlighted following the monitoring visit included assessment and planning timescales, and reviews of EHCPs.  There was evidence that a great deal of work had been done with mainstream schools but there was still more to do.  Across the board, the service had improved but there remained a need to keep focusing and improving to develop a better understanding of the whole system.

·       A question was asked about how long over 20 weeks children and young people were waiting for EHCPs to be completed.  Although this data was not available at the meeting, the Director of Education and Early Help agreed to circulate it following the meeting.

·       Members were reminded that there were national outcomes in relation to Preparing for Adulthood.  It was important to ensure that young people were able to access appropriate training and employment opportunities.  Outcomes also covered health, community and friendship.  Preparation should start from the earliest stage.  It was agreed that national outcomes would be circulated to the Panel.

·       Members were reminded about the successful co-produced recommissioning of overnight short breaks provision, where parents and carers had been involved to identify possible options.  Proposals had been approved by Cabinet in September 2019.

It was agreed that a further update would be considered by the Scrutiny Panel in 6 months and the timeliness of ECHP would be added to the Panel’s Work Programme.