Agenda item

To provide Scrutiny Panel Members with an update on progress for Children with SEND during the Covid outbreak and the SEND Improvement Plan.

Contact Officer: Ronnie Hartley – Head of Educational Safeguarding and Inclusion.

The Panel received an update report in respect of the impact on children and families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) of the Covid 19 public health pandemic. The report also provided an update on progress in relation to the SEND Improvement Plan.

The report set out the challenges faced with regard to increased demand for Education, Health and Care Plans and the subsequent rise in costs. This has led to significant pressure on the ‘High Needs Block’, which can only be tackled collectively across the whole SEND system. To ensure that needs, provision and spend are tightly interlinked the Council need to ensure the SEND system is joined up and easier to navigate for everyone. Kirklees is fully committed to implementing the SEND Reforms and has support from Kirklees Council Cabinet and all partners in the SEND system. It was reported that Kirklees has also invested in the right support to progress the improvement journey at pace, this has included commissioning Impower as an improvement partner to support us in clarifying our collective ambition for children and young people with SEND and appointing a range of professionals who bring a wealth of experience and skills in improving the SEND system and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

As a result of the pandemic, changes to Section 24 of the Children and Families Act had been made by Government which resulted in the Local Authority and commissioning health bodies still being required to carry out Education Health and Care Assessments, undertake Annual Reviews and finalise plans, however if the statutory process takes longer as a direct result of Covid 19, the statutory timescales can be extended to take this into account, but this must be actioned as soon as reasonably practical.

Covid 19 Risk Assessments were required for all children with an EHCP and the report provided an analysis of the risk assessments returned to the Local Authority.

With regard to the SEND 10-point improvement plan which had been developed in October 2019 , it was reported that progress had been achieved across all areas. Details of key updates from the improvement plan were set out in the report.

Questions and comments were invited from Panel Members and the following issues were raised:

·       In response to a question concerning EHCA requests, Ronnie Hartley acknowledged that the initial lockdown period had allowed for more resource to be allocated to annual reviews. It was explained however that when comparing data over the years in respect of this issue, there is a pattern to how resource is utilised.

·       With regard to the threshold for assessment, an undertaking was given to include an analysis of the reasons not to assess as part of a future update report.

·       With regard to the issue of children with SEND attending school, it was acknowledged that parents are anxious about the risks of sending children to school. Work is ongoing on a case by case basis with parents to re-assure parents and build confidence to support an effective transition back into a school setting.

·       In response to a question about how schools will deal with risk assessments, Jo-Anne Sanders referred to recently received revised guidance which is being worked through with school staff, Corporate Health and Safety and the Trade Unions. Collaborative work with neighbouring authorities is also being undertaken in respect of this issue.

·       Ronnie Hartley provided examples of improvements enacted as a result of better strategic decision making, which included sufficiency in respect of data to inform forward planning and analysis of funding bands.

·       In response to a question from Linda Summers, Tom Brailsford confirmed that the voice of parents and carers was integral to the empower work being undertaken to look at outcomes and interventions.

RESOLVED –

The Panel noted the report requested that a future update report include an analysis of figures relating to assessments.