Agenda item

The Panel will consider a report and presentation on ‘The Big Plan’ - Preparation for Adulthood (PfA).

Contact:        Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director

The Panel considered a report on ‘The Big Plan’ – Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) presented by Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director for Learning and Early Support.  The report outlined what Preparation for Adulthood was, as set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice (2015) and provided an overview of the work that the Local Area Partnership was undertaking to improve, as part of the SEND transformation. The Panel was asked to note the progress made so far and the planned next steps.

Jo-Anne Sanders presented the highlights of the report which included:

• Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) meant being healthy, having care needs met, educational opportunities, entering the world of work or volunteering, being part of society, and enjoying leisure and social activities.
• As a partnership there were statutory responsibilities to remove barriers to achieving this preparation.
• High quality resources for parents, carers and young people were available online to provide an understanding of PfA.
• Transition from childhood to adulthood involved different health and social care services, and possible changes in educational or work setting.
• The Local Government Agency had provided advice to help prioritise, and develop services, support and sufficiency for young people.
• Suggestions from parents and the Parent Carer Forum had included additional learning opportunities for young people, help with their housing needs and information on their rights regarding finances and benefits.
• A ‘Preparing for the Future’ event had been held with council services and partners, and output from the event had fed into the refreshed PfA workstream under the SEND Transformation Plan.
• Feedback from young people had informed the plan, specifically with regard to providing for those young people who had been in receipt of some SEND support but had not received an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
• The Inspecting Local Authorities Children’s Services (ILACS) inspection in June 2025 acknowledged the good practice in PfA, including Project Search’s supported internships and Real Employment’s help in finding the right jobs for young people.
• ILACS identified PfA as an area for further improvement.
• ‘Big Plan 3’ incorporated focused activity around PfA over the next 12 months, including a board refresh and the convening of a working group involving partners including parents.
• Positive feedback was given by the Peer Review regarding self-evaluation, culture, the new governance, the Local Offer Live, examples of co-production, personalised transition support, job coaching and the enthusiastic participation of all those involved in providing PfA services.
• Areas for action included establishing and publishing a clear pathway, from Year 9, putting in place collaborative transition teams (transition huddles). Gap analysis and a commissioning review was recommended, and it was suggested that good practice be built upon with supported internships.
• The review team had also learned from Kirklees and asked for the PfA Board’s terms of reference.
• More support from the RISE partnership would be available in March, with co-production workshops, training for social workers, and the gathering of young people’s voice.

In answer to questions, the Panel were informed that:

·       Calderdale and Kirklees Careers monitored data on young people which enabled detailed analysis to be undertaken. It was a statutory duty to collect and monitor this information. Regular updates allowed detailed planning, and informed bespoke work with young people who were not in education, employment or training.

·       Successful PfA would mean that young people were physically and mentally healthy, able to pursue their dreams, understand their rights, build toward independence and have access to a personalised pathway to education, training and employment.

·       Qualitative measures could be recorded on EHCPs for some aspects, such as independent travel and work experience.

·       There would be a focus on transition from childhood to adulthood, involving teams that straddled adults and children’s services.

·       The Director of Adults and Children’s Services communicated regularly about the projected number of young people who may require support as adults so that sufficiency was prepared for the future according to need.

RESOLVED –

1.    That the report be noted and Jo-Anne Sanders be thanked for her contributions.

2.    That the final report on Preparation for Adulthood would be shared with the Panel.