Issue - meetings

The Board received the outcome of the Joint Local Area Inspection of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) for Halton.

Further to the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission’s joint inspections on the effectiveness of local areas in implementing the SEND reforms, Halton was inspected between 27 and 31 March 2017.  The report outlined the areas of focus of the inspection and its main findings. 

It was noted that in order to respond to the areas identified for development, a local area joint action plan had been set.  Members were advised that this would be monitored and reviewed by the SEN Strategic Partnership Board and a progress report would be provided to this Board in 6 months’ time.

Members queried the following in relation to the inspection:

Appendix A referred to an increase in the number of children and young people with social, emotional and mental health issues, was there an improvement on the waiting list time to see a therapist?

It was advised that there was a review of services for children with social, emotional and mental health issues.  In addition a pilot had been undertaken with a number of schools to identify children at risk of absence from school due to social, emotional and mental health issues.

Although there had been staff shortages in the Bridgewater Centre, the vacancies for Occupational Therapists were being filled so it was hoped that these would bring down the waiting list time.

Exclusions seemed to be mostly SEND pupils – was there a tendency for non-LA schools to exclude SEND pupils more often?

The new exclusion framework states the tariffs in place for excluding pupils and provides schools with incentives to keep the children.  The LA is asking for schools to evidence the steps taken up to the point of exclusion and asking them to advise the LA of the of the problems being experienced, so that officers can visit the school and child in question and perhaps intervene before the exclusion occurs.

Do we have the capacity to deliver the Action Plan discussed, given the amount of cuts to the budgets?

The cost of specialist education in Halton was 2.4m which would reduce considerably following the Government’s cap on the funding that could be transferred from the schools budget to the high needs budget. Additional funding would have to be requested from the Halton Schools Forum and Secretary of State for Education.  A response from the LCR as a whole to the Secretary of State for Education was suggested.

RESOLVED:  That the Board

1)    Note the outcome of the Joint Local Area SEND inspection;

2)    Approve the development of a Joint Action Plan to address the areas of development identified by the inspection; and

3)    Request that a report on progress in 6 months’ time be presented to the Board,