Agenda item

The Board considered a report and presentation of the Strategic Director – People, advising on the progress and updates in relation to the Halton Local Area SEND Strategy 2021-25 and current pressures.

Members were advised that throughout 2021-22 Halton, in common with other local authority areas, had seen an unprecedented growth in demand for Education Health and Care Needs Assessments.  The number of applications for EHC Needs Assessments reached 353 for the academic year in July 2022.  This represented a 35% increase in demand, presented in the table in paragraph 3.1.2.

The report outlined the impacts that the increased demand was making across the service.  Considerable pressure was being placed on the capacity in both the SEN Assessment Team and those services that provided advice and assessments that contributed towards developing EHCP’s, such as the Educational Psychology Service, Speech and Language Therapy Services, Occupational and Physio Therapy services. 

It was reported that these capacity issues had resulted in a decline in the completion rate for EHCP’s, which was due to three main factors; these were described in the report.  Further, Members were advised that the growth in demand for EHCP’s was placing huge stress on the availability of specialist provision in Halton.  Paragraph 3.2.7 gave details of capital developments that had been put in place over the last 3 years to help accommodate the increase in the numbers and complexities of pupils with SEND, as all specialist places and resource bases were oversubscribed for 2022.

The report made comparisons on the current pressures with national data and neighbouring authorities; gave information on funding / grants being made available; and presented information on the new SEND Sufficiency Strategy currently being consulted upon.

In response to Members questions the following information was given:

·         Alternative provision plans for Key Stages 1 and 2 – officers were currently working with schools to help understand the gaps here and what was being accessed presently.  It was too early to decide now the depth of work required.

·         Career paths were built into a child’s EHCP from age 14, however it was felt that this should be sooner and as early as leaving primary school;

·         A ‘flightpath’ was more about aligning curriculums for children leaving school and going onto further education – so a college for example is better able to understand a pupil’s need better;

·         A large number of headteachers had left the profession lately, which had provided some positives and some negatives – positives in a creative way with new ideas and ways of doing things and negatives such as not knowing the area and how things were done in Halton;

·         Travel training support was provided for those students who needed it;

·         One Members query regarding being excluded from travel and access to work schemes would be followed up outside the meeting as the information was not to hand at the meeting;

·         DfE data showed that the sector where Halton trailed national rates of inclusion in relation to the proportion of pupils with an EHCP was secondary academies.  Conversations regarding this were being had with them, as well as offering support, training and consultancy work, so that there will be consistency amongst the SEND provision across all secondary academy schools in the future.

RESOLVED:  That the Board receives the presentation.