Issue - meetings

Purpose of the report:

To provide the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee with a progress update on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) self-evaluation and strategy (which is being taken forward as the Additional Needs and Disabilities Strategy, in line with feedback outlined below), including an assessment of current performance, recent progress and next steps.

Witnesses:

Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Education and Learning

Liz Mills, Director – Education and Lifelong Learning

Hayley Connor, Director – Commissioning

Julia Katherine, Assistant Director - Inclusion and Additional Needs

Claire Poole, Interim Chief Executive of Family Voice Surrey

Benedicte Symcox, Former Chief Executive of Family Voice Surrey

Key points raised in the discussion:

1. The Assistant Director introduced the item, noting that the new strategy would be in place from the beginning of 2023, building on a partnership that has been completed. The strategy aims to improve outcomes for children and young people and the experiences of families. The work of the strategy was overseen by the Surrey Additional Needs and Disabilities Partnership Board, which included a range of stakeholders. The former Chief Executive of Family Voice Surrey added that the Board was a collaborative space, and the self-evaluation was an example of co-produced work between partners.

2. The Chairman asked about the options provided to respondents of the parent/carer satisfaction survey. The Assistant Director explained that the survey included a standard five-point scale from ‘very unsatisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’. Parents and carers who had a child with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) were asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with the support their child receives from professionals to support them with their additional needs and/or disability: 46% responded ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ (14% very dissatisfied). A higher proportion of parents and carers who had a child receiving special educational need (SEN) support were satisfied with the support their child receives from their school to support them with their additional needs and/or disability: 52% responded ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ (11% very dissatisfied).
3. The Chairman asked why the appeal rate was higher in Surrey than the national average and what proportion of those were successful. The Assistant Director explained that the number of statutory assessments had increased , which impacted the number of appealable decisions. One potential reason for an appeal was a lack of specialist provision, which was being addressed by the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) capital programme. The Director for Education and Lifelong Learning added that of the 578 appeals made up to the end of the last academic year, 265 were ongoing at the time of recording and 233 of those did not end up being heard by the tribunal or were resolved. The reasons for this were carefully monitored. Of those that were heard (79), approximately 50% were awarded in favour of the family. Service managers were trained in restorative approaches and tried to work with families to prevent appeals from occurring. The service had published ‘Ordinarily Available Provision’ guidance to set clear expectations about the range of support that could be made without the need for a statutory plan.

4. A Member asked how the quality of EHCPs were monitored. The Assistant Director responded that there was a team of quality managers who co-ordinated a multi-agency audit process to monitor the results. An audit tool was used to audit a representative number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38