Agenda item

Purpose of the report: 

To update the Board on progress to date of the Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Programme and recommend opportunities for further engagement

Declarations of interest:

None.

Witnesses:

Peter-John Wilkinson, Assistant Director for Schools and Learning

Liz Mills, SEND Strategic Programme Lead

Jo Holtom, Senior Strategy and Policy Development Manager

Fran Morgan, Family Voice Representative

Andrea Collins, Family Voice Representative

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Board was informed that Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) overlapped on all levels of education, and was subject to concerns for the Council around aspects such as; the quality of service and support received children and young people; the speed of assessing need and delivering services, and implementing of recent changes to legislation around SEND.

2.    The Board was informed that the cost of providing SEND support in Surrey was higher than the national average. The Board raised concerns over the costs for provisions and requested a further update on the cost of delivering statutory responsibilities through residential SEND provisions.

3.    The Board was informed that new government legislation introduced in 2014 raised the upper age cut-off for SEND provisions to 25 years. The Board raised concerns around what additional resource would be required in order to support young people with SEND, aged 16-25.

4.    The Board asked whether the Council will reach the 2018 deadline to transfer SEND statements to Education, Health and Care Plans. Officers assured Members that staff are working on target to meet the 2018 deadlines.

The Board was informed that the legislation brought additional responsibilities for the Council without significant additional resource being made available from central Government. Officers commented this created a challenge in implementing the required changes. As a result, the deadline for customer assessments being completed within the mandated 20 weeks was currently being missed.

5.    The Board was informed that within the Education budgets, some money has been reassigned from mainstream schools for the funding of SEND projects. This decision was made so to encourage good change in the provision and support for SEND customers. Alongside this, a programme is being drawn up to greater improve SEND inclusion in mainstream schools. The programme will help support the SEND strategy across all education agencies.

6.    Further Education colleges have responded positively to future changes and implications of the new legislation, and had been very supportive with officers. The Board was informed that the SEND programme aimed to bring together secondary schools and colleges with their SEND provisions.
Surrey’s current Special Education Colleges were working well in partnership and there were pilot schemes being run to test out potential future pathways for the service in further education.

7.    Officers highlighted that within the SEND strategy programme will be a customer experience work-stream. Members suggested that the Resident Experience Board could engage with this piece of work and feed back to the Education and Skills Board in due course.

8.    Members commented that health and school partners should meet with the Wellbeing and Social Care sub-group to help ensure that all aspects of future SEND provisions are covered effectively.

Recommendations:

·         That a further report is presented to the Board demonstrating analysis of statutory requirements and the comparative financial costs for residential SEND provisions.

·         That officers provide further information on the logistical and financial challenges of the additional responsibilities related to 16-25 young people with SEND needs.

·         That the Chairman of the Resident Experience Board engages with the Customer Experience work-stream of the SEND programme, and reports back to the Education and Skills Board on progress.

·         That health and school partners in the SEND programme are invited to meet with the Wellbeing and Social Care sub-group, with additional representation when reported back.