Agenda item

Purpose of the report:

To provide the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee with an update on progress in implementing the recommendations of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Task Group which was established to evaluate the support provided to children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

Witnesses:

Julie Iles, Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning                               

Liz Mills, Director – Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture

Jane Winterbone, Assistant Director – Education  

Mary Burguieres, Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation

Key points raised during the discussion:

1. The Chairman invited Cllr Chris Botten, Chairman of the former Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Task Group, to chair the discussion.   

2. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation thanked the SEND Task Group for its report and stated that its recommendations helped guide improvement work around the support provided for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). The Assistant Director stated that when the Task Group was established in October 2019, the Graduated Response (GR) approach, the Schools Alliance for Excellence (SAfE), and engagement with Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) were in their infancy; the Learner’s Single Point of Access (L-SPA) and the Early Intervention Fund did not exist; contracting arrangements for independent schools were not yet robust; and the Service had only just agreed Phase 1 of its capital investment programme. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Service had made progress on eight of the nine recommendations put forth by the Task Group. The ninth recommendation was to provide a progress update on actions that took place to implement each of the Task Group’s recommendations, to the Select Committee.

3. The Cabinet Member for All Age Learning thanked all school leaders who worked tirelessly during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. She commented that the school relationships team and area schools officers were fantastic in dealing with schools and ensuring that Public Health colleagues were providing sufficient advice and guidance.

4. A Membernoted that school attendance of SEN learners during the first national lockdown in Surrey was higher than the national average and asked how this was achieved. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation informed the Select Committee that 23% of children in Surrey with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) attended school during the first lockdown in Spring 2020, compared to 16% nationally. A number of things were done to achieve this: the GR Advisers ascertained which children were capable of attending school and undertook risk assessments for all learners with EHCPs or those who were considered vulnerable; the Service worked closely with schools, particularly specialist schools, to ensure they received priority access to personal protective equipment (PPE); the Service ensured director-level oversight of children attending school; and needs were responded to in a way that ensured parents’ confidence that their children were safe in school.

5. A Member asked what percentage of SEN learners were attending school currently. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation stated that attendance was approximately 85% because some children with SEN were required to stay at home to self-isolate. For that reason, this figure was lower than that for the proportion of children without an EHCP who were attending school.

6. A Member asked what extra challenges schools might face with providing support for children with SEND in 2021. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation stated that mental wellbeing issues resulting from ‘Long Covid’ and bereavement were expected, and the Service had undertaken significant work to provide emotional wellbeing and mental health support and frequently wrote to all parents to highlight the support available for them and their children. The Cabinet Member for All Age Learning explained that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to their need for routine and certainty. There had been some placement breakdowns for ASD children during the pandemic. There was a new contract for ASD outreach support for the learning, language needs, and social, emotional wellbeing and mental health of children with ASD and the Cabinet Member was confident that the Service had adequate foresight of what it needed to provide in 2021.

7. A Member asked how the availability of Early Intervention Funding was promoted to education settings. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation responded that since its April 2020 launch, the fund was actively promoted to early years settings through the weekly schools’ bulletin and SENCO network. The fund had been accessed by over 250 settings in a variety of ways. Promotion of the fund was to be expanded so that other professionals could understand how the fund could be used to support children. The Cabinet Member informed the Select Committee that over 620 children had benefited from the Early Intervention Fund since April 2020.

8. A Vice-Chairman asked how future demand for local-area specialist provision had been modelled and whether the SEND Capital Programme would deliver a sufficient number of additional places. The Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning stated that the demand forecast for September 2021 was based on previous transition rates of children with an EHCP plan who moved from mainstream to specialist placements at Key Stage levels. There were plans to create 485 places in the council’s own provision, both in special schools and special resource units, to prevent a reliance on placements in the non-maintained and independent sector. The Service was also consulting on the bandings across special schools to ensure the practice of care was consistent and well known. The Service also contracted a specific forecasting provider which undertook more rigorous demand modelling than was possible in previous years. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformations stated that undertaking the Schedule 2 agreements for 1,143 children in independent schools concluded that their needs could be met in maintained specialist schools. Thus, the council was confident that it could commission and invest in its own maintained specialist provision to expand its capacity and reduce reliance on the independent sector.

9. The Vice-Chairman asked how work undertaken with London Southbank University had improved understandings of service demand. The Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation stated that the joint work had improved the understanding of autism and enabled the council to ensure that its maintained provision was meeting the needs of ASD children in Surrey. The Cabinet Member informed the Select Committee that the work with Southbank University was also informing the All-Age Autism Strategy.

10. A Vice-Chairman noted that the council was consulting on changes to the way in which SEND support was funded and asked why the Select Committee was not invited to participate in or contribute to the framing of this consultation. The Cabinet Member stated that the consultation was regarding a small element of special needs funding. The total amount of net funding in the Dedicated Schools Grant was just under £500m: the schools directly received £271m; central services retained approximately £6m; early years received approximately £75m; and there was £144m funding within the High Needs Block. The funding in respect of which the council was consulting with the Schools Forum related to additional discretionary funding received by schools, which comprised less than 1% of overall funding. This discretionary element was currently used along with independent personal support budgets (the second element of the consultation with the Schools Forum). It was proposed that this funding be used by clusters of schools to support children with EHCPs. It was to give clusters flexibility in respect of the support they provided, for example by enabling them to employ speech and language therapists. The current formula had received agreement from the Schools Forum and responding to the consultation on the proposed changes was described as business as usual for the Schools Forum. The consultation was published online, and the council was asking headteachers and governing bodies to examine it prior to discussion at the Schools Forum in January 2021. Any decisions would be made after that with input from the Schools Forum. A paper went to Cabinet on the 24 November 2020 and the Select Committee had the ability to call-in decisions within its remit.

11. The Vice-Chairman requested that the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Directorate apprise the Select Committee of all consultations prior to their occurrence.  

12. A Member requested that a progress update be reported to the Select Committee within 6 to12 months.

Recommendations:

1. The Select Committee notes the significant work underway to implement the SEND transformation programme and the recommendations of the SEND Task Group; and the Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning report with a progress update to the Select Committee in September 2021.

2. That the Director – Education, Learning and Culture share the re-designed outreach offer, once it is complete, with the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee.

3. That the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Directorate apprise the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture Select Committee of all consultations as soon as practicable.