Agenda item

Report of the Head of Education and Learning (CS/18/20), attached. 

(Councillor Biederman declared a personal interest in this matter by virtue of having a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan)

The Committee received an update Report from the Head of Education and Learning (CS/18/20) outlining the specific challenges faced by the local authority and the action being taken to mitigate these risks.  Since 2014, SEND 0-25 had operated under the new SEND Code of Practice which brought together joint responsibility of education, health and care services to identify and plan to meet the needs of children with special educational needs (SEN).  In Devon, an SEND Improvement Board monitored the joint responsibilities across the services and how these aligned within Devon’s SEND Strategy.

Key points raised within the Report included:

·         a 10% increase from September 2017 in the number of children with an EHCP, with data reporting 4093 EHCPs at January 2018;

·         educational outcomes for children with SEN were higher than the national average and judged Good or Better by Ofsted;

·         all transfers from Statements to EHCPs were completed within DfE timescales;

·         feedback received from families was generally positive.

The Head of Service explained that current issues related to the First Assessment Process which was under considerable pressure and had resulted in delays in completing assessments within the statutory 20-week timescale.  This in part was due to each child requiring professional advice to process their assessment, which had to come from at least an Educational Psychologist, Health and Care Professionals.  Where one piece of information/advice was returned late, the plan could not be completed and the whole timescale was delayed. As a result, investment had been made to increase staff capacity and intensive monitoring had been put in place to ensure the impact of this investment was visible.

Discussion points with Members and Officers included:

·         the quality of communication with parents;

·         the number of special schools available in Devon (currently 10) with approximately 1,000 spaces, all of which were already filled for the start of September 2018;

·         the need to expand current Special Schools and the number of places available;

·         ongoing work with mainstream schools and the Devon Inclusion Project to provide necessary support for children with SEN to avoid Assessment and the need to attend a Special School;

·         issues with ICT around the Council’s new phone system which was hindering parents’ ability to contact the 0-25 team, as it did not notify parents when a member of staff was engaged or that they were in a queue;

·         the need to engage with parents and young people to understand how to make the process of obtaining an EHCP more streamlined and easier to access; and

·         an update on the progress of the Dawlish Federation of Special Schools merger, which would open in September 2018; Members and Officers recommended a site visit in the autumn to further understand the running of a special school.

It was MOVED by Councillor Aves, SECONDED by Councillor Hannaford, and

RESOLVED that a Task Group be set up to look into the process of Education, Health and Care Plans.