Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/07), attached.

(Councillors A Leadbetter and L Samuel attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee.)

The Committee received two reports, firstly, of the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures which provided an update on the Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Transformation Programme (CS/24/07) and, secondly, a joint report to Cabinet of the Chief Executive, Director of Finance & Public Value and Director of Children and Young People’s Futures relating to the SEND Safety Valve Agreement (DFP/24/44).

The Council and its partners agreed in September 2023 to a new system-wide approach to delivering improvements through the SEND Transformation Programme, as set out under seven key strands outlined in Appendix A to the first report:

:

1.    Strategy

2.    Inclusion & Early Help (Education)

3.    Preparation for Adulthood

4.    SEN Statutory processes

5.    Sufficiency

6.    Financial management & Placement Value

7.    Multi agency pathways

The first report provided an update on the Sufficiency strand and on the overall progress made since the previous Committee meeting.

As to the second report, which was considered by Cabinet on 13 March 2024, but which was embargoed until the afternoon of 7 March, the Cabinet received in December a report on the Council’s proposed submission to the Department for Education (DfE) as part of the SEND Safety Valve Programme. The Council received confirmation on 7 March after 4pm that the Minister had made an offer for the Council to enter into a Safety Valve Agreement with the DfE for a period of nine years on the terms set out in the second report.

The report stated this was a significant achievement and opportunity for the Council that not only provided the framework for service improvement but also put the Council back onto a sustainable financial footing by ensuring services were delivered within the annual ringfenced grant for the High Needs Block and by reducing the cumulative SEND deficit to zero by the end of the term.

In summary, the second report stated that the cumulative SEND deficit could reach £207 million at 31 March 2026 before it then stabilised.  The DfE had agreed to contribute £95 million to this deficit with the remainder coming from various sources, including interest earned on the DfE contribution, as detailed in the report.

Members’ questions and discussion points in relation to the two reports included:

-       Confirmation that Cabinet had at its meeting on 13 March agreed that the Authority enter into the Safety Valve Agreement with the DfE.

-       The DfE contribution of £95 million would be released to the Authority yearly over a nine year period until 2031/32, dependent on key stages being met within the safety valve management plan. If events did not happen as planned, the Authority would enter back into further negotiations with the DfE.

-       Safety valve agreements reached with other national Local Authorities and the DfE each varied in the level of support being made available.

-       Concern that cuts should not be made to services and assurance that mitigations were in place to manage this.

-       That increased local sufficiency would avoid the need for expensive out of county placements.

-       Concern that despite the DfE contribution the SEND deficit would continue to rise year on year. 

-       Important to note that in-year savings towards the cumulative SEND deficit would be from the overall Council budget and not just from within Children’s Services.

-       The NHS-led project Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools was progressing well, as was the provision of resource bases programme.

-       Retention of educational psychologists had stabilised and a further three had been recruited to start in September; and a significant improvement had been made in the number of children currently awaiting an assessment.

The Committee agreed to future updates being scheduled and aligned to the seven strands of the SEND Transformation Programme.

[The presentation given at the meeting is attached.]