Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from committee members - The Rev'd Tobie Osmond Church of England Diocesean Representative (voting on education matters), Swavek Nowakiewicz and Cllr John Hunt.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Cllr Nicholson mentioned her school governorship being in the registry of interest but wished particularly to mention that she’s the chairman of governors of a group of schools expecting to have a SEND unit in the mainstream schools next year. Mentioned in relation to Agenda Item 8.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

It was resolved that the minutes need to contain more details. Additional information requested to be added to last meeting’s minutes with respect to Agenda Item 10 - Somerset Schools' Assessment and Attainment.

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

There were no questions asked, statements made or petitions presented.

To receive an update from the Service Manager, Governance Scrutiny. To assist the discussion, the following documents are attached:-

(a)  The Committee’s work programme

(b)  The Committee’s outcome tracker

Please use the following links to view the latest Somerset Council Forward Plans and Executive Forward Plan of planned key decisions that have been published on the Council’s website:

Somerset Council Forward Plans

Somerset Council Executive Forward Plan

The Committee received and noted the Committee’s current work programme, outcome tracker and the Executive Forward Plan of planned key decisions in the coming months including Executive meetings.

No forward dates mentioned in the plan due to corporate calendar still being in the draft stage, due to be finalised in May’s Annual General Meeting.

• A member wished to bring wait times for counselling for school children to the committee’s forward plan and was advised by the Chair to clarify the level of counselling or level of support outside of the meeting to formally add it to the programme.
• Cllr Heather Shearer, Lead Member for Children and Education, highlighted that the committee could benefit from looking at the services already available to understand what is on offer currently. It was noted that the mental health support teams in schools is an NHS funded initiative which we collaborate on.  But it might be worthwhile considering if someone from the NHS or from CAMS might attend this committee.
• The Chair questioned the two senior members of the leadership team to clarify what the agenda for the next meeting is going to be since there have been no recommendations – was advised that Claire Winter, Executive Director of Children, Families and Education is compiling a list of items that would be circulated soon.
• The Chair reiterated that all suggestions from all the members of committee, the officers and the members of public are welcome to this committee as the forward work programme is an opportunity to help and direct these meetings wherever possible and to hold the service accountable.
• The Chair and Vice-Chair are very keen to be involved with the decision-making process at the earliest opportunity. The Chair wishes for this committee to not just look at the things happening currently but also be prepared for things that might happen within the service.
• The officers mentioned that the policy agenda, currently, is extremely fast paced from a governance perspective. They are willing and keen to engage with scrutiny and value the contributions of this committee. The challenge for everyone involved is the timing and the intensity of preparation of some of the papers, because for something to come in the public domain, it will be picked up by the press where it is contentious, and they need to make sure the timing of that is right.
• The officers, once again, reiterated that the service is struggling with major capacity issues and that there is Council-wide conversation to be had surrounding signs offs on time to provide clearance.
• It was noted that the committee can hold informal workshops between formal Scrutiny meetings to progress further and it was agreed that the committee will have a workshop with the senior officers to discuss the forward plan for this committee.

To receive a presentation on month 10 budget monitoring.

The Chair invited Christian Evans, Head of Business Partnering to give the committee an update on the Children's Budget Monitoring Update for month 10.

The Chair invited the members of the committee to ask any questions relating to the budget monitoring for month 10. The following points were discussed:

• What do you mean by mainstream in the DSG deficit forecast? – in the context of spending, it's specifically referring to cost of plans (EHCPs). If that standard band is determined not to be sufficient to meet the cost of the provisions written in the EHCP, the school can approach the local authority for an additional top up, which we call the cost of plan, which is resulting in the significant overspend. In effect that's partly a good news story in that the children are getting assessed for the level of need and support, they need to be able to progress to mainstream settings. We have a significant number of children who are in mainstream schools and the costs associated with that can be significant.
• A member highlighted that for most Councils, any form of underspend on SEND transport is very good and that we may have not acknowledged that as much as we could have done. Most Councils are struggling with their transport budget and are going over budget. So, we do need to acknowledge that is an excellent piece of work that's been done this year.
• Is it possible to get the DSG figures to be presented as cost per thousand children? The figures look like a huge percentage is being caused by mainstream rather than independent non maintained schools. But if we look at that on a per head case, we can see that the cost for an independent non maintained is much higher than perhaps what we're putting into our mainstream schools. The way that this data is presented is not potentially giving us that full story. The officers reassured that these figures are available to view and can be provided.
• A member requested that the data be presented in a more accessible manner, i.e., better labelled tables etc and was told that the terminology is based on the guidelines from Section 151 officer, and it is important for consistency in all finance reports. But we can tailor the way of presenting.
• Are the budgeted figures reasonable and how did we come to those figures? Are we deliberately budgeting low in order to give us savings that are unrealistic to achieve at the end of the year? - The budgeted figure for 73 is based on what was assumed by the senior officers at the time taking into consideration things like homes to horizons where the houses come on board, so therefore there should be less in residential placements, less unregistered placements. Also, some work, that the service did with people too around what the assumption should be for 24/25?
• For 25/26, we went down to how many children we had in each of those different areas  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To receive an update on the final budget for Children, Families and Education, as a continuation of the previous agenda item.

The Chair invited the Head of Business Partnering to give the committee to provide some headline figures for the 25/25 budget. The following were mentioned:

• Somerset Council budget 25/26 £622.089m
• Exceptional Financial Support required of £43.000m to balance budget
• Budget gap 26/27 circa £100.000m
• Budget assurance statements signed by ELT
• Total Children’s 2025/26 net budget of £159.493m
• A net budget increase of £16.379m or 11.4% from 24/25 budget
• Growth £18.000m - Inflation, demography, pay
• Savings from prior year - prediction for 25/26 in the agreement with finance; the savings which weren't delivered in the Medium-Term Financial Savings (MTFP) for 24/25 will be rolled forward. Further information to be provided in a future meeting.
• Dedicated Schools Grant - forecast deficit to be circa £100m by 31^st March 2026 (statutory override due by the end of March 2026). If the statutory override was taken away, the Section 151 officer would be issuing a section 114 at that point. Awaiting government indications as to what they are going to do. There are a high number of unitary authorities and county authorities who would be in the same position as Somerset Council in that case.

The Chair invited the members of the committee to ask any questions. The following points were discussed and noted:

• How confident are you in the budget starting tomorrow? – Cllr Shearer answered that from our modelling, we're in a much better place with the budget than we have been in previous years. But would reiterate that it's ambitious. We have to try and understand that there will be things that will come. Children will come into our care, and we cannot do anything about that, nor should we. We want to bring them into our care if that's where they need to be, but we cannot always anticipate that. The other thing that gives us confidence is around the transformation work that we're embarking on. We're going to be focusing tremendously on delivering the right things for our children in the right way and then doing it within the budget.
• Cllr Shearer requested the people in the room to support that both in terms of challenging the assumptions, ideas and policies; and by holding the service to account when things are not going the way they should do.
• The Associate Lead Member for Children’s Services emphasised the importance of recognising how much savings that have been made in children's services in the last 12 months, nearly £9 million, which is a lot of money in a service that is very expensive and difficult. She expressed gratitude to the amount of work that the officers have put in to get us into this position. She requested for the committee to realise how much work has gone on that is positive as opposed to the unfortunate negative result on the DSG.
• The Chair reflected similar sentiments but expressed the frustration faced when things aren’t communicated with the committee in a timely manner. He mentioned the transformation programme that was referenced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To receive a verbal update explaining the context for item deferring.

Item deferred due to ongoing work on DSG DMP that included this.

To receive an update on the Deficit Management Plan.

The Chair invited Amelia Walker, Service Director for Education, Partnerships and Inclusion to present the item.

• Significant Challenge: The deficit management plan is one of the most significant challenges facing the Council.
• Statutory Override: The DSG currently sits with a statutory override, allowing the Council to disregard the deficit for assessing financial viability.
• Projected Deficit: The projected deficit is £100 million by March 2026.
• Removal of Override: The government plans to remove the statutory override in March 2026, potentially triggering section 114 for many councils.
• Legislative Constraints: Legislation mandates assessment for EHCPs for any child whose achievement is below average, with no grounds to refuse or cease a plan.
• Budget Crisis: The budget is spiralling out of control due to these legislative constraints.
• Root Causes: The plan focuses on root causes such as increased awareness of neurodiversity, impact of lockdowns, and financial pressures.
• New Deficit Management Plan: Developing a new, ambitious plan, including the creation of SEND units.
• Complex Task: The plan involves analysing thousands of children's financial arrangements and forecasting future needs.
• Support from Finance: Grateful for the support from finance colleagues in developing the plan.
• Request for Meeting: Requesting a further meeting with the committee to discuss the plan in detail, as it is not yet ready to be shared.

The Chair invited the members of the committee to ask any questions. The following points were discussed and noted:

• The Chair asked when will the committee see the Deficit Management Plan (DMP)? – The deficit management plan, proposed for the executive meeting on May 12th, aims to consolidate multiple elements into a single decision due to its complexity. This decision will include a strategy outlining challenges and proposed solutions, a deficit management plan meeting government criterion, responses to the consultation, a formal consultation report, an equality impact assessment, and associated business cases. In total, eight to nine significant documents will be integrated to ensure efficient progress. This is why we have requested an extraordinary meeting.
• Where are we with the external report, being done by Peopletoo, that we discussed at the last scrutiny. Has that been completed or is that still under way? - Peopletoo are supporting the production of the DMP, which is what we're proposing to take to the executive on the 12th of May. They have scrutinised the programme and the plans that are in place and are supporting us with the developing a programme plan to take forward. The informal response that we've had from Peopletoo is that they are impressed with the level of ambition and the degree of innovation that is in the proposals that they've scrutinised and are not proposing significant change with that plan, but they are supporting us with preparation of the various documents that are required to take the decision.
• As a representative of the diocese, we have several schools in the authority and are very keen to get involved in delivering this plan, particularly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

To receive a presentation.

The committee received an update on the item and the following points were discussed:

• Written by the head of service, who's the lead for our Youth Justice team and overseeing and contributed to by lots of people within the service.
• To summarise, the YJP describes our achievements across the previous financial year as well as then outline and our priorities, opportunities and challenges for 24/25.
• It is an annual plan and sits alongside our Youth Justice Partnership Board strategy. The Youth Justice services overseen by the Youth Justice Partnership Board and had a lot of independent review and scrutiny as part of the formal youth justice legislation and expectations, the strategy sets are ongoing direction for this year and we're going into the last year of a two-year plan. So, we've got clear updates.
• The purpose of the plan in line with section 40 of the Crime and Disorder Act sets out the responsibilities for our Youth Justice Partnership to produce a plan. And what the duty of the local authority is in relation to that plan.
• What was the overall finding of the report published after the inspection? - The overall finding was - requires improvement. The inspection gets to its overall result by basing it on the lowest findings, not by averaging out the findings.
• The inspection report was published at the beginning of this month, and we are using it to update and refine our priorities. Fundamentally, the priorities we had set align with the recommendations in the report. The head of services is focusing on improving the oversight of out-of-court disposals in partnership with the neighbourhood policing team. This involves ensuring that the frontline team understands and identifies the right children to engage with in a preventative manner. Various panels have been established to oversee this process and ensure proper identification and engagement.
• YJP improvement plan to be brought back to the committee for oversight, with RAG ratings.
• We are at the forefront of transformation and locality working within youth justice and wider prevention services. Over the coming months, we have numerous initiatives underway, and we invite you to meet our teams, managers, and practitioners. This is an exciting time for our service, particularly with the integration of the Prevent and Exploitation team from Children's Social Care into youth justice. This transformation aims to address youth violence and exploitation simultaneously, considering national referral mechanisms and our responsibilities. Additionally, we are incorporating significant elements of operational education into the prevention service, and we are enthusiastic about the potential impact of these changes moving forward.

To receive a report and update on the Post 16 Travel Policy.

The Chair invited Phil Curd, Head of Education Places, to present the draft Post 16 Travel Policy 25/26.

• Local Authorities' Duties: When a child is aged 16-18, the duties regarding school transport and travel assistance move from statutory provision to discretionary offer.
• Reviewing SEND Transport: Many local authorities are now reviewing their SEND transport arrangements for these children and redefining the support available to engage them in education.
• Current Practice in Somerset: Somerset still meets the full cost of bespoke travel arrangements, whereas other local authorities offer to meet part of the cost.

• Statutory Duty: Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) must review their Post-16 Local Transport Policy Statement annually, setting out arrangements for eligible post-16 learners (aged 16-18) and post-19 learners (aged 19+).
• Publication Deadline: LTAs are required to publish an updated Policy Statement for the 2025/26 academic year by May 31, 2025. This policy will be subject to an executive decision on May 12, 2025.
• Proposed Changes: Somerset Council is proposing significant changes to the Post-16 Policy for the 2025/26 academic year, necessitating a statutory consultation process.

• Stepped Model of Assistance: A new model prioritizing Independent Travel Training (ITT) for eligible Post-16 and Post-19 learners with SEND, enabling them to develop skills to access public transport and travel independently.
• Personal Travel Payment (PTP): For those assessed as inappropriate for ITT, a PTP will be provided as a contribution towards travel costs, considering individual circumstances.
• Contracted Vehicle Seats: Where available, seats on contracted vehicles carrying school-age children to education provisions may be offered as an alternative to PTP.

• Legal Compliance: Legal advice was sought and received to ensure the proposed changes comply with legislation and guidance.
• Case Law: Reference to Drexler vs Leicestershire County Council and similar processes implemented by Birmingham City Council.

• Public Consultation: Launched on February 10, 2025, through the Council’s Citizen Space portal, inviting views on the proposed changes.
• Promotion: Supported by the Council’s Communications Team, including press releases, social media content, newsletters to schools, updates to independent education providers, and an interview with the Lead Member for Children, Families, and Education on BBC Radio Somerset.
• Consultation Closure: The consultation closed on March 30, 2025.
• Consultation Responses -

           Summary of Responses:

• • 22% strongly agreeing with the proposals.
  • 20% agreeing with the proposals.
  • 11% having no strong view either way.
  • 26% disagreeing with the proposals.
  • 21% strongly disagreeing.
• Positive Comments: Emphasis on promoting independence and supporting the futures of young people with SEND while reducing costs.
• Negative Comments: Concerns about transport options and costs for young people in rural areas, and the financial implications of accessing education, employment, or training.

• The Parent Carer Forum was consulted on the proposed changes and has been involved in the communication process for parents and addressing questions or queries.

The Chair invited the members of the committee to ask any questions. The following points were discussed and noted:

• How would this new policy impact young people already  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The Chair invited Amelia Walker, Service Director for Education, Partnerships and Inclusion, to update the committee on this item.

• It was noted that the committee desired to see data from 24 months of complaints. The officer assured that the same, in terms of outcomes over that period, would be circulated following the meeting.
• The focus of our work around Ombudsman complaints is about integrating improvement activities into our overall strategy. The key message from these complaints, as well as outcomes from tribunals, appeals, and mediations, is that the SEND system is in crisis. This crisis leads to children's outcomes being below expectations, resulting in disputes with the council. While there are areas for improvement, the SEND action plan includes significant changes, such as restructuring staffing and management, and creating a new disputes and accountability service manager and team.
• In a single quarter, we had 12 decisions referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), with 10 upheld. This trend has been consistent over time. We have identified several areas to focus on, as outlined in paragraph 3.2 of the paper. We regularly meet with the Deputy Ombudsman for Somerset and have committed to quarterly meetings to address identified trends. These trends are reflected in the SEND action plan, which will be refreshed and revised with support from external experts.
• There are multiple factors leading to complaints, and we aim to address both specific issues and the broader drivers of the SEND crisis. This is a significant endeavour and will take time. The paper includes a summary of this quarter's complaints and the consistent factors contributing to disputes. I am happy to take any questions about this work or the paper itself.

The Chair invited the members to ask any questions. The following were discussed and noted:

• The reason the Chair asked for a catch-up paper initially is that if we were made aware of the previous history, it would be helpful going forward. It would be beneficial if, at least in the first instance, the Chairman and Vice Chair are made aware of any complaints that have come forward, as it can be frustrating to see reports at executive meetings without prior knowledge.
• It would be helpful to have a breakdown or indication of the process for handling complaints so that Members can understand it better.
• Going forward, an updated report on a six-monthly basis would allow us to delve into the concerns and issues. This would enable us to ask informed questions and address any concerns. My request is for a position statement on what was, and then an update report going forward, so that nothing comes as a surprise anymore.
• Regarding the public interest reports, the complaints we are discussing today are standard complaints. The public interest reports that were reported to the press and went to the executive involved two cases, which were exceptional circumstances. We haven't had any such cases within the memory of the current team, and the time period given to publish  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

This is a standing agenda item and will provide details of information sent to Committee members in between meetings, that cover the Committee’s policy areas.

If Committee members have any questions or comments on the information, please contact the Committee Administrator on democraticservicesteam@somerset.gov.uk in the first instance and before the date of the meeting.

None.