Agenda item

SEND Strategy and the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP)

To consider Report.

 

This item will be led by the Council’s Service Director Inclusion, Dr Rob Hart and Deputy Director Commissioning, NHS Somerset, Andrew Keefe.

 

Note – the Chair will allow 30 minutes for this agenda item.

 

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed the Assistant Director Inclusion, Dr Rob Hart and invited the Executive Lead Member for Children and Families, Cllr Tessa Munt to introduce the item.

 

Cllr Munt explained that the SEND Strategy sets out the priorities and programme for the next 3 years, and that the APP has been developed as a response to areas of weakness outlined in the 2022 Ofsted inspection reports. She added that there has been a lot of engagement to develop this strategy, including a peer review and joint strategic needs assessments among others.

 

The Assistant Director, Inclusion Dr Rob Hart then introduced Andrew Keefe, Deputy Director for Commissioning, Integrated Care Board, NHS, and took members through a detailed presentation (published within the agenda).

 

The following comments and questioned were received and discussed with members:

·         It would be useful to have a crib sheet, for the benefit of anyone reading who in not familiar with all of the acronyms contained within the documents.

·         Regarding performance monitoring and accountability, how is this going to be done? - Dr Hart advised that a performance dashboard was currently in development, and this would be reported back to members frequently.

·         How does the SEND strategy fit within the Somerset Autism strategy currently in development?Mr Keefe, advised that although there are elements of this strategy that align with the Autism strategy, there are some differences as well.

·         What age are children when they start getting help with special educational needs? - Dr Hart assured members that the SEND strategy covers birth to 25years and that schools and early years settings are a crucial part of early intervention and support for children with special educational needs.  

In conclusion, the Chair thanked the officers for the presentation and for attending the meeting. The Committee noted the update and agreed that an update be brought back to the Committee in 6 months.

Supporting documents: