Agenda item

To consider PowerPoint presentation.

A copy of the audit report on the EHCP finance review (payments system) is attached for information.

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

The Committee received a presentation on the recent audit of EHCP payments (copy of audit report).

The audit on Inclusion financial management and control will be circulated when available, for information.

Noted looking to change systems and highlighted timescales. The Chair will write to Executive around concerns.

The Committee received a presentation from Amelia Walker, Service Director, Education, on presented the outcomes from the recent audit of Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) Payments and highlighted the LGO focus report. 

It was noted that there has also been a recent audit on Inclusion Financial Management and Control and this report will be circulated to the Committee when it is available, but the draft report headline is that whilst there ‘is work to be done’, there are no acute concerns.  

The Committee discussed the presentation in detail and the following points were raised and responded to:

• The action plan highlights that the management system would not be changed until March 2025 but in the meantime, there is work to be done to reduce these concerns raised by LGO – officers explained that the action plan reflects the implementation timeline. Since the system is very slow to change, the legislative procurement process guides how the procurement must run and then lead the next step to transfer data safely. The timescales are long due to the legislative guidance and there is no feasible way to make it any faster. The draft specification work has started.  

• The number of cases allocated to each case worker, what it presently is, what it historically was and what would be the ideal? – we can inquire and present the numbers; cost of conflict and inability to resolve the situation is what is creating the workload; if there is a low level of conflict, you can deal with an enormous number of cases because it's quite procedural and it will slide through the system quite easily, so it's the challenge in resolving the conflict to find a successful solution for that child is what is pushing the system to breaking point. 

• Have we looked at and audited the complaint system? Is it partly due to our complaint procedure not being as effective as it could be? – the officers explained the service’s process of handling the complaints that are received but the lack of staff has led to issues; Claire Winter, Executive Director – Children, Families and Education, explained that she has put in a system where she reviews these complaints personally on a weekly basis, with a team of senior officers to respond in a timely manner. However, these are complex complaints and often require a lot of detailed research and a lot of detailed discussion. The complaints that get sent to LGO are often about lack of appropriate provision that the insufficiency of send provision (discussed previously) does play into the financial penalties that the Ombudsman hands out, which is an issue across the country. The Association of Directors of Children’s Services is trying to get some resolution for the same.  

• A member asked the Chair if this is something that the committee would like to look at in more depth moving forward around the actual number of complaints that are coming in and the resolution of those so that we aren't fined? – the Chair advised that the Executive Director has already agreed to bring a report to the next meeting, looking at the last couple few years’ worth of complaints at the next Scrutiny meeting.  

• Support for casework team  

• National LGO issue was mentioned but are we getting a local response or a national response? Officers clarified that there was uncertainty around LGO’s understanding of the local context and a meeting with their officers has been requested.  So far, we have been dealing with Ombudsman complaints on a case-by-case basis rather than looking at them systematically; there is now a higher level of expectation from Ombudsman directives potentially leading to a misunderstanding of our capacity.  

• Monitoring AI and technology that we plan to use to support the casework –are exploring how AI can help with compiling casework documents and have found that it helps and frees up time for officers to focus on decision making.  

• The Chair identified that we need two things running in parallel - what can we do to correct the hole that we're in and what can we do to help the next phase going forward get better?  

• The officers clarified that the starting date detailed in the action plan of 31^st March 2025, is delayed and a new system would not be in place for at least 12-18 months. Procurement is a 9-month process, moving the data from one system to the other and the Council’s financial situation has echoed that digital transformation. Based on prioritization, the officers are expecting this to be a 2-to-3-year plan.  

In conclusion, the Chair said that he will write to the Executive expressing concerns regarding this issue.  

The Committee noted the presentation.