Agenda item

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and discussion, the Executive resolved to:

1. Accept the findings of the LGSCO reports and agrees to implement the recommendations set out in those reports;

2. Note and approve implementation of the improvement actions set out in paragraph 8 of this report;

3. Add a quarterly review of the SEND Action Plan to future agendas of Executive Committee.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Bill Revans, invited the Lead Member for Children, Families and Education, Cllr Heather Shearer, to introduce the item. Cllr Shearer extended apologies to the two families affected and highlighted the need to ensure we are providing resources effectively and efficiently, and that the report contained detail on work towards improving things.

Cllr Shearer proceeded to hand over to the Executive Director Children Families and Education, Claire Winter, and Service Director - Education, Amelia Walker, who also offered sincere apologies to the families affected. They proceeded to detail the plans in place to address issues in the SEND system; that there is an ongoing national crisis around SEND provision; that they would welcome any challenge from Scrutiny on these mitigations to ensure they are appropriate and well directed to learning from the complaints; the responsibilities as a council and the responsibilities for schools, the voluntary sector and the Department for Education; the restructure within education to provide a dedicated disputes team to provide capacity to focus on challenges; the importance of improving information systems; the relationship with the ombudsman and the understanding that these are complex issues not easily resolved; the direct payments policy and the need to learn from good practice in Adults services; and the challenges with Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) and that a new contract has been drafted, agreed and is now in place with the health service.

The Leader of the Council invited comments from Committee Members and other Members present, with officers providing responses as appropriate. Questions and points raised included: the timescales of the mitigations put in place; how to assure members of the public and communicate well with them regarding ongoing assessments; setting clear expectations for parents with regard to timelines; the need for appropriate support at specific developmental stages and the long-term implications of not providing it; that there has been a national increase in children in distress; the governance route for the review of implementation of the plan and the role of Scrutiny in that process; the need for assessment of impact of the actions in the action plan; whether there is adequate staffing for the increase in SEND requirements; whether there is any learning from the transformation in Adults Services that can be applied to Children’s Services; whether there are more complaints expected and the cost of complaints and legal proceedings; whether actions to address these complaints will support other existing complaints; the importance of communication with members of the public; details of the agile approach to analysis.

The Leader of the Council concluded the discussion and proposed an addition to the recommendations that progress on the action plan comes back to the Executive Committee quarterly. The Committee proceeded to a vote on the recommendations, which were agreed unanimously.

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and discussion, the Executive resolved to:

1. Accept the findings of the LGSCO reports and agrees to implement the recommendations set out in those reports;

2. Note and approve implementation of the improvement actions set out in paragraph 8 of this report;

3. Add a quarterly review of the SEND Action Plan to future agendas of Executive Committee.