Agenda item

Report from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People attached.

Councillor Smith, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, presented a brief overview of the SEND update report. The report, published before the meeting, indicated progress in most areas. The Department for Education (DFE) conducted a stock take just before Christmas, and their feedback was positive. They felt the plan was right and that progress was being made as expected. The DFE's official report is expected by Wednesday of this week.

The committee discussed the monitoring visits, including those related to dive activities and stock take sessions. These sessions are formal discussions to assess progress. Councillor Smith mentioned that the DFE was assured of the progress made in the improvement journey over the past six months. The next phase will focus on understanding the impact of actions taken and ensuring they have the desired effect.

The committee addressed the challenges with managing data for annual reviews of Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plans. Due to technical issues, the data point expected by the end of December was not achieved. The committee is now relying on Excel spreadsheets for data management, which requires manual data entry. This process is expected to take another three months to complete. The importance of accurate data systems for managing annual reviews for over 2,850 EHC plans was emphasized.

The workforce strategy was also discussed, highlighting recruitment challenges in the educational psychology team. There is a national shortage of fully qualified educational psychologists, which has impacted recruitment. The team is adopting a "grow your own" approach, recruiting and training educational psychologists and assistant educational psychologists. Despite these challenges, the team is fulfilling its statutory duties and maintaining a high percentage of EHC plans issued within the 20-week timeframe.

A member raised a question about when the data management issue will be resolved. The response indicated that it would take another three months to complete the manual data entry. A follow-up question about how many EHC plans have been transferred manually was also raised. The response acknowledged the difficulty in providing an exact number due to the manual data entry process but committed to providing an update at the next meeting.

The committee discussed the need for additional resources and the challenges in recruiting qualified staff. A member asked why the minutes of the SIAB were not on the website since October. The response indicated that the minutes were approved by the independent chair and would be uploaded to the local offer this week.

The importance of having accurate data systems to manage annual reviews and the need for a multi-year recovery plan to achieve statutory compliance were emphasized. The committee also stressed the need for a clear position on the number of completed annual reviews and the importance of providing reassurance to the public.

The committee agreed to bring the workforce strategy to the next meeting and to involve health colleagues in the discussion. The chair thanked the committee members for their contributions and emphasized the importance of continuing to make progress on the improvement journey. The next meeting is scheduled for March, where updates on the data management issue and workforce strategy will be provided.

It was Agreed:

·         To provide the committee with data of how many EHCPs have currently been manually added to the system

·         To update the committee at Marchs meeting of progress of adding EHCPs