A period of 30 minutes has been set aside for members of the public to ask questions on the agenda for tonight’s meeting.
Minutes:
The following questions were received in advance of the meeting and responses circulated:
1. How can one afford to pay an interim thousands of pounds, for Social care when parents like myself cannot even get a suitable care package to support the grandchild that I raise.
Recruitment into social care roles is a national and local issue. Sometimes, we need to employ interims in order to continue to deliver services to our children, families and carers, demand for services means that we cannot afford to have a gap in the teams. We share your frustration at the premium cost of such appointments and would prefer a permanent substantive postholder, we continue to revise our approach to the recruitment and retention of staff, including signing up to the Greater Manchester pledge which imposes pay caps on a number of roles in social care.
As you may know, the government’s new Child’s Wellbeing and Schools bill clearly recognises the important role of kinship carers and seeks to improve the support available across the country and recognise the centrality of wider family in long-term care arrangements for children and young people. I strongly endorse this approach, and we will be seeking to move to match up to new national standards as soon as we practically can do so.
2. Current Challenges: The increasing number of SEN children who are being moved out of mainstream schools, despite the push for inclusion, and the lack of immediate access to appropriate provisions. Is this being monitored to see which schools are repeatedly struggling to be inclusive environments.
3. Potential Solutions: What actions are being taken to ensure mainstream schools are better equipped to support SEN children, including potential funding, training, or policy adjustments. Will this include those schools that have joined academies ?
This issue is of great concern to many families, and I believe a thorough discussion on the steps being taken to address it will be valuable. Considering the shortage of specialist placements this is an area of concern to many families.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I look forward to your response
Yes, it is something that we monitor and we know that there is a variety of approaches in schools. We also know that there is a substantial move into special schools at the point of primary to secondary transfer.
However, it is important to note that while it is true that Bury does have a relatively high number of children with EHCPs outside of mainstream settings (or maintained special schools), it is equally important to acknowledge that Bury’s Primary and Secondary schools have a larger number of children with EHCPs than is typical elsewhere. These two facts are two of the defining features of Bury’s local SEND system.
For many years, the balance of local specialist SEND provision has not been right. The number of places in special schools was insufficient and there was a gap in provision between mainstream school classes or special schools, with little in between those two options. This has led to children not always being educated in the most suitable provision.
In the past year, we have begun to develop more specialist provision – a new special school and an increase in the number of mainstream schools with resourced provision to provide more support for those children that need it. We have detailed plans to continue this process, with two further special schools agreed with the DfE and further resourced provision and SEN Units in mainstream schools. We also continue to provide support and training for children and schools irrespective of whether a school is an academy. In common with all other local areas, most of the funding to meet the needs of children with SEND is provided to schools directly. In Bury the total budgeted amount to be spent on SEND in 2024/25 in Bury was £56.6 million, of which £46 million (81% of the total sum) is given directly to schools and providers, £4.6 million (8%) is spent on Home to School Transport; £730,000 (1%) is provided in Direct Payments to parents and carers, £4.5 million (8%) is spent on services for schools, children and parents, including SEN Support and Inclusion services, Advice services, the Education Psychology Service; and £1.2 million is spent on administering the SEND processes (EHCP assessment and reviewing).
We are in the process of transforming the local system to better support children with SEND. We recognise that there is still a distance to travel
Kiera Delaney asked, responses will be sent direct.
I heard in the last meeting that 92% of ehcps were completed currently in the 20 week statutory timeframe, I may have misheard from up here in the clouds, which is another reason why the live stream is so beneficial, and I am happy to be corrected, but could you break that figure down for me specifically in relation to
How many Ehcp applications for 2022- now
How many were no/yes to assessment
How many of those who received a no to assess went on to mediation or appeal.
How many of those who had a yes to assessment went on to receive an ehcp? Did those who didn’t get a plan go on to mediation or appeal?
How many of those who went to appeal or mediation received an ehcp?
What is the timeframe for children receiving a plan if their parents have had to go to mediation or appeal?
How much was spent specifically on barristers to represent the LA at tribunal over those years?
Happy for the years to be broken down into months if the changes and improvements are more recent and not measurable over those timeframes.
Kiran Hampson Asked, response will be sent direct.
In the panel meetings related to SEND and CWD team why are minutes and written feedback regarding decisions made by the SEND team and the attendee list not shared with the community, and how can outcomes be better communicated to all stakeholders and families the minutes should not be have to done through a SAR request