1. Does your council have a panel / equivalent that is reviewing independent special school costs / fees, including for individual children? If so, please can you provide details on when it was formed, who sits on it, how often it meets? If there is a terms of reference, I’d like to receive a copy of this also.
No, Devon County Council do not have a panel, we have a working group that meets bi-monthly. The terms of reference for this can be found at the following link Terms of reference.
Please note information that has been greyed out is exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Personal Data).
Devon County Council can confirm the requested information is held; however, the Council cannot disclose personal information if releasing it would contravene any of the provisions in the UK General Data Protection Regulation. In this instance release of this information would contravene the first data protection principle and therefore the information is withheld.
2. Please can I request the result of these panel meetings? I’d like them broken down by individual placement if possible to show the starting annual cost against the negotiated/revised cost. Or for instance, if there was another decision such as the child moving back into state education. I do not expect this to include the name of the school, but please provide it if deemed possible. Please can this information be provided within a spreadsheet.
Devon County Council does not hold this information as the work is currently ongoing and there has been no result.
3. Please can you provide any formal report the panel has made on overall changes, such as, but not exclusively, an annual report.
If your council has sought to reduce fees paid for existing placements, how was this negotiated within the requirements of s63(2) of the 2014 Children and Families Act, under which LAs must pay the requested fees for education and training at independent schools?
Devon County Council does not hold this information as no formal report has been made.
4. If the council doesn’t have a formal panel, do you have any other mechanism for completing this work? If so, please can you provide details.
Please see the answer to question 1.