Draft
These are the draft minutes of the SEND Strategic Partnership Board. This note will be removed once the minutes are signed off at the next meeting.
Attendance
- Amy Bickford, SEND Participation Lead, Devon County Council
- Brian Gale, SEND Adviser, DfE
- Councillor Lois Samuel, Cabinet member for SEND, Devon County Council
- Councillor Tracy Adams, Chair of the Children’s Scrutiny Committee, Devon County Council
- Emma O’Connell, Children and Family Health Devon Acting Director
- Hannah Wicks, Senior Media and PR Officer, Devon County Council
- Jennie Harvey, Head Teacher for Lampard Community School and Chair of DSSH (Devon Special School Heads)
- Jo Pritchard, Designated Clinical Officer for SEND, NHS Devon
- Julia Bonell, Co-chair of Parent Carer Forum Devon (PCFD)
- Kellie Knott, SEND Strategic Director, Devon County Council
- Keri Denton, Director of Performance and Partnerships, Devon County Council, Chair of board
- Liam Ennis, Intervention Case Lead for SEND and Social Care, Department for Education
- Mark Tucker, Senior Learning Disability and Autism Programme Assurance Manager and SEND Lead NHS England and NHS Improvement South West, NHS England
- Matthew Thorpe, Deputy Director of Finance and Public Value, Devon County Council
- Melanie Coleman, Programme Manager for SEND Transformation Programme, Devon County Council
- Mike Bomford, Media and PR Manager (Strategic), Devon County Council
- Phill Adams, SEND Assistant Director, Devon County Council
- Rachel Shaw, CEO Exeter Learning Academy Trust
- Shayna Stanbury, SEND Programme Officer/minutes, Devon County Council
- Su Smart, Director of Women and Children’s Improvement, NHS Devon
- Victoria Mitchell, Co-chair of Parent Carer Forum Devon (PCFD)
Apologies
- Angie Sinclair, Director of Finance and Public Value, Devon County Council
- Donna Manson, Chief Executive, Devon County Council
- Jack Newton, Deputy Director – Education and Schools, Devon County Council
- Julian Wooster, Director of Children and Young People’s Futures, Devon County Council
- Liz Wood, Assistant Director for Disability Services, Adult Disability Leadership, Devon County Council
- Paul Walker, CEO, First Federation Multi-Academy Trust and Chair of Devon Schools Leadership Services (DSLS)
- Tandra Forster, Director of Integrated Adult Social Care, Devon County Council
- Trevor Doughty, Chair of SEND Strategic Partnership Board, Independent
1. Welcome, introductions and apologies
K Denton welcomed the group to the board and a round of introductions took place.
2. Review of previous meeting minutes and actions
The group agreed accuracy of the minutes of the previous meeting, actions were discussed, and updates provided.
3. Young people participation
A Bickford shared the key issues for young people (previously shared at last month’s board) and an update on the work young people have been involved in including, transport, short breaks, mental health work and the Four Cornerstones work and more. Young people have also identified priority areas to work in including, swimming, transport, work experience and mental health.
P Adams questioned we incorporate the voice of young people into the governance and would welcome a conversation with A Bickford in how to do this. Action: A Bickford and P Adams to meet to discuss how to incorporate the voice of young people into the governance.
K Knott raised it’s really helpful for all partners to be aware of the work and priorities of young people however challenged the next steps in how members can support and move the work forward. There has not been a huge amount of progress in many of the young people’s priority areas and members need to own areas and work with young people to move them forward.
Discussions were held around the difficulties families face accessing typical work experience. K Denton asked P Adams to look into work experience priority for young people. Action: P Adams to look into and move the work experience priority for young people forward.
S Smart suggested health have made progress in young people’s mental health however is unsure if all areas are visible. A Bickford advised some pieces of work around mental health does tie in however there are specific aspects such as mental health and disability that is not covered and should be. Action: S Smart to work with A Bickford to identify the gaps in the health work on mental health and provide an update to a future board.
B Gale raised Plymouth carried out a wellbeing area event for children and young people and their families which was really well received. Action: S Smart to research Plymouth wellbeing event and provide an update on.
B Gale questioned whether young people views are gathered in the EHCP process. A Bickford raised young people were asked for their views and how they felt about various aspects of their EHCP however this was not progressed. Members agreed work is needed to look at how young people are advised on how their views have impacted their EHCP.
Action: S Chapman to work with the Participation Team and young people on ensuring young people’s views are included and how they have impacted their EHCP.
B Gale added young people in Plymouth presented their views to the councillors and held their officer to account. Councillor L Samuel raised it would be great to meet or young people present their views on a regular basis. Action: Councillor L Samuel to arrange with A Bickford to meet or young people present their views on a regular basis to councillors. It was noted the May elections and the possible change in councillors.
Discussions were held regarding swimming in special schools. J Harvey raised swimming in special schools are offered to all children and young people however there is a range of factors to consider. Action: K Knott and J Harvey to meet to discuss young people’s swimming priority.
4. Governance review
P Adams shared the responses from the survey, of which 17 were received and raised a full update/next step will be tabled at April board as planned with the refresh implemented in May.
Key issues raised were categorised in agenda setting, programme board functionality, operational model, meeting productivity and dynamics, cultural embedding, coproduction and lived experiences.
P Adams also advised members the SEND Transformation Programme has been refreshed and has 5 work strands going forward.
5. Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
S Smart E O’Connell provided an update on SLCN and referred to the paper already shared with members ahead of the board.
J Bonell raised at the SEND Transformation Programme Board members talked about resource bases as part of the Sufficiency Strategy and referenced SLCN across the county which does not align to what is predicted and suggested concerns to see a real reliant on predicted levels of needs rather than actual level of needs. J Bonell suggested the resource bases are an opportunity for health and DCC to work together. In addition, J Bonell agreed early support is important to stop escalation and identifying needs however the wait lists are too long. Families have reported when they have assessments the recommendations are not specific to the child and therefore the intervention does not appear to be evidence based.
M Tucker questions if the SLCN work will be part of the programme? S Smart advised the work will be part of the SEND Transformation Programme and is part of the new structure in the Building Inclusive Communities work strand.
Discussions were held around a lack of speech and language therapist and how 6 weeks is not long enough for intervention for the child to go back to a teaching assistant who is not speech and language trained. In addition, those children who move schools are put back on the start of the waiting list for speech and language therapy. Action: S Smart/E O’Connell to look into why children are put back on the start of the speech and language wait list when they move schools.
K Knott suggested this programme of work feels disconnected to the SEND Transformation programme and SEND Strategy however also recognises it links to Early Years and Family Hubs. Members agreed the steering group (set out in paper) should ensure there is a schedule of work which is action orientated, with SMART objectives and KPI’s, also ensuring it links to other parts of the system.
Action: S Smart to share recommendation, actions and KPI’s of the SLCN project work with K Knott.
6. Health system – EHCPs
J Pritchard provided an overview of the work underway for the health system of EHCPs and shared the paper already received by members suggesting it is a live document. It is a partnership piece of work focusing on EHCP and the wider system from request of assessment, plan and annual reviews and processes with tribunal cases.
J Bonell raised it is positive to hear about the work that has been done to move this forward and questioned the decisions held around those now known to service and the use of terminology.
Discussion was held around single point of contact and pushing out to system consistently should hopefully result in consistent information received.
J Bonell questioned if Saturn or the Hub is linked? J Pritchard advised it is and SEND Statutory team managers were involved in the development of the paper.
K Knott raised the results of tribunals and the results of then between the local authority and NHS Devon, questioning how the two resolve the cases as set out in the process. In addition, there is a number of pilot work underway in Plymouth and Torbay but none in Devon and K Knott questioned whether any Pilot could take place in Devon. S Smart advised NHS Devon are managing the complexity of three local authority however are keen to identify where Health can pilot in Devon.
K Denton raised it is a great process however it does not cover provision which has a huge impact. The Integrated Care Boards (NHS) have a statutory duty to ensure every child/young person with a statutory assessment has a medical response.
7. SEND Transformation Programme progress report
Item was not covered at the meeting due to lack of time.
8. AOB
None.
Date for next meeting: Tuesday 22 April 2025