Devon’s SEND Local Offer

Four Cornerstones Oversight Committee on 15 July 2026: meeting notes

You can also read a summary of this meeting.

Meeting administration

Attendees

  • Co-Chair, Four Cornerstones Partner – in person
  • Family Hub Team Manager – South and West  – in person
  • Two head teachers (School Leadership Services) – Online
  • Co-Chair Parent Carer Forum Director – in person
  • Senior Participation Team Leader (Children and Young People) – Online
  • Head of SEND Commissioning – Online
  • Parent Carer Forum Director – Online
  • Quality Assurance Officer – Online
  • North Devon CVS Forum – Online
  • Parent Carer Forum Director – in person
  • Comms Officer for SEND – in person
  • Ambassador Volunteer Coordinator – in person
  • College leader – Online

Apologies

  • Deputy and SEND Strategic Director
  • Interim Associate Clinical Director for Allied Health Professions
  • Parent Carer
  • Parent Carer
  • Chief Officer of North Devon CVS Forum
  • Programme and Project Officer, SEND Transformation

Absent members

  • Disabled Children’s Service
  • Adult Social Care
  • Project Officer (currently on maternity leave)
  • Director of Women and Children’s Improvement, NHS Devon
  • SEND and Transitions Lead, CFHD

Key Discussion Points

Welcome and Introduction

  • Introductions made
  • Explanations of roles of attendees

Our Working Together Agreement

  • Run through of the purpose of Four Cornerstones – All equal partners
  • Try to avoid acronyms
  • Respectful in use of language and terms
  • Laptops closed unless necessary
  • PCFD raised a lot of the old faces not here. Noted usual members not attending. Action – Reminder to be sent with Invite and Minutes that deputy must attend if unable to attend

Family Hubs Update

  • Progress with Quality Indicator Assessment and Action Plan
  • Overview of report – Family Hub – Focus on inclusion of all  – PCFD and Four Cornerstones Partner did a session looking at Four Cornerstones Model with the teams. Realised topics link with value and belief. Planning to put activities within the four elements. Agreed all team meetings to include Four Cornerstones topics and future planning to include Four Cornerstones in the delivery. Looked at bringing parents on the journey – way to work alongside parents from different groups and demographics. Board asked for other ideas for co-design with parents, not just consulting them. Work has been done on comms and improvements. Home Learning environment – understanding learning environment at home through play for younger chidlren.
  • Parental Feedback – started 2 weeks ago. QR code given for feedback at the end of each session. This to be expanded depending on data collection requirements. One Survey – depending on what they click a new relevant survey will then come up, rather than one long questionnaire.
  •  ACTION: Four Cornerstones Partner – requested data be shared for inclusion with main survey responses.
  •  ACTION: PCFD requested using the QR code on our systems.
  • Questionnaires seem to be only completed if feedback is great or poor so they are trying to get feedback on the general experience as well.
  • Multi sessions – not just a single session to assist for longer. Ask the parents how they want to proceed with future assistance, so it is tailored to them. Workers have raised that parents had not been reading the follow up letter. Suggested workers speak to them about the letter and parents do not need to write notes as letter covers everything in the session. Trying to get parental feedback about whether this would work. Aware parents may just be burnt out rather than not wanting to engage.
  • Easy Peasy App – Best Start in Life 0-5. Early Start Family Hub up to age 25 service. Comms plan in place to promote Easy Peasy App.
  • RESPONSE – Committee agree this is a positive way forward and a good way of working. Acknowledged this is not straight forward.

Questions from Committee

  • PCFD Question – Not heard about the home learning environment – was googling it, learnt about it from other local areas, couldn’t find it online
  • Answer – Early stages and website being worked on – language is so important – so are trying to be careful. There are various steering groups which are working on clarification prior to updating the site. Pilot areas – x 3 across the county – working with the community to get feedback on parents’ thoughts, testing feedback.
  • PCFD Question – When we get statistics from family hubs – are we interested in SEND issues? Are we focussed on it?
  • Answer – Title of the survey to Let us know your feedback from our services (removed the SEND element) Oversite Committee interested in the whole spectrum not just SEND. Needs aren’t always clear on SEND when under 5. Needs become more apparent as they get older, so having a SEND label is less helpful in early years. All agreed with this approach. Want to hear from everyone about the service mum, dad, gran, aunt etc…. trying to ensure everyone feeling included. Work with parents on ages and development to reassure and give realistic expectation.
  • Four Cornerstones Partner – been joining in with the Best Start in Life Development meetings – there is co-production with families through schools.
  • PCFD  – Agreed co-production is through the core of what we are doing – she is reassured that this is the way of working. Challenged the strategic partnership  board how family voice influenced outcomes – how it made a difference to outcomes – report needs to be accessible.
  • Answer  – Four Cornerstones Partner – clarified Your Voice in Action – web page – showing we have listened and what we have done – everything discussed today will be summarised with reflections and recommendations. Published on the Local Offer – Your Voice in Action Page.
  • Action – Four Cornerstones Partner to share information with Comms Officer from today’s meeting for publication on the web page
  • PCFD Question – 0-19 early help – not heard much – would like a report reflecting on how that is going – still confusion for parent signposting.
  • Answer – When recommissioned we were merged with Early Help/Family Hub – still run pathway meetings and early intervention and household support fund. Within Early Help they can be referred by school/nursery anytime. Still offer practitioner forum. Universal Level 2 service – any family coming in can be supported. Can do early help assistance but have limited staff. Better that someone can be with them long term. Example given – where school and nursery batted between them neither taking responsibility – the Hub triaged and went to the correct setting to explain  they need to do it. Challenged and got a result for the YP.
  • PCFD Question  – Doesn’t feel they have heard about the 0-19(25) feels a report will be useful.
  • Answer – They are running Connecting Moments – digital peer support group. Parents come up with topics. Request for more professional meeting as well. 20 people invited, 11 normally attended. Been going for 6 months since recommissioning. Looking at why signing up to the forum but then not coming.
  • School leader Question – Mid and North best start in life meeting  – how does the togetherness training in the North fit in with the whole scheme?
  • Answer– Connecting moments is a peer support group – whereas Togetherness thought it would be best to have a model to roll out togetherness training, in the first stages. Looking at what to offer and where to offer it. Then what does the offer look like? 10 week programme, couple of sessions? Bitesize? Single session? Looking at co-delivery.

Commissioning and Contract Team Update

  • Progress with Quality Indicator Assessment and Action Plan
  • Context –  new Head of SEND Commissioning – what is commissioning? It is about designing, setting up and looking at needs analysis then putting in relevant provision. Doesn’t always mean that’s about procurement. It is a much broader scope to involve YP and Parents/Carers. Within her team, scope is huge from Independent Special School – alternative provision – therapies etc. Work in partnership with EHCP. Want to get more involvement with Parent/Carers – come September new opportunities for proper co-production. Ran through slides highlighting what is going well / work still to be done. Looking at the Four Cornerstones Approach and improving where they can on communication, respectfulness. Working on implementation plan making sure they have the voice of parents/carers. Getting feedback and data on outcomes so they can see how they are making a difference. Work of the QA team has helped understanding the provision. Looking at all communities and all groups and how the message and delivery need to be adjusted. Feedback to parents/carers to show what they have done with the information given.
  • Created links with Inclusion and Learning to get a wider understanding for services they are reviewing. They have set up Forums – challenging what they are doing around 4 Cornerstones. Trying to make the system more robust and less scatter gun. Co-production in a quality way. Head of SEND Commissioning believes if you are going to do something it has to be co-production in a positive way – be clear when can’t do something and why. Communication – what’s going well – growing provider forums with Devon Special School Heads. Collaborate with the existing experts.
  • Style of Comms is very important – need to make sure accessible language. Autumn Roadshow – schools / providers/parent and carers to highlight what they are doing now and going forward. Wants to be able to share the results of the Commissioning Team. Working in partnership – going well joint working with key partners – inclusion and learning – to share information. Joint commissioning groups/forum and parent carer forum. Expectation set out to include recording on the Four Cornerstone remit. This is embedded in the majority of providers used. Need to enhance broader partnerships. Need a Four Cornerstones Commissioning Panel – planning to set one up.

Questions from Committee

  • PCFD Comment – Thanked for interesting information. Requested copy of slides.
  • PCFD Question–  Building better relationship with everyone – how does this link directly with the Four Cornerstones or is this how it links? We get a lot of requests for information but are not always confident that we are not overlapping or duplicating. The ideas are welcomed, but the detail and how it happens that is important. Would be keen to support building on the existing, not duplicating.
  • Answer – Not for them to say what needs to be done, they want to do it together looking specifically at commissioning. They want to ensure this is built together not just them doing it on their own. We now need to get serious to ensure that there is a plan for Four Cornerstones in every piece of work and we need to do this together. PCFD – Recognises they may have processes that they are not aware of and this needs to be communicated as well. Final point – family centred experiences – ensure not relying only on numbers which can be interpreted in creative ways. Answer – We look at outcomes of a whole provider not just child outcomes. Need to get smarter at collating the outcomes. And the outcomes need to be more parent centred. Used to have a Young Commissioners programmes – looking at bringing that back.
  • Youth Voice lead question online –  Child’s voice – good idea. The work on the alternative provision is a good example of how this can work well. Quick feedback loop. Setting out to YP what they had said and how it was being used. So on point. Important is to have a clear brief.
  • Four Cornerstones Partner Question  – Can we have a case study for that so we can share? Case Studies are very important for sharing good practice and what good looks like. ACTION – Relevant practitioners to put together a Case Study.

Commissioning Officer Presentation

  • Ran through her background in SEND and Teaching and Quality Assurance from providers. Quality of education and outcomes. Identified gap in capturing Child and Parent feedback on the providers. Wanted something captured more directly from them. Developing parent carer survey. Linked heavily to Four Cornerstones. Received useful feedback – splitting the survey – two different ones, adjusted the language. Also sent it to SEND and Virtual Schools to get their views. Have found they have strong partnership and initial meetings with parents/carers. Four Cornerstones clearly within Quality Assurance process. Still need to ensure response on provider level themes, rather than child specific. Making it clear where parents/carers could go if they have concerns – clear signposting. Ensuring understanding of the purpose of the survey and how it will be fed back. It will help ensure continuous improvement to support providers. Next steps – finalised second draft. Hoping to launch September 2027. Will be using findings for future service improvements.
  • Four Cornerstones Partner Question – Once information comes in – how will it be fed back to families to show them the influence they have?
  • Answer – Hoping to develop that and see how they are going to do that.
  • PCFD – Very pleased with their response to the feedback and the effort that has been embraced. The feedback has been used to develop the survey so that it is more accessible and joined up. Feels it is all looking very positive.

SEND Operations update

  • Response to latest feedback and changes to letters
  • SEND Operations willing to attend next meeting to update.
  • Action – Clerk to send an invite for September meeting to Head of SEND Operations and Team Lead.
  • Quick update: Recommendations made regarding statutory letters for sign off – we didn’t feel they could be signed off in current form. We requested further work on the letters. This has now been started, and it was a very productive meeting. The meeting was collaborative. Offered to audit against the Four Cornerstones which was done together. It moved to a collaborative position which needs to be celebrated. It felt like real working in partnership. Changes to the letters are now being made.
  • The committee is protecting the reputation of the Four Cornerstones and are scrutinising work, which doesn’t have to be critical but a positive collaboration to achieve the right outcomes.
  • PCFD – Action Case study on this to highlight positivity of collaborative working. Who was involved in the conversation, does it work better in a smaller working group?
  • Answer – A parent carer also attended – yes a smaller group is better. Building relationships is very important.
  •  PCFD – Locality changes – parents/carers not happy. Need to mitigate their concerns to help them understand how it will work or agree which areas shouldn’t change.
  • PCFD – Reporting and prioritising services for reporting. Suggest SEND take high priority. Concerns about which processes are taking precedent over the rest of the system. Families need to be reassured if they are in the system with an EHCP they will also be seeing some kind of improvement and are not forgotten as a legacy issue. Recognises progress where it has been made. EHCP timeliness has been improved. Priority for cases waiting over 52 weeks.
  • PCFD – Acknowledged those in the system for a long time their needs will change over time.
  • Four Cornerstones Partner – look at governance process and structure, reviewing and revisiting priorities. Revisit terms of reference for the Four Cornerstones committee over the summer. We could ask some services to report more regularly.
  • Four Cornerstones Partner – update on surveys – Options paper to be presented to the inclusion and learning leadership team. Need to get survey across a broader range of people. Need to get the middle group not just the best and worst feedback. One phone call a month to do the survey with a family, ensuring it is random. This could be recorded on PowerBI – the data team are looking into this. 3rd September this is going to Inclusion and Learning Leadership team.
  • Participation team – DCC Leader is to lead a Multi Agency dip sample.
  • Action: Four Cornerstones Partner – To make contact with DCC Leads to put together a group to ensure it all connects up .

KPI and Milestones Update – Four Cornerstones Partner

  • Documents sent out prior to the meeting  – Signposted everyone to it and asked for feedback questions be sent to her.
  • PCFD Question – Found it difficult to read. Has saved it and has a more readable version.
  • Four Cornerstones Partner – Clarified she has taken it from a much larger document
  • ACTION –– To look at making it more accessible. Also an acronym explainer.

Any other business

  • Health update  – Health update from NHS Devon/CFHD shared with the group. Ensuring Four Cornerstones met and highlighted that their work is using Four Cornerstones. Will be built in more specifically when they are redesigned or reviewed. See document for full update.
  • Your Voice in Action will be used to share information from this meeting and other updates.
  • If you want to discuss any aspect of the meeting, contact either of the Co-Chairs
  • Action: Can last meeting minutes be circulated please.  
  • Action Co-Chairs – Going forward highlight actions and what was done in next agenda.