Contents
Attendance
- Amy Bickford, Senior Participation Officer, Devon County Council
- Beverley Mack, Children’s Alliance Director, Children and Family Health Devon
- Charlotte Halliday, Head of HR Operations, Devon County Council
- Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, Devon County Council
- Councillor John Hart, Leader of the Council, Devon County Council
- Councillor Sue Aves, Devon County Council
- Damien Jones, Deputy Director – Transport Operations, Environment and Waste, Devon County Council
- Donna Manson, Chief Executive, Devon County Council
- Emma Brown, Case Lead, Vulnerable Children’s Unit, Department for Education Department for Education (DfE)
- Hannah Chamings, SEN and Disabilities Advisor, Devon County Council
- Hannah Pugliese, Head of Womens and Children’s Commissioning, NHS Devon
- Jackie Ross, Interim SEND Strategic Director, Devon County Council
- Joanne Siney, Head of Service – Disabled Children’s Service, Devon County Council
- Julia Bonell, Co-chair of Parent Carer Forum Devon (PCFD), Parent Carer Forum Devon
- Julian Wooster, Director of Children and Young People’s Futures, Devon County Council
- Keith Bennett, Executive Principle of Marland School and
Chair of SENtient Head Teachers, Marland School
SENtient Head Teachers - Keith Thompson, SEN and Disability Professional Advisor, Department for Education (DfE)
- Liz Davenport, Chief Executive Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Devon
- Liz Halliday, Childrens Services Improvement Communications Lead, Devon County Council
- Jo Turl, Director of Commissioning Primary, Community and Mental Health Care, NHS Devon
- Louise Taylor, SEND Local Area Programme Manager, Devon County Council
- Mark Tucker, Senior Learning Disability and Autism Programme Assurance Manager and SEND Lead,
NHS England and NHS Improvement South – West NHS England - Naomi Chapman, Chief Nursing Officer, NHS Devon
- Paul Walker, Schools: Safety Valve First Federation
- Rachel Hearn, Deputy Principal Educational Psychologist, Devon County Council
- Rachel Shaw, Head of Education and Learning (Delivery), Devon County Council
- Rob Gasson, CEO Wave Academy, Wave Academy
- Sarah Pickering, Mill Water School, Mill Water School
- Shayna Stanbury, SEND Programme Officer/minutes, Devon County Council
- Tandra Forster, Director of Integrated Adult Social Care, Devon County Council
- Tony Parker, Head of Communications and Media, Devon County Council
- Trevor Doughty, Chair of SEND Improvement Partnership Board, Independent
- Victoria Mitchell, Co-chair of Parent Carer Forum Devon (PCFD), Parent Carer Forum Devon
Apologies
- Richard Reece, Education Business Systems and Contract Manager, Devon County Council
- Jane Milligan, Chief Executive, NHS Devon
- Angie Sinclair, Director of Finance and Public Value, Devon County Council
- Steve Brown, Director of Public Health, Devon County Council
- Jassi Broadmeadow, Deputy Director – Children’s Services and Head of Social Care, Devon County Council
- Vikki Hill, Devon NHS – Lead Neurodiversity Pathway, NHS Devon
- Heather Campbell, Regional Team Manager South – West and South – East, Department for Education
1. Welcome, introductions and apologies
T Doughty welcomed the group and a round of introduction took place.
2. Review of the previous meeting’s minutes and actions
Members signed off the minutes of the previous meeting.
EHCP data and performance measures
A presentation was shared setting out the key data and trends.*
The chair requested to see Devon compared to the regional authorities and statistical neighbours in addition to national performance.
Action: R Reece to provide information on the average regional and statistical neighbours.
The local area had the first meeting focusing on EHC Governance where members will begin to look at why advise is late. In addition what can be developed at first SEND support level to reduce the number of referrals coming in and support earlier. This links to the Ordinarily Available Offer work happening under the SEND Improvement Plan and part of the Safety Valve.
A Department for Education member raised regionally the performance percentage has dropped significantly down to 32.5%.
Devon County Council’s Chief Executive informed the group there is evidence from the work underway as part of the safety valve there is evidence to show progress is being made.
Action: D Manson to provide information/an update on the safety valve to be tabled at the September meeting.
Devon has expressed previously this is a five year plan, supporting and developing systems at each level and we are now joining the dots.
Work has been underway with schools. In January, 200 schools came forward in coproducing approaches to exclusion. Alongside that a clear plan for sufficiency is coming forward. We are aware we have bigger sufficiency challenges; however we have clear analysis on the improvements required to move Devon forward.
It was added Devon has seen an increase of 84% for independent, special school places and this is one of the biggest challenges Devon has.
The chair raised there has not appeared to be a shift in timeliness. Devon County Council’s Chief Executive responded there needs to be a culture and commitment to move out of the defensive space, for example schools responding in January is a great step forward. This is embracing the opportunity rather than judging.
Members discussed the joint dashboard, the need for strategic join up and agreement on what needs to be reported on. Two colleagues in NHS Devon have been identified to work alongside Devon County Council to ensure there is robust health data included.
Action: J Ross to review the progress of this action to move the work forward.
School representation raised concerns around the reception intake coming in September to schools, many children have developmental issues due from the pandemic and are unsure of the support they require.
Work is being done in the Education Forum to look at EHCPs, why schools are submitting requests and what could be done differently?
Discussions were held around the 20 week target and colleagues are receiving training and looking at realigning the processes. Department for Education suggested progress on the backlog is key long term. PCFD raised whilst 20 week timeliness is important, there are also annual reviews which don’t appear to be looked at and data is not shared.
4. SEND 0 to 25 Team workforce strategy action plan
The document shared with members sets out an update on recruitment and workforce action plan following the last meeting it was tabled at.* There appears to be a more stable workforce now with those who are leaving do for promotion. Support packages are being put in place for staff’s wellbeing.
Questions were asked around the case load for each case worker, currently it is at 1:500 with plans to make it 1:200 however realistically it would be 1:300. Recommendations were made to monitor the team realignment to ensure manageability.
Discussions were held around IPSEA training, the 0 to 25 team is undertaking local authority training which is an equivalent offer to the IPSEA level 1 to 3 training. Members agreed training should be ongoing.
A questions were raised regarding the workforce plan and using this opportunity to have a wider workforce plan with health colleagues.
A school representative raised it would be helpful for professionals to go out to schools to better understand the settings. In addition up to date information from Devon County Council and NHS Devon of processes and key areas (such as services available/EHCPs etc) to be included as part of the induction process and training for schools’ staff and head teachers.
There is not a full understanding of what schools/residential schools offer. Discussions were held around professionals having access to this information/visiting the schools.
The chair concluded the agenda item is a positive message in terms of recruitment, developing a permanent workforce, and training, showing there is a significant shift.
Action: C. Halliday to work with SEND Senior Manager to provide an update to a future board meeting on the training delivered and evaluation of the impact.
Action: In addition a request for a multiagency approach to be incorporated into the board in the performance measures from health workforce data.
5. Case study – ordinarily available inclusive provision
A presentation was shared setting out the progress of the ordinarily available provision workstream.*
What is meant by Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP): it the resources and support expected to be available for all children with SEND in mainstream schools and all pupils on SEND support receive the same support irrespective of what school they attend.
Questions/comments from members:
- Will it consider reasonable adjustment?
- Deep dive into EHCP, what provision is classed as special? What support is classed as over and above?
- Ensure schools do not see this as a checklist.
- There may be many schools which are not at the level suggested in an Ordinarily Available Provision document, it could be an ambition or a challenge for a financial commitment, especially for the smaller schools.
- Suggested a transition period.
- Support required pre-birth to legislatively age of 25.
- Communicate this widely, to share understanding this is a positive shift, that is about early intervention.
- Ensuing everyone is involved, parent carers, young people, schools, and professionals.
- Supporting school’s that children are in the right setting; the setting however is not behaving correctly around the child. Ensuring we have local children accessing local provision.
6. SEND Improvement Plan status report
The section leads provided an update on each section along with the status report.
Section A
A presentation was shared setting out the current key activities, the risks, and issues and how they are being addressed and an overview of the Operational Quality Performance Review Meeting (QPRM)
Section B
Discissions were held around sharing documents outside of members of the board. Members agreed documents should be transparent and shared further if requested, except for those which consists of confidential information.
Discussions were held around the RAG status and a point in the status report.
Action: Section B workstream lead to review the updated under B2 to ensure it is accurate and discuss with the relevant individuals.
Action: SEND Improvement Delivery Group members to review the RAG status and set out on page 9 and come to the next Delivery Group meeting with comments.
Section C
- A new template is in place for EHCPs
- Training is underway for the 0 to 25 team.
Section D
There is a risk of the Autism in Schools training. Whilst there was good take up, NHS England funding is not aligned with schools CPD.
7. Any other business
- Members agreed to have two meetings in September, one at the beginning and one at the end rather than an August meeting.
Key message to communicate:
- J Ross is leaving Devon County Council at the end of July, the chair on behalf of the board formally thanked J Ross for all contributions and hard work to SEND in Devon and wish the very best for the future.
- K Knott will be joining Devon County Council at the end of July for a 12 month secondment to support with SEND, there will be a robust transition period between now and July.
* Presentations
Presentations are available on request. Please email childsc.sendimprovementprogramme-mailbox@devon.gov.uk. Please include in your email:
- which presentations you would like to receive
- from which Improvement Board meeting
- if you have accessibility needs.