Contents
Attendance
- Amy Bickford, Senior Participation Officer, 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
- Donna Manson, Chief Executive, Devon County Council
- Hannah Pugliese, Head of Womens and Children’s Commissioning, NHS Devon
- Heather Campbell, Regional Team Manager South-West and South-East, Department for Education
- 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
- Julia Foster, Senior Manager, SEN-D, Devon County Council
- 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
- 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 - Meg Booth, Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport, Devon County Council
- Rachel Shaw, Head of Education and Learning (Delivery), Devon County Council
- Sarah Pickering, Mill Water School, Mill Water School
- Shayna Stanbury, SEND Programme Officer/minutes, 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
- Beverley Mack, Children’s Alliance Director, Children and Family Health Devon
- Damien Jones, Deputy Director – Transport Operations, Environment and Waste, Devon County Council
- Jassi Broadmeadow, Deputy Director – Children’s Services and Head of Social Care, Devon County Council
- Jo Turl, Director of Commissioning Primary, Community and Mental Health Care, NHS Devon
- Kate Stephens, Head of Public Health Nursing, Devon County Council
- Naomi Chapman, Chief Nursing Officer, NHS Devon
- Richard Reece, Education Business Systems and Contract Manager, Devon County Council
- Rob Gasson, CEO Wave Academy, Wave Academy
- Tandra Forster, Director of Integrated Adult Social Care, Devon County Council
- Tony Parker, Head of Communications and Media, Devon County Council
- Vikki Hearn, Head of Service, Children’s Commissioning and Resources, Devon County Council
- Vikki Hill, Devon NHS – Lead Neurodiversity Pathway, NHS Devon
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.
3. SEND Joint Dashboard
The proposal is to agree the health reporting for Devon can replicate the KPIs currently collected and submitted to the Torbay Board and inspection monitoring visits. The data will include, mental Health in Schools, CAMHS Crisis Support, Autism, Speech Language Therapy, Learning Disability Annual Health Checks 14ys +.
Action: H Pugliese to provide a narrative of the content of the dashboard for the next meeting.
Discussions were held around the importance of having a joint dashboard, ensuring Devon County Council and NHS Devon work together. Devon County Council Chief Executive informed board members there is a specific focus on governance changes, establishing how Devon County Council and NHS Devon will together. In addition ensuring this is discussed at cabinet meeting and on the annual plan, ensuring the list back is in the directorate service pans with performance framework to ensure we have monitoring at the highest level of governance.
Board members agreed the SEND Joint Dashboard to be an item on the September board meeting, establishing what we are being held to account, including clarity at a director level. This is to include the link with data to how we communicate with families and how we respond to communications, EHCP’s, affordability for sustainable services. To be assured we have data linked to the improvement plan, a set of milestones on an annual basis and outcome data. This includes ensuring we know what the issues are and what actions we are taking to address those and if the local area has the capabilities to make change.
Action: SEND Data Dashboard to be tabled by the local area at the SEND Improvement Partnership Board in September as the main item.
A presentation was shared setting out data under the SEND Improvement Plan.*
Parent Carer Forum Devon raised it is positive to see more in-depth information and figures on information, which is not regularly communicated on.
Discussions were held around data from Public Health Nursing and the need for this to be included in the data dashboard.
Action: L Taylor to ensure data from Public Health Nursing is included in the data dashboard.
The chair requested reviewing the data to establish what it is telling us and the actions the local area are taking. Members discussed the sufficiency strategy, ensuring the right provision is in place to develop inclusive data. Discussions were also held around exclusion and school absence, a presentation was requested from the chair for the next meeting, setting out the actions taken. Alongside this area-based approaches, in how support is being wrapped around the family and school. Action: R Shaw to develop with colleagues an item to bring to the September meeting.
Discussions held around Include in the dashboard data from PHN to be combined with the main data.
4. Case Study: Section B
Board members shared a presentation setting out work underway in each strategic action, the risks, and next steps.*
Comments/questions from board members:
- Discussions were held around young people’s request to meet with senior leaders and council members.
- A request was made to use ‘participation’ rather than ‘engagement.’
- Consideration around the use of different frameworks – taking notice of the outcomes the local area wants to achieve.
- Coproduction should be part of business as usual and everyday working. It should be embedded in all workstreams.
- How are we going to invest in training and coaching staff, supporting them to develop their knowledge?
Department for Education representation raised the original plan has milestones, are these on track? Are the board comfortable with the progress of the plan? A question was also raised whether the local area has baseline data?
Devon County Council Chief Executive highlighted the SEND Improvement Plan has been communicated out as a 5-year plan/journey.
Parent Carer Forum Devon informed members baseline data is available however they have a responsibility to families to ensure parent carers are provided with a response. Action: Once the local area has been presented with the baseline data, ensure parent carers are responded to.
Board members discussed the risk highlighted regarding the local offer work not being completed until January. Devon County Council Chief Executive raised this is not good enough and suggested to take this outside of the meeting to ensure work is commenced shortly. In addition a review to Devon County Council’s Engagement and Communication Strategy is required.
5. Devon Local Area Coproduction Training
Parent Carer Forum Devon provided an update on the coproduction training scheduled in for 21 September, 9:30 arrival. The venue and coordination of the day are currently being organised.
The expectation is for board members, senior leadership team, 0 – 25 team managers, Area Education Commissioning Officers, Disabled Children’s Service Managers, Children and Family Health Devon Managers, DiAS to be in attendance.
More information will follow over the coming weeks.
6. SEND Improvement Plan status report
A PowerPoint was shared, setting out the work services will be undertaking for the September meeting through the Quality Performance Review Meeting (QPRM).*
Comments/questions from board members:
- It is really positive to see the vast amount of work underway.
- Family perspective is not strongly reflected. PCFD welcome a discussion to support the straightforward positive changes that could be made.
- Review the language used.
- The local authority has a duty to be a voice of the child as much as for the family as a whole.
7. Any other business
- The chair thanked on behalf of the board members, both J Ross and J Wooster for their significant contributions made and wished them the best for the future.
- Councillor J Hart thanked, on behalf of the council, the work done in Children’s Services. Devon has gone through a bumpy patch, at least now we feel we have something to look forward to in the right direction.
Date for Next Meeting: TBC
* 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.