Devon Local Area SEND Improvement Plan 2023/24

    

This is a working document which means it will be updated over time.

Date of Inspection: 23 – 25 May 2022
Date of Publication of the revisit report: 7 June 2022
Accountable Officers from the LA and CCG:

• Donna Manson (Chief Executive, Devon County Council)
• Jane Milligan (Chief Executive, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group)
• Julian Wooster (Interim Director of Children and Young People’s Futures)

SEND and NHS England Advisers:

• Keith Thompson (Department for Education)
• Mark Tucker (NHS England)

Introduction

Between 23 and 25 May 2022, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revisited Devon Local Area to decide whether sufficient progress had been made in addressing each of the areas of significant weakness (ASW) detailed in the inspection in December 2018.

This Improvement Plan, which will be monitored by the Department for Education and NHS England, will focus specifically on improvements in the four areas of weakness set out in the inspection findings:

• A. Strategy – The fact that strategic plans and the local area’s SEND arrangements are not embedded or widely understood by stakeholders, including schools, settings, staff, and parents.
• B. Communications – The significant concerns that were reported about communication with key stakeholders, particularly with parents and families.
• C. EHC Plans Timeliness and Quality – The time it takes to issue Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plans and the variable quality of these plans.
• D. Autism – Weaknesses in the identification, assessment, diagnosis and support of those children and young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Governance and reporting arrangements

The governance diagram below sets out clear lines of accountability and responsibility for monitoring the Devon Local Area SEND Improvement Plan. The Improvement Plan will be monitored directly by the SEND Improvement Partnership Board and reported through Devon County Council (DCC) and the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB). Progress on the improvement plan is also reported to the multi-agency forum of the Devon Childrens and Families Partnership (DCFP) and Health and Wellbeing Board, to ensure alignment across the safeguarding partnership. Senior Leaders and Members will be held to account for progress against the SEND Improvement Plan by Local Authority and ICB governance arrangements – DCC Cabinet and Children’s and Adult’s Scrutiny Committees, the ICB Governing Body, ICB Quality Assurance Committee and DCC Strategic Leadership team (SLT).

We are determined to work together to improve the experience of children and families across the county who need specialist help and support.

SEND Improvement Partnership Board

The Improvement Partnership Board has an independent chair and includes DCC and NHS Chief Executives, Senior Leaders, Elected Members, Education Setting’s, Parent Carer Forum Devon (PCFD) Co – Chairs and parent carers and children and young. The Board will meet monthly to oversee the progress of the SEND Improvement Plan to ensure we are delivering the expected outcomes.

Improvement Plan Delivery Group

The Improvement Plan Delivery Group has the same independent chair as the Improvement Partnership Board and includes the workstream leads and responsible senior officers. The Group will monitor progress and create shared understanding across the SEND Improvement Plan and outcomes for children, young people, and their families.

Expert Reference Groups

Alongside the board, an expert reference group of parents and carers and group of young people will be established to advise and guide the board. A schedule of meetings with these groups and the Participation Team will provide feedback, engagement, and opportunities to ensure strengthened partnership with parent carers.

Section A: Strategy - clear and understood strategic plan and SEND arrangements

What needs improvement

• Devon’s strategy fundamentally fails to address significant weaknesses
• There is a lack of coherent action
• Schools, the local authority, and parent carers do not have a shared view of weaknesses and ways forward
• There is no self-evaluation
• Some services are working well. There is significant disaffection from others,
• Staff do not know the strategic plan.
• Staff do not know what different services do.

What families have told us

• Many families of children with SEND are impacted in simply trying to enjoy family activities at home.
• For families, their child’s condition, and the impact of meltdowns or behaviour were the two greatest challenges for families.
• The situation is then made worse, due to a lack of support and understanding and a feeling of having to battle/fight for what’s right.
• Across a variety of education services, 1 in 4 parents felt that their child’s needs were met.
• 50% of parents feel school support meets need, although outside agencies less so. Whilst many feel the education setting wants to do their best and involves the parents, the average parent felt that a lack of resource leads to children being unable to reach their full potential.
• There is a clear difference between what parents feel school/school staff want to do, and what they are able to do.
• Despite the challenges faced at school there were some clear positive differences made by their child’s education setting which centred around staff understanding and meeting need either changing school, specific support or 1-2-1 smaller classes, supported by increased communication.
• Families do not trust local area services and agencies.

Actions and outcomes

Key Performance Indicators

ASW A – clear and understood strategic plan and SEND arrangements

Section B: Communication with key stakeholders, particularly with parents and families.

What needs improvement:

• Communication remains poor.
• Telephone calls are unanswered.
• Complaints and documents are lost.
• There is a failure to keep families informed.
• Incorrect information is shared with others.
• There is a multitude of different ways to connect to different services. Managers do not know whether these are effective or not.
• Staff and parents do not use the local offer as it does not describe what is on offer and does not contain the information people want.
• Many staff pay lip service to the involvement of parents. They see the parents as representative of a particular view, not as true partners. Some staff do not understand the viewpoint of parents, and do not embed it into their work on a daily basis.

What families have told us

• Families have found communication during the EHC process poor or very poor.
• Families have not been kept informed of services/provision for their children.
• Families have said that knowledgeable & supportive staff who listened to and communicated with both the families & the child made the difference

Actions and outcomes

Key Performance Indicators

ASW B – Communication

Section C: Timeliness and Quality of EHC Plans

What needs improvement

• There are significant delays in annual reviews and the production of EHC Plans.
• Parents do not find this helpful.
• Quality of professional advice is variable.
• There are issues with EHC quality
• There is no quality assurance no professional ownership of EHC Plans.
• Children and young people with EHC Plans are out of school for too long.
• Parent carers are dissatisfied.

What families have told us

• The overall timeliness and communication during the EHC assessment process is poor or very poor.
• Parent carers have rated the EHC Plan’s understanding of their child, and how well they were listened to as poor or very poor.
• The overall process and the ease of application as poor or very poor.
• The average parent carer felt that every aspect of the EHC process was poor.
• The outcomes to meet need at the annual reviews were poor or very poor.
• Over 40% of parent carers said the annual review process was poor or very poor.

Actions and outcomes

Key Performance Indicators

ASW C – Timeliness and Quality of EHC Plans

Section D: Weaknesses in the identification, assessment, diagnosis and support of those children and young people with autism spectrum disorder.

What needs improvement

• Children and young people still wait too long.
• Parents describe battles to get onto the waiting list
• Shortages in the health visiting services persist, there are delays in healthy child programme reviews
• Parents say that the support they receive while waiting for an assessment does not meet their child or young person’s needs
• Parents are still not getting the support they need in a timely way.

What families have told us

• Work with difference “neuro-types” – young people should be central to this- need a broader understanding of neurodivergence not just a focus on autism.
• Look at different presentations rather than societal stereotypes.
• Avoid “comparison culture”.
• Many, many amazing ND people’s voices out there – bring them into the mainstream, into schools, their communities, we need to hear their stories.
• Social knowledge not social skills.
• Still impacted by medical model of assessment which is deficit biased.
• Listen to parents and help parents new to the world of neurodiversity see that there are many paths – we don’t all have to be on the same one.
• Allow more young people with autism to live well and independently in their own communities, enable to find work and access higher/further education opportunities.
• Equip early years’ professionals in universal and early years settings to recognise signs of neurodivergence developing.
• Intervene earlier to support with social interactions and skill development.
• Access to face-face health visitor sessions.
• Ensure health visitors have a strong understanding of autism presentations.
• Parents and carers describe battles to get onto the waiting list.
• Despite initiatives such as additional training or information, leaders are not able to show the impact on the vulnerable groups that were identified at the previous inspection. These groups include girls with ASD and those requiring access to mental health services.

Actions and outcomes

Key Performance Indicators

ASW D – Weaknesses in the identification, assessment, diagnosis and support of those children and young people with autism spectrum disorder.