To receive a verbal update on the development of the DSG Management Plan and the Safety Valve Programme.
Minutes:
Jonathan Wilding, Safety Valve / SEND Consultant share a presentation and highlighted the following points:
· Benchmarking of HNB spending was being undertaken;
· Schools and the local authority were continuing to work in partnership to co-produce HNB spending plans;
· The demand for EHCPs was on course with projections, but the financial pressures were not reducing as fast as expected;
· The current banding system was based on hourly rates. Many areas had moved away from this system as it offered limited flexibility around delivery arrangements;
· There were 50 levels of banding with no consistency in the system;
· The first level of funding in Wokingham started at £4k, this was much higher than in other areas;
· There were fewer EHCPs per head of population in Wokingham, but the spend per head of population was higher than in other areas;
· There were low levels of pupils receiving SEN support in schools, with inconsistencies in what different schools considered in their SEN register;
· Wokingham was historically a low investor in early stages intervention. It was recognised that intervening late was costing more money;
· There was an uneven distribution of EHCPs in schools in the borough;
· It was good that a high proportion of EHCPs were being supported in mainstream schools;
· An effort was being made to review the banding system and make it simpler;
· A new banding system had already been developed for Oakbank School, which would be used as framework for the review;
· There was no new money in the system, so there would be some winers and losers, but there would certainly be more equity and fairness in the system;
· The work was moving apace and had to be undertaken in partnership with schools;
· Neighbouring authorities were keen to take places in the new specialist schools, so it was important to ensure that the process to ascertain which children needed the places in specialist schools and which children could be supported in mainstream schools was thorough;
· It was hoped that the model would be ready by September;
· Wokingham was still under the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) following the 2019 SEND Area Inspection;
· In relation the development of the new SEND Strategy, two workshops with Health had been held which were helpful. The sign off was expected to take place in June.
Phil Sherwood asked what would happen with current EHCPs in relation to the change from hours led to needs led focus. Jonathan Wilding explained that this was still to be modelled, but there would not be any drastic changes as this would not be beneficial. Any changes would be agreed in partnership with.
Phil Sherwood stated that that there was a general understanding amongst school leaders that a change was needed in order to guarantee financial sustainability in the future.
Amanda Woodfin, stated that her school had a high number of pupils with EHCPs and offered to join the group discussions. Officers welcomed her offer.
Sara Attra stated that Addington School had a simple banding system that worked very well. However, she expressed concern over the high number of tribunals relating to pupils from other local authorities, which could result in places going to out of borough pupils. She stated that schools currently did not have any legal support to prepare for these tribunals, and this was a risk in the system. She suggested that legal support should be given to schools to prepare for tribunals. It was important to make sure that the places being created would serve Wokingham pupils primarily.
Kerrie Clifford stated that more work was needed in relation to helping parents understand the changes and that the best way to support a child may not necessarily be in the form of 1-1 assistance. She believed that there were inconsistencies with the advice being given by case workers. She worried that these issues could cause more tribunal cases.
Jonathan Wilding explained that there had been a lot of churns in staffing recently, this was now stabilising. He agreed that enhancing communication with parents was essential.
Ming Zhang informed that the service was currently reviewing the Legal services commission, he would feed back the comments raised for consideration in this review.
Members thanked Jonathan Wilding for his presentation and asked that it be shared with the secondary and primary schools federations. Officers agreed to share the presentation with school leaders.
Liz Woodards noted that hourly rate had not changed, however staff salaries was increasing (by 20% in the last 2 years and an expected 4% or more this year), and this would put pressure on schools’ budgets. Officers acknowledged the difficulties and the budget pressures on schools.
RESOLVED That:
1) The DSG Management Plan and Safety Valve update be noted; and
· The presentation would be shared with primary and secondary school leaders.