Agenda and minutes

To welcome all to the meeting, introduction and receive apologies.

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting.

Apologies were noted as above.

A New Board Member was welcomed to the meeting:

·  Cllr Jackie Oakes replacing Cllr Steve Hughes, East Lancashire, Lancashire Leaders Group

Replacements for the meeting were as follows:

·  Denis Gizzi for Dr Lindsey Dickinson, Chorley and South Ribble CCG and Dr Sumantra Mukerji, Greater Preston CCG

·  Sarah Callaghan for Edwina Grant, OBE, Lancashire County Council

·  Kirsty Hollis for Dr Julie Higgins, East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group

·  Stephen Spencer for Tammy Bradley, Housing Providers

Additional apologies were received from Blackburn with Darwen Council

·  Dominic Harrison

Members of the Board are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

There were no disclosures of interest in relation to items appearing on the agenda.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

Resolved:  That the Board agreed the minutes of the meetings held on 21 July 2020.

To note the action updates from the previous meeting and the forward plan for future meetings.

Resolved:  That the action sheet and forward plan was noted.

To note the report and consider the draft Accelerated Progress Plan and to agree the establishment of a sub-committee of the Health and Wellbeing Board to scrutinise the progress on the implementation of the Plan and the associated Key Performance Indicators.

Sarah Callaghan, Director of Education and Skills, Lancashire County Council and Hilary Fordham, Chief Operating Officer, Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group introduced the item.

Lancashire local area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities services were inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2017 to judge how effectively the special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms had been implemented, as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. The inspection identified two fundamental failings and twelve areas of significant concern.

Partners in Lancashire were required to produce a Written Statement of Action, setting out the immediate priorities for action. The Written Statement of Action was subsequently updated and progress on the implementation of these actions monitored by the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England. Progress has been reported regularly to the SEND Partnership Board and the Health and Wellbeing Board.

An inspection revisit by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) took place in February and March 2020; the report was published on 5 August 2020 and circulated to members of the Board on the same day which set out that of the 12 areas of significant concern, seven the inspectors believed, had been sufficiently addressed and five still remained with some issues outstanding.  The areas where there had been sufficient progress made included the strategic leadership and vision across the partnership, engagement with parents and carers, although it is always acknowledged that there is more to do on that particular agenda and the quality of the Education, Health and Care plans with further details included in the report which was circulated with the agenda.

For the five areas where sufficient progress had not been made, there is an expectation to produce an Accelerated Progress Plan which will be submitted to the Department for Education/NHS England (DfE/NHS(E)) on 28 September 2020.  Due to the tight timescales to prepare, the plan is currently in development and a working draft was attached to the report circulated with the agenda.  This Plan will be formally monitored by the Department for Education/NHS England (DfE/NHS (E)) and progress reported to the SEND Partnership Board and Health and Wellbeing Board. 

The five areas where sufficient progress had not been made were:

(i)  Leaders understanding of the local area – the inspectors felt that progress had been made, although there were still some issues with sufficiency of data and ensuring that it is utilised to make the correct decisions for the benefit of Lancashire's children and young people.

(ii)  Weak joint commissioning arrangements – again this reflects some of the issues around the data provision and the need to appropriately monitor the Services that are commissioned.

(iii)  The absence of effective diagnostic pathways for young people on the Autistic spectrum disorder – the inspectors felt that it had been addressed at primary level which was the diagnostic pathway itself, however it was found that there were some long waiting lists in some parts of the County and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To receive an update on the current situation and what has happened since the last Board meeting.

In the absence of Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, Director of Public Health, the Chair of the Lancashire Outbreak Engagement Board provided a brief current situation report on the Lancashire COVID-19 outbreak.

It was reported that the current situation is deteriorating slightly both locally and nationally, particularly with areas in East Lancashire and Preston showing high rates of infections.  Discussions are taking place locally on how to ease lockdown fatigue and prevent confusing messages and ensure that the people of Lancashire are supported in understanding the messages to restrict a further rise in cases.  When requested, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi provides recommendations for Lancashire, with Central Government having the ultimate decision on what restrictions are put in place for Lancashire.

A brief update from the Lancashire Resilience Forum was that we are currently  in a place where behaviour has changed so inevitably the virus will spread and it is about ensuring the basics are maintained – socially distancing, act reasonably, wash hands and continue to protect the vulnerable as their risk increases when the virus increases.  We are in a better place with the majority of people following guidance and behaviours have changed since the start of the outbreak.  The key area of work now is winter preparation and how are the more vulnerable protected along with the NHS.

Concerns were raised regards people in care homes, particularly those with Dementia and who can visit them and a request has been made to the Director of Public Health to provide some guidance on this which will then be shared with service providers in the care homes.

Resolved:  The Board noted the update.

An item of Urgent Business may only be considered under this heading, where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Members' intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There was no urgent business received.

The next scheduled meeting of the Board will be held at 2pm on 3 November 2020.  Format of the meeting to be confirmed.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Board would take place on 3 November 2020 with the format of the meeting to be confirmed.