Sarah Callaghan, Director of Education and
Skills, Lancashire County Council, and Zoe Richards, Senior
Programme Manager for SEND, Lancashire and South Cumbria and Hilary
Fordham, Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG),
introduced the item.
It was noted that the first monitoring visit
had taken place, as shown in the report and monthly reports would
be produced for the Committee containing the progress made for each
action since the last meeting of the Committee. The report for this
meeting was in reference to progress made to the actions for
October and November 2020
Each action in the report were taken in turn
and members' provided comments to each action:
Action One: Leaders'
Understanding of Local Area
In terms of Action One, the following key
messages were noted:
- Good progress had
been made with regard to the leaders' understanding of the local
area and that the new SEND Partnership Manager and Local Officer
Development Officer posts, jointly funded by Lancashire County
Council and the NHS, would both commence their employment on 4
January.
- A joint County
Council/Health data team had been established and strong scrutiny
and challenge processes are in place, including the data dashboard,
which is currently being developed. The Personal Outcomes
Evaluation Tool (POET) survey had now been reviewed and the
relevant action was being taken. The survey Monkey Quiz was
being developed and the agreed focus of support was in place.
- A feedback mechanism
would be piloted from January and most health providers within the
Lancashire and South Cumbria footprint have engaged with the Data
Quality Improvement Programme.
Members' requested that a key of the colours
used for Red – Amber – Green (RAG) ratings should be
included in the document, along with a glossary of abbreviations
and terms. The report should also be amended to identify which key
milestones referred to which of the particular priorities.
Action Two: Joint
Commissioning
In terms of Action Two, the following key
messages were noted:
- A report had been
sent to the Children and Young People's Commissioning Network,
which looks at the strategic element of commissioning arrangements
across Lancashire and South Cumbria, and a Lancashire Commissioning
Group, which considers tactical arrangements particular to the
county, have recently been convened. School Nurse
Practitioner Workshops had been held in November and December and
the Special School Nursing Task Group had been reconvened. A review
of Specialist Children's Nursing Services had also been completed,
with parent and carers asked for feedback. Continence policy
arrangements had also been reviewed and would shortly be sent out
to stakeholders.
- All key milestones
for this quarter are on target and progressing well but it was
noted that the implications of the response to Covid-19 had made an
impact on the commissioning capacity.
Action Three: Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Pathway
In terms of Action Three, the following key
messages were noted:
- All providers and
Clinical Commissioning Groups had engaged in a recovery plan
approach and a request for recovery plan funding had been made to
the Integrated Care System for support for a whole system
improvement plan for all local authorities within Lancashire.
- Links had been made
with the National Autism Team and the Autism Spectrum Disorder
National Clinical Lead had undertaken a gap and demand analysis and
feasibility study, the report for which is expected at the end of
December 2021.
- A Neuro-Developmental
(ND) Pathway Group to deliver the Autism Spectrum Disorder Project
Plan across the Integrated Care System had been established in
December 2019. This Group has agreed that the Autism Spectrum
Disorder Project Plan would be the priority for the duration of the
Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) and an update would be provided at
a future meeting of the SEND Sub-Committee.
- It was reported that
three of the key milestones had been completed, but there were
concerns over not being able to appoint private sector Digital
Assessors, the quality of output from private providers and data
requirements not being met by private providers.
- There were still key
issues and gaps that remained which included the
Neuro-Developmental (ND) Pathway Co-ordinators that had not yet
been appointed, although it was noted that this should be resolved
by January/February 2021.
Following the presentation, the following were
clarified:
- That in relation to
the response rate from parent carers regarding Autism Spectrum
Disorder and Neuro-Developmental (ASD/ND) support, a 30% response
rate should be achieved within the next three months, 50% within
six months, with the final expectation being a 70% response
rate.
- Following a
suggestion to invite the National Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical
Lead to the next meeting of the SEND Sub-Committee in order that
they could present their report to the committee directly, members'
were informed that their report information would be fed into a
report that was to be presented to the SEND Partnership Board and a
suggestion was made that members' of this Committee could be
invited to that particular meeting.
- Following a query
regarding the red RAG rating around the quality of output from
private providers and a request for assurance that there were not a
backlog as a result of this, it was stated that a proposal will be
developed by 4 January to include three different trajectories that
would identify the impact on the delivery of the Accelerated
Progress Plan.
- It was confirmed that
Zoe Richards was taking the lead on communications and engagement
and, in responding to a query, she confirmed that all Clinical
Commissioning Groups are involved in the SEND agenda through the
Children and Young People's Commissioning Group and there is a SEND
Improvement Board for Health, to which all the SEND Commissioners
from all the Clinical Commissioning Groups are invited to
attend.
Action Four:
Transitions in Health Care
In terms of Action Four, the following key
messages were noted:
- All health care
providers have engaged with transition in health care and SEND
Improvement Groups had been established in several providers and
other providers setting up SEND Improvement Groups, early in the
New Year.
- The key milestones
are all on target and the main risk was the engagement of Adult
Services. Data requirements were also identified as a risk
but this is being addressed and an update will be provided at the
next meeting. It was also noted that the response to the
Covid-19 pandemic is a risk in terms of ensuring that everything is
in place in the timescales required.
Responding to a concern over the target of
achieving the 45% positive feedback from children and young people
regarding their transition process, members' were informed that a
benchmarking exercise on transition arrangements in health care had
taken place prior to the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) being in
place.
Action Five: Local
Offer
In terms of Action Five, the
following key messages were noted:
- The Local Offer
Development Officer will take up employment on 4 January. Their
role included developing the local offer website and the ways in
which local offers are made available across Lancashire.
- A soft launch of the
local offer directory of service had taken place and a decision to
renew the open object software licence had been taken. This would
enable the directory to be in place. A feedback form had been
uploaded onto the website.
- Three of the four
milestones were on target, with the directory of services being
addressed in the New Year.
Following the presentation, member's requested
the following:
- The minutes from the
SEND Partnership Board be sent around the Committee, as the minutes
published to the website were not up-to-date.
- The monitoring
feedback from the Department of education / NHS England and NHS
Improvement (DfE/NHS EI) be seen by the Committee. However, in
response to this request, members' were informed that feedback was
given both verbally and formally, with formal feedback being
received in March and September.
Concerns were also raised the possibilities of
equality impact assessments not being undertaken as services
evolved. In response, members' were informed that should
significant changes to the services take place, equality impact
assessments would be carried out by the commissioners, with any
major changes being taken through the formal relevant governance
processes.
Resolved: That;
i.
The progress of the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) to date on the
five areas of concern, including those areas highlighted in 'red'
or 'amber, be noted;
ii.
That the highlight report be amended to include a key of the
colours used for the RAG ratings, a glossary of abbreviations and
terms, and a section to identify which key milestones refer to
which particular priority;
iii.
The report that was sent to the Children and Young People's
Commissioning Network, to be circulated to Committee members for
their information;
- The National Autism
Team work streams would be circulated to members of the
Committee;
- The possibilities of
members' being invited to attend the SEND Partnership Board, be
investigated; and
- The minutes from the
previous meetings of the SEND Partnership Board be sent to the
Committee.