Agenda and minutes

For Children's Services Scrutiny County Councillor Matthew Salter replaced County Councillor Joe Cooney. For Education Scrutiny County Councillors Jenny Purcell and Barrie Yates replaced County Councillors Edward Nash and Stephen Clarke respectively.

In accordance with Standing Order 19(1), members of the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee were asked to give consent for members of the Education Scrutiny Committee to speak at the meeting.  

From Children's Services Scrutiny apologies were received from County Councillor Andrew Gardiner, Councillor Gail Goodman and Jess Basquill, Youth Council Representative. From Education Scrutiny apologies were received from County Councillors Munsif Dad and John Potter, Mr Ian Beck, Mrs Janet Hamid, Dr Sam Johnson and Mr Kenvyn Wales

Members 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.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: That the minutes from the meeting held on the 14 March 2018 be confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed David Graham, Head of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities; Steve Belbin, Head of School Improvement; Sally Richardson, Principal Education Psychologist; and David Middleton, Education Psychologist, to the meeting.

The report presented provided an overview on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service update following the outcome of the SEND joint local area inspection in November 2017.  In addition, information was presented to members on the SEND standards in Lancashire schools for 2017. 

Members noted that standards in Lancashire for SEND pupils required improvement. They enquired how the SEND team differentiated between children with mental disabilities and children with physical disabilities. It was reported that the majority of children's needs were met within the school. There were a range of different mechanisms in schools that children with SEN could access which includes braille service for visually impaired children. There was also an Educational Psychologist Service in place to provide advice and support.

Members enquired if average attendance rate for children could be included in the statistics. It was pointed out to members that matching attendance and exclusions against attainment and progress was not possible as the field was too complex. The SEND team stated that standards across Lancashire remained good but there were still certain areas of SEN attainment and progress that required improvement. Children's attainment covered many different areas.

It was noted that attainments would vary by district, by ethnicity, by gender and by SEN. Certain areas of Lancashire were more challenging than others. When the SEND team was successful in bidding for additional funding, the money was used to support the more challenging areas. The team was aware of what challenges it needed to focus on and resources would be allocated accordingly.

LCC was working with schools to improve standards and the children's progression, to raise Lancashire's average to the level of the national average.

Members enquired about how a child that was not improving was measured. It was highlighted that it was about the anticipated progress of the child within his/her limiting condition. Where progress had stalled, intervention would need to be considered. It was about what worked best for the child within the context of the school.

Concerns was raised in relation to support at home for children with sensory impairments to have specialised equipment not just in schools. It was confirmed that a child did not require an EHC Plan to obtain equipment as it was based on assessment and need. If the child required equipment for home as well then support should flow between the school and the home. There were specialist teachers and specialist technicians in place who assessed the child's needs.

The committee felt that in terms of attainment and rates of progress it would be useful to see how schools were compared with each other across the County.

Members were then presented with the draft Lancashire Special Educational Needs and Disability Written Statement of Action (WSoA) which had been produced as a direct response to Lancashire's  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The work plan for the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee for the 2017/18 municipal year was presented. The topics included were identified at the work planning workshop held on 21 June 2017.

Resolved: The report presented be noted.

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 Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

Next meeting of the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee is Tuesday 22 May 2018 at 2pm, Cabinet Room C, County Hall, Preston

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will take place on Wednesday 22 May at 2:00pm in Cabinet Room C (The Duke of Lancaster Room) at the County Hall, Preston.