Agenda and minutes

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

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited the members to introduce themselves.

No apologies were received.

Members of the Sub-Committee 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 pecuniary disclosures of interest in relation to items appearing on the agenda but Debbie Corcoran declared a non-pecuniary interest, as she has a family member who has recently been diagnosed with special needs. It was noted that this would be applicable for all future meetings.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

It was noted that Zoe Richards' job title should be Senior Programme Manager for SEND, Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Resolved:  That the sub Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2020.

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

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.

The next scheduled meeting of the Sub-Committee will be held at 10am on 1 February 2021.

The next meeting of the Committee had been changed and will take place on Wednesday 3 February 2021 at 2pm.