Agenda item

The Chair welcomed Sally Richardson, Head of Inclusion; Hilary Fordham, Chief Operating Officer, Morecambe Bay CCG; Samantha Jones, Chair of Lancashire Parent Carer Forum; and Ajay Sethi, Head of Learning Services and Skills, to the meeting.

The report presented provided members of the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee with a progress update on the Improvement Programme and Plan as requested at the meeting of the committee on 13 May 2019.

A written statement of action (WSoA) was required in response to the joint Ofsted/CQC area review in November 2017. Of the 47 actions, 33 were completed and 14 had continued into the Improvement Plan.

Regarding the Improvement Plan 2019/20 progress to date, of the 94 number of actions, 18 were complete, 46 were on track, 8 were delayed and 22 had not yet started.

In terms of co-producing, publishing and implementing a clear pathway for identifying and meeting need for Children and Young People from 0 – 25 across Lancashire, information and guidance had been co-produced and would be published by the end of the summer 2019. This would have set timelines which the SEND Partnership would work to.

Queries were raised on Working Group 5 – Improving Outcomes. The SEND briefings and general advice had been delivered to all school governors' not just SEND leads and this had been completed. There was guidance for all school governors as well as a training offer. The LCC Governors Service had provided training on the role school governing bodies had in avoiding the needs for permanent exclusion of pupils with EHC Plans. This had commenced in the Spring Term 2018 and would be ongoing. There was a request from the committee for further information on the number of school governors trained so far.

There were concerns raised in relation to the the actions that were delayed and the potential impact of this. The committee requested for a response to be provided to members in September 2019 before the next meeting of the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee in October 2019.

Regarding meeting needs, it was stated that it was difficult to quantify the level of unmet need. It was pointed out however that there were various aspects of the improvement plan which would help close any gaps which currently existed, including the creation of local area partnerships which brought together representatives from statutory services in each locality.

The committee enquired about the commissioning of the speech and language service. It was reported that there were three Lancashire NHS trusts across Lancashire and South Cumbria which currently delivered the service. The proposed changes would ensure a more comprehensive service and could avoid the need for children to be issued with EHCPs. The Lancashire SEND Partnership had agreed the new service specification with the CCGs and awaiting response from providers. Concerns were raised in relation to deadlines for providers to respond to the proposed changes and a request was made for current wait times for speech and language services.

There were concerns raised over children falling through the gaps around the transition of services. It was highlighted that there was a mapping exercise taking place to ensure children were properly signposted.

In relation to the inclusion hubs, members were informed that all schools had been made aware of the primary inclusion hubs and Governors had been advised through the governors' newsletter. Governance arrangements had been established and the inclusion hubs would be led by schools.

Members asked what issues schools might face in terms of commissioning alternative services. It was reported that the SEND Partnership Board was reviewing what could be done collectively for schools in terms of alternative provision. In addition, the CCGs were working with the local authority on improving collective commissioning.

Regarding the Personal Online Evaluation Tool (POET), the committee was informed that this could be completed online. The outcomes were reported to the Lancashire SEND Partnership Board and used to inform service improvement.

Resolved: That;

  i.  The report be noted.

  ii.  The progress update on the Lancashire SEND written Statement of Action and the mitigating actions where deadlines have not been met be considered.

  iii.  An update be provided in September 2019 on the speech and language services, the progress of actions delayed and progress of the 12 areas set out in the WSoA