Minutes of the North Somerset SEND Programme Board

Transcription

1 Minutes of the North Somerset SEND Programme Board 12th September Present and apologies 1.1 Present: Lisa Manson (LM) Director of Commissioning, BNSSG CCG (Chair) Kenton Mee (KM) NS Parent Carers Working Together (NSPCWT) Heidi Ridge NS Parent Carers Working Together (NSPCWT) Wendy Packer (WP) Service Leader, Vulnerable Learners, NSC P&C Hannah Gillett Contracts & Commissioning Officer, NSC P&C Ed Bowen-Roberts (EB-R) Special Schools Representative Alison Ford (AF) Head of Children & Maternity, BNSSG CCG Martin Hawketts (MH) Service Lead, Adult LD & Mental Health Mark Hemmings (MH) Transformation Project Manager, BNSSG CCG Anthony Webster (AW) SEN Team Manager, P&C NSC Sheila French (SF) Service Lead, Disabled Children, P&C NSC Mike Newman (MN) Strategy & Policy Development Manager, P&C NSC Gill Hinton (GH) Information & Advice Officer, P&C NSC Gail Smith (GS) Strategy & Policy Development Officer, P&C NSC Carl Nicholson (CN) Manager, Integrated Transport Unit, D&E NSC Sally Varley (SV) Planning & Access Service Leader, P&C NSC Alun Davies (AD) Strategy & Policy Development Officer, P&C NSC 1.2 Apologies: Sarah Trevitt - Supportive Parents Eifion Price - Assistant Director Children s Support & Safeguarding, P&C NSC Hayley Verrico - Assistant Director Adults Support & Safeguarding, P&C NSC Jenie Eastman (JE) Community Family Team Leader, P&C NSC Matt Lenny (ML) Public Health Service Leader, P&C NSC Mike Rees (MR) Youth Offending Team & High Impact Families Lead, NSC 1.3 Observing: Anne Porter - SEND Professional Advisor, Department for Education Paul Spencer Programme Manager, NHS England 2. Written Statement of Action Update 2.1 MN gave a verbal update on the work of the sub-group of the Board which was tasked with drafting the Written Statement of Action. The statement is

2 substantially complete in draft form and is being edited for completeness and accuracy. There was a very positive meeting with NHSE and DfE representatives prior to this meeting which looked at the Areas of Significant Weakness and the work proposed in the Written Statement. 2.2 An extraordinary SEND Programme Board meeting has been called for 28th September to consider the draft prior to submission. Key councillors including the Executive Member and Scrutiny Chair for Children & Young People have been invited to this meeting to ensure they also have oversight of the process. 2.3 MN expressed particular thanks to NSPCWT and Supportive Parents for their support for the process and their contributions over the summer period. 3. North Somerset SEND Board Co-Production Policy and Charter 3.1 AD introduced the report circulated with the agenda. The Local Joint Area Review Report reflected the concerns of some Carers and parents in North Somerset that their views and issues were not sought, listened to or acted upon by SEND Service Providers. There are a number of Actions in the Written Statement of Action focusing on Co-Production to address these concerns. 3.3 A key action, requested by representatives of NSPCWT and supported by the Board is to co-produce a Co-Production Policy which is supported by a Co- Production Charter. These Documents will provide a framework through which co-production would be undertaken by the Board and a commitment from individual Member Organisations. 3.4 To achieve co-production of the Policy and Charter it was proposed that the Board sets-up a Co-Production Sub-Group. The purpose of the Group will be to lead on behalf of the Board on the development and production of a Co- Production Policy and Co-Production Charter. Tasks will include the drafting of the Documents and planning the Consultation once the Documents are in draft form. The Consultation draft and the final versions will need to be signed off by the Board. The work is to be completed by February The membership of the Sub-Group is proposed to include: NSPCWT, Supportive Parents, disabled children and young people, Weston College, BNSSG CCG, SENS headteachers, NSC Social Care and NSC Strategy and Policy Team. 3.7 MN requested clarification on what level of sign-off would be requested for the charter and policy in member organisations to ensure that it was meaningful. AD confirmed that the expectation was that it would be at Director level in all organisations The creation of the subgroup, its tasks and membership were all agreed by the Board.

3 4. Respite and Sitting Services 4.1 SF presented the paper and explained that the sitting service for disabled children forms a key part of North Somerset s short breaks offer. Work is currently underway to bring the Sitting Service back in house in North Somerset in order to develop the offer and to ensure that it can reach more families. 4.2 This is part of a wider review of the short breaks offer, particularly those offered at a universal and targeted level, rather than specialist services. The service for children with complex disabilities was reviewed recently, and after a period of turbulence was now operating well. However, it was recognised that access and sufficiency of services for children with less complex needs needed to be addressed. 4.3 This review would also address the concern raised that around 20% of families entitled to a Direct Payment struggle to find services which can deliver the support needed. Additional capacity in this service would address this without parents needing to commission unaffordable external provision for all of their support. 4.2 The service is considered mis-named at present as it is regarded as a service supporting younger children. Thus, it was proposed to rename this the Wraparound Support Service. 4.3 SF explained that there will now be engagement with disabled children and young people and their families on this specific issue and on the wider picture of preventative services. 4.4 The Board expressed support for the proposals and for the engagement process which will now take place. 5. Local Offer 5.1 Gill Hinton presented the report circulated with the agenda and noted that during the LJAR, HMCI commented that the Local Offer was in her opinion not fit for purpose. The Project Plan accompanying the report is intended to address the perceived weaknesses in the Local Offer and to ensure it meets standards identified in the SEN Code of Practice. 5.3 The original Local Offer Site was co-produced with Carers and Parents Groups and individuals through the Local Offer Stakeholder Group which was set up in The Board was asked to note that there are no additional resources available to implement the project and therefore any changes to the website architecture will

4 be limited. However, there is staffing resource available to develop and maintain the content of the site and to ensure it is kept up to date. 5.5 Following discussion it was agreed that the current Local Offer Stakeholder Group will function as the project group for this work. MN suggested that a representative from NSC s Marketing and Communications team should be invited to join the group s initial meeting in order that some of the decisions about integration with the structure and design of the NSC Corporate website are fully understood. 5.6 The recommendations in the project plan were agreed. There will be a report back on the work at each meeting of the board. 6. Self-evaluation Update 6.1 Gail Smith presented the report. The Final 2018/19 SEF is now published on the Local Offer: The revised process for gathering information from Service Leads has worked well with sixteen out of twenty-four requests for information being promptly returned. Some of the responses were detailed whilst others provided more of an overview 6.3 The SEF informs the board on strategic decision making ensuring these decisions link to the SEND Strategy and the statement of intent within it. During the process this year the LJAR took place. Inspectors had a clear expectation that the local area had a SEF and a SEND Strategy, these being two of the first things requested by the inspectors. The draft of the 2018/19 SEF was sent to them along with the 2017/18 copy. Plans for developing the strategy were also shared. 6.4 As noted by Ofsted and the CQC within the Written Statement of Action (WSA), one of the areas of information that teams lacked and which was not recorded in the SEFs were the outcomes and impacts which services were having on children, young people and their families. This became a key theme throughout the inspectors visit. It is proposed that this information which will be provided by service leads during future self-evaluation processes. 6.5 The Board supported the approach to self-evaluation proposed for , including the improved gathering of outcomes and impact evaluation. 7. Education Health and Care Plan Process Review

5 7.1 AW presented the plan to develop the EHC process, improve guidance and resources for parents and carers, and to support the delivery of timely, consistently high-quality plans and assessments. This continued work which had begun during 2017, but which had been paused due to capacity constraints across the system. 7.2 It was noted by the board that resolution of the DCO/DMO role within BNSSG would support this work, and that developing consistent the means by which Health and Social Care Professionals could contribute to assessments would improve the process further. 7.3 AW stressed that a transparent process which was well documented would support both parents and professionals. 7.3 KM asked if additional resources were going to be provided to undertake this work. WP reported that the People & Communities Directorate Leadership Team had recently agreed an additional 200,000 will be invested in the SEN Service to support operational capacity. 7.4 The Board approved the project plan. 8. Specialist and Alternative Provision Review 8.1 SV gave a verbal update, noting that the Education Commissioning Strategy has recently been agreed by North Somerset Council s Executive. The Department for Education subsequently announced that bids for Wave 13 Funding for specialist Free School provision can be made by 15 th October. 8.2 Using information gathered through the SP/AP Review undertaken in 2017, it has been agreed to proceed with a bid for a school providing for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Work is ongoing with Schools and Academy Trusts to include their views in the bid drafting process. Letters of support are welcome from all board members and partners. 8.2 SV then opened discussion on the detail of the bid, resulting in a number of amendments were made. It was agreed that a brief update on this time-critical process will be presented at the Extraordinary SEND Board Meeting on 28 th September. 9. Minutes of the North Somerset SEND Programme Board 18 th July No matters of accuracy were raised. 9.2 Matters arising: Home to School Transport:

6 CN reported that a meeting had taken place earlier that week between NSPCWT and ITU representatives to clarify issues following the July board. This had been a very helpful meeting and an acceptable way forward had been identified. The proposed new Home to School Transport policy will not be implemented and there a full co-production process will take place to develop a new policy to come in to operation in September SV reported there is likely to be new guidance published on Home to School Transport by Central Government very soon, but that it is unlikely to alter the legislative position BM raised the issue of students at Weston College who were being affected by the central government policy of not making post-19 travel statutory. It was agreed to report back on this issue at the next Board meeting EB-R sought clarification from BNSSG CCG on whether they were responsible for funding Medical Escorts on transport services. MH responded that advice was that this was not the case. It was agreed the CCG will attend the next Transport Stakeholder Group to discuss this issue further. 10. Date of next meeting Extraordinary SEND Programme Board to consider the Written Statement of Action, Friday 28 th September Town Hall Weston-super-Mare