Agenda item

Cabinet Member: SEND Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/324

Contact: Kate Reynolds, Deputy Director of Education

Kate.reynolds@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Director of Children’s Services (CA8)

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to respond to the requests from Council as given below:

Council calls on Cabinet to consider;

a)    More meaningfully involve young people and youth organisations throughout all policy-making processes within SEND improvement and the PAP.

b)    Any consultations or engagement with young people by this council must have a visible public follow-up to the outcomes and tangible metrics to ensure outcomes are delivered.

c)     All Council policies that affect young people, must include an impact assessment, and ensure that reasonable mitigation measures are put in place.

d)    Ensuring that where appropriate all future events, in person/online, run or funded by OCC, especially those related to the PAP, LAP, and SEND improvement, are open to appropriate young people with the attendance of their parent or carer.

e)    Launching a rapid task force for the voice of the young person and SEND users, and task them to create a framework for a Youth Forum within three months.

f)      The leader to appoint a SEND Champion from an opposition group to enable that a wider range of voices in the SEND community are able to feed into SEND improvement and services, and that such person sits on the SEND Improvement board.

Cabinet had before it a report on a proposed response to a motion on SEND services by Cllr Sally Povolotsky carried by the Full Council. Following an inspection of the local area partnership (the local authority and integrated care board) in Summer 2023, the LAP was found to have ‘systemic weaknesses’.  As a result, a priority action plan (PAP)was developed to tackle the key issues raised by the inspection.  The PAP was approved by the Department for Education (DfE) in December 2023.  At its heart, the PAP has a commitment to making the voices of children and young people ‘heard’ as part of the improvement journey. 

Councillor Kate Gregory, Cabinet Member for SEND services, presented the report. She highlighted the importance of addressing the needs of children with SEND and emphasised the need for a comprehensive review of the current SEND services to ensure they meet the needs of all children and young people.

During discussion, several members spoke about the existing challenges in the SEND services including long waiting times for assessments and support. There were ongoing concerns about the adequacy of funding and resources allocated to SEND services. The impact of these challenges on families and children was discussed, with a focus on the need for timely and effective support.

The motion passed by Full Council proposed several improvements, including increased funding for SEND services and better training for staff. There was a call for more collaboration between different agencies and stakeholders involved in providing SEND support. The importance of involving parents and carers in the decision-making process was highlighted.

Some members raised concerns about the feasibility of the proposed improvements, particularly in terms of funding and resource allocation.

There was a discussion on the need for a detailed plan to implement the proposed changes effectively.

The Chair expressed disappointment that although she had invited two members of the opposition to take on the proposed position of SEND champion, nether had accepted, and she hoped this would be resolved in the near future.

Councillor Gregory moved and Councillor Leffman seconded the recommendatios and they were approved.

RESOLVED to approve the Cabinet’s response to the following recommendations included in the motion to Council as detailed in the report:-

a)    More meaningfully involve young people and youth organisations throughout all policy-making processes within SEND improvement and the PAP.

b)     Any consultations or engagement with young people by this council must have a visible public follow-up to the outcomes and tangible metrics to ensure outcomes are delivered.

c)    All Council policies that affect young people, must include an impact assessment, and ensure that reasonable mitigation measures are put in place.

d)    Ensuring that where appropriate all future events, in person/online, run or funded by OCC, especially those related to the PAP, LAP, and SEND improvement, are open to appropriate young people with the attendance of their parent or carer.

e)    Launching a rapid task force for the voice of the young person and SEND users, and task them to create a framework for a Youth Forum within three months.

f)      The leader to appoint a SEND Champion from an opposition group to enable that a wider range of voices in the SEND community are able to feed into SEND improvement and services, and that such person sits on the SEND Improvement board.