Agenda item

The Department for Education published data relating to the timings of EHCPs and tribunal hearings for 2022 on 8 June 2023.  The Committee requested that a report be provided setting out the Council’s response to this report so that, in light of recent staffing changes in Children’s Services, members can consider if the Council has sufficient resources and knowledge to provide the level of service expected of residents.

Cllr Liz Brighouse, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children, Education, and Young People’s Services, has been invited to present the report with Stephen Chandler, Interim Executive Director: People, Transformation and Performance, and Anne Coyle, Interim Corporate Director: Children’s Services, in attendance to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is recommended, having considered the report and responses to questions, to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

Cllr Brighouse, Cabinet Member for Children, Education Services, and Young People introduced the report which focused on the timeliness of Education & Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and the poor performance by Oxfordshire County Council.  Cllr Brighouse drew attention to the Health component which meant that the Council necessarily worked in partnership and that there had been challenges for health partners too.  Cllr Brighouse conceded that there had been problems in the time period reviewed and that the Council had not performed well but that improvements had begun. Cllr Brighouse reminded the Committee that the issue should be seen in the context of the significant funding problems facing local government more broadly.  There was a £17m overspend to meet the needs of those with SEND and that was challenging. 

The Interim Executive Director accepted that performance had not been acceptable and explained that he could not seek to defend it. However, the Council was committed to improving upon it. The number of plans issued within the 20-week target nationally had been 50.7% in January 2023 whereas in Oxfordshire it had been 4%.  As of June 2023, timeliness in Oxfordshire stood at 60.4%.  Decisive management action had been taken.  There had been no one particular reason for underperformance but it was the result of a number of factors.

The Committee explored the data within the report and established that there had been changes in the process undertaken by the SEND team to improve efficiency.  The Committee requested a breakdown of the ongoing £500k investment and how it had been spent and what it was providing.  The Committee also requested a detailed report on the changes to the Dedicated Schools Grant recently approved by Cabinet be provided to a subsequent meeting of the Committee by the Interim Corporate Director.

There was a challenge in public sector recruitment and retention generally and that was a particular challenge for social workers in some aspects of children’s services.  Educational Psychologists were particularly hard to recruit as there were insufficient numbers being trained nationally to meet demand.  Some Educational Psychologists preferred to work privately which also affected Local Authority capacity.  Whilst the Council could take account of non-Local Authority reports, it was important for parents and carers to engage with the Council before commissioning a private report to ensure that the questions the Council needed answered were addressed.

The Council had started to drive a strong recruitment campaign for social care and there was a workforce development board chaired by the Interim Corporate Director.  The Interim Corporate Director assured the Committee that it would receive updates on the board’s work.

The Committee requested information on the Liquid Logic case management system implementation and heard that the Council had withheld payment relating to some modules of the system.  The Committee requested information on the numbers affected and what number had been remedied.  The Interim Executive Director and the Interim Corporate Director were soon to meet the Managing Director to express their concern. 

The Committee welcomed the refreshing commitment to openness, transparency, and support from officers.  The Committee noted that delivery was beginning to improve and that significant changes had taken place.  The Committee regretted that the report before it did not refer to the management changes referred to by the Interim Executive Director and agreed that such changes should be placed in the public domain. 

The Committee requested an update on the work of the Independent Education Commission.  The possibility of a Children’s Services Sub-Committee was suggested to the Committee as a means of regular and detailed scrutiny of the work towards improvement.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the report with further information to follow.