Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was submitted by Councillor Hannah Banfield.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 February 2022 and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 February 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed, subject to the inclusion of Councillor Michael Waine in the list of Members present.

The Corporate Director of Children’s Services will provide the Committee with a presentation on the Josh McAllister Review and on an Overview of the National SEND Review and to inform the Committee of national policy updates and their potential implications for Oxfordshire.  

The Director for Children’s Services attended the meeting and informed Members that there were three reform papers to take through the legislative process:- Green Paper which was be a consultative document, the Government White Paper which was the Government’s Statement of Intent. The third was the Josh McAllister Review which had not been published. All three parts to the legislation dovetailed together.

The Committee was provided with a presentation on the National SEND Review. There were three main challenges identified:

·       Navigating the SEND system and Alternative Provision (AP) which was not a positive experience for too many children, young people (CYP) and their families

·       Outcomes for children, young people with SEND or in AP were consistently worse than their peers across every measure

·       The current system was not financially sustainable and was unaffordable

The clear message from parents was that SEND should be met in mainstream schools.

The issues around SEND could be best summed up as a “A vicious cycle of late intervention, low confidence and inefficient resource allocation”. These included:-

·       Inconsistency in how needs were met – “the postcode lottery”

·       Early years and mainstream were ill-equipped to identify and support CYP

·       Expectations of mainstream settings unclear – parents lose confidence and see EHC Plans and special schools as the ‘solution’

·       Long journeys to school or attending a placement outside of the local area

·       Financial resource and workforce capacity was pulled to the specialist end of the system – less available for early intervention and effective, timely support in mainstream settings

·       Increasing requests for EHC Plans and specialist provision 

Members were informed that the solution was for SEND to become more efficient which would take time. To turn things around the following needed to happen:-

·       Most CYP could access the support they needed in their local mainstream setting with needs identified promptly and appropriate support at the earliest opportunity

·       For those who needed specialist provision, it should be accessed with minimal bureaucracy

·       Greater national consistency on what should be ordinarily available and how it was funded

·       Strong co-production with families and accountability at every level

·       Improved data collection to give a timely picture of how the system was performing

Proposal 1 was for a single national SEND and alternative provision system.

·       Establishing a national SEND AP system with consistent standards for how needs were identified

·       An Inclusion Plan developed by a new local SEND partnership consisting education, health, care and local government

·       A tailored list of settings (mainstream, special, independent) so that parent-carers can express an informed preference

·       A standardised and digitised EHCP process and template

·       Resolve disputes earlier including mandatory mediation

Reference was made to Oxfordshire’s strong partnerships and that the aspiration was to have a standardised approach to SEND.

Members were informed that the SEND Tribunal system had its limitations, and the system was too bureaucratic. Reference was made to a SEND Partnership Board for Oxfordshire comprising of the SEND service, Social Care, Health partners and representatives of parents and carers who wrote the SEND strategy.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10/22

This report describes what Adult services aim to achieve, how they are delivered and how quality of provision and service user satisfaction are measured. It also gives an overview of the Adult social care market and highlights concerns about the market’s long-term stability, sustainability, and viability. Finally, the report sets upcoming legislation in the context of the national reform of the health and social care sector, provides an overview of finances, and identifies key risks.    

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the overview of adult services in Oxfordshire, the adult social care market and delivery provided in this report.

Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Karen Fuller, Interim Corporate Director of Adult and Housing attended the meeting and provided an overview of adult services in Oxfordshire, the adult social care market and delivery.

The report provided details of what Adult services aimed to achieve, how services were delivered and how quality of provision and service user satisfaction were measured.

An overview of the Adult social care market was provided, together with concerns about the market’s long-term stability, sustainability, and viability. Details of upcoming legislation in the context of the national reform of the health and social care sector was provided, together with an overview of finances, and key risks identified.

Reference was made to the impact of the Pandemic in terms of the operation of the service and the impact on users. At the centre of this transformation programme was the vision: “We want the people of Oxfordshire to live well in their community, remaining fit and healthy for as long as possible”.

The delivery of this vision the Oxfordshire Way was about providing people with the ability to support themselves through personal, local and system assets to ‘keep them in the centre’. In collaboration with communities, voluntary sector, and other system partners people would be supported, who were aged over 18 (from the age of 16 for people transitioning from children’s services) to lead independent lives.

Preparations were being made by the local authority in relation to the 2021 Health and Social Care Bill.

Issues raised by Members

·       Reference was made to performance and comparison data with Oxfordshire performing well on the framework, being in the top quartile on over half of the measures. In relation to things which were not going well, the Committee was reassured that improvements were being made on people who were fully independent after reablement and those discharged from hospital who were still at home 3 months later.

·       Discussion took place on the impact of Covid and the difficulties this caused for the service and to users such as accessing Primary Care services such as GPs.

·       There were concerns regarding the challenges of recruitment, which was a national issue, together with a backlog of assessments, although these were reducing. There were currently 1940 outstanding people who had not had a review in the last 12 months, however, the Pandemic had caused the review team to be reassigned to support the covid response. The average wait was 2 years, with the majority seen within 12 months.

·       There were particular concerns with areas of deprivation and Officers said they could provide statistics on this.

·       The contribution of the voluntary sector and communities could not be underestimated.

·       The market for adult social care was fragile with rising costs and the cost of living crisis.

·       A reorganisation of Commissioning involved a new framework for homecare which had attracted new providers. A report on this would be submitted to a future meeting.

·       What could be done to help carers in relation to the increased  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11/22

The Committee’s Scrutiny Officer will present a report on strengthening the diversity of the Committee whilst ensuring statutory co-opted members are in place for the next municipal year. 

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:-

1.1      To make preparations for the co-option of statutory consultees on the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

1.2      To consider the need for further representation on the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee; 

1.3      That where required the Constitution Working Group considers the Committee’s request to broaden its co-option rights within the Council’s Constitution. 

A report was submitted on proposals for the appointment of statutory consultees on this Committee.

Under the Education Act 1996, provision was made for statutory consultees to sit and vote on education matters.  As Councils moved to executive arrangements under the Local Government Act 2000 (the Act), that requirement moved to the Scrutiny Committee that dealt with such matters.  At Oxfordshire, that is the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 

Discussion took place on other possible co-optees being appointed to the Committee, such as from the voluntary sector, to be involved in other areas covered within the remit of this Committee.

It was agreed that a report be submitted to a future meeting on the possible co-option of a group of stakeholders who could help the Committee with scrutiny reviews.

RESOLVED – (1) That officers be asked to make preparations for the co-option of statutory consultees on the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

(2) That officers be asked to submit a report to a future meeting on the possible co-option of a group of stakeholders to the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee who could help the Committee with scrutiny reviews.

(3) That where required the Constitution Working Group considers the Committee’s request to broaden its co-option rights within the Council’s Constitution. 

An oral report from the Chair on the approach to determining the Committee’s work programme for 2022/23.

A discussion took place on the approach to be taken to this Committee’s work programme for 2022/23.

A number of possible work programme items were raised:

·       Youth Services

·       Covid – What did Schools learn?

Members were asked to share ideas and have conversations with relevant Cabinet Members on possible review topics which could be included in the Committee’s work programme. 

The information reported was noted.