Agenda item

The Committee has requested an update on progress made across the Local Area Partnership in addressing the issues raised by the 2023 inspection.

The Committee has invited Cllr Kate Gregory, Cabinet member for SEND Improvement, and Cllr John Howson, Cabinet member for Children, Education, and Young People’s Services, to attend to present the report. 

The Committee has also invited Lisa Lyons, the Director of Children’s Services, and Kate Reynolds, Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion; Matthew Tait, Chief Delivery Officer (ICB), Chris Wright, Associate Director of Place – Oxfordshire (ICB), and Niki Cartwright, Director of Performance and Delivery – All Age Mental Health, Community Services, All Age Learning Disability, All Age NeuroDivergence, All Age PEoLC & SEND (ICB), as well as Steve Crocker, the independent chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

Members of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee have been invited to attend the meeting of the Committee and to participate in this item, at the discretion of the Chair.

The Committee had invited Cllr Kate Gregory, Cabinet member for SEND Improvement, and Cllr John Howson, Cabinet member for Children, Education, and Young People’s Services, to attend to present the report on the Local Area Partnership (LAP) SEND update. 

The Committee also welcomed the following to the Committee:

• Lisa Lyons, the Director of Children’s Services;
• Kate Reynolds, Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion;
• Matthew Tait, Chief Delivery Officer (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board);
• Chris Wright, Associate Director of Place – Oxfordshire (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board);
• Jean Kelly, Deputy Director Children’s Social Care;
• Karen Fern, SEND Designated Clinical Officer (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board);
• Maria Bourbon, Oxfordshire CAMHS Service Manager for Oxfordshire University Hospital Foundation Trust (Oxford University Hospital Foundation Trust);
• Jules Francis-Sinclair, Chair of Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum;
• Caroline Kelly, Head of Integrated Commissioning – Start Well;
• Nick Field, Children’s Services Operations Manager;
• Stephen Chandler, Executive Director of People and Transformation (Deputy Chief Executive);
• Steve Crocker, Independent Chair, SEND Improvement and Assurance Board.

Members of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been invited to attend the meeting of the Committee and to participate in this item, at the discretion of the Chair. Cllr Mark Lygo and Sylvia Buckingham attended and the Chair agreed that Cllr Damian Haywood could participate too.  Cllr Hannaby, the Deputy Chair, was also a current member of HOSC.

The Cabinet Member for SEND Improvement thanked the speakers and noted the value of hearing real-life experiences. The focus of the report was on observing the progress made by the LAP in addressing issues identified since the 2023 inspection. The Director of Children’s Services provided a strategic overview, recognising the challenges and improvements since the July 2023 inspection, which had identified widespread deficiencies. The Director outlined the complexity of the system and the ongoing efforts to enhance it.

The report documented the progress made, focusing on systemic changes and improvements in timeliness and quality of services. The Director of Children’s Services pointed out the significant increase in the number of Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) over the past 10 years and the commensurate volume of work being managed. The report also acknowledged the need for better communication and transparency with parents and carers.

The possibility of using Artificial Intelligence to speed up diagnostic pathways was raised and the Oxfordshire CAMHS Service Manager and the Associate Director of Place – Oxfordshire (ICB) explained that Oxfordshire had been pioneering in using AI for initial screening of neurodevelopmental pathways, such as autism and ADHD, with an ongoing project with the University of Liverpool.  There were, though, questions about appropriateness from a clinical perspective and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance was clear about the importance of who needed to be involved in assessment and what skills that person needed. Practical steps included single assessor models and offering support at the earliest opportunity.

The Children’s Services Operations Manager also confirmed that there was ongoing work to improve the IT systems for the EHCP process. This included using an online portal for applications and exploring the functionality for annual reviews and notifications. The aim was to automate certain aspects to make the process more efficient.

Steve Crocker, Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board, joined the meeting online at this stage.

Members explored the shortage of educational psychologists and whether, given the shortage, the local authority would accepted privately-funded assessments during the Education, Health, and Care Needs Assessment (ECHNA) process.  The Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion, and the Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board highlighted efforts to increase recruitment of educational psychologists and the use of paraprofessionals to help manage the workload. Additionally, they mentioned that, whilst private assessments could be utilised, the local authority would still require its own assessments to ensure familiarity and consistency with the school system and local context.

The Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board and Chief Delivery Officer addressed queries from members about data, data quality, understanding baseline KPIs, the source of baseline data, and the challenges in measuring and interpreting KPIs.  They acknowledged challenges with data quality, especially real-time data from NHS colleagues partly owing to the repercussions of cyberattacks, and mentioned ongoing efforts to improve it. They explained that baseline data often came from publicly available Department of Education (DfE) statistics and other verified sources.

The Torbay Council's pilot locality model for SEND was raised by the Committee and what level of benchmarking against other authorities was explored.

It was emphasised that benchmarking against other councils was indeed standard practice and performance using publicly available data was regularly considered. Whilst acknowledging that Torbay's locality model might offer valuable insights, it was not directly comparable due to differences in size and context. However, the SIAB Chair and the Director expressed openness to learning from other councils' successful initiatives and incorporating relevant practices where applicable.

Members asked if prioritising Year 6 to Year 7 EHCP transitions affected the timeliness of other plans, which had decreased to 20%. The Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board confirmed that the 100% success rate for arranging these transitions by the deadline did not impact others. It was explained that different teams managed these tasks and a separate plan existed to improve overall timeliness. The drop to 20% was attributed to increased demand and resource limitations.

The Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board left the meeting at this stage.

The Committee sought clarification as to why the KPIs for the LAP SEND had not been included in the report, and thus reported to the committee, despite their existence in the improvement board along with other relevant metrics. In response to questions, the Director of Children’s Services explained that the KPIs which were routinely reported to the SIAB had not included in the report because some of the data was unverified and required validation. It also lacked detailed analysis and so there was a concern that presenting it without context might have been unhelpful.

Increased funding in the Council’s recent budget for SEND allowed the doubling of the number of schools benefiting from enhanced pathways, promoting inclusion in mainstream schools, without top-slicing school budgets. It was emphasised by officers in response to questions that, whilst Oxfordshire had made significant progress, there was still work to be done.

Stephen Chandler, Executive Director of People and Transformation (Deputy Chief Executive), joined the meeting at this stage.

The Committee inquired about the removal of the RAG (red, amber, green) rating from the reports. The Director of Children’s Services responded that the RAG rating was removed because it did not effectively convey progress and improvements. The previous RAG-rated reports were challenging to interpret and did not clearly demonstrate the improvements. Instead, a narrative style was adopted to present the information more clearly and to better outline the progress and milestones achieved.

There was a detailed discussion about financial disincentives for schools with many students having EHCPs, specifically regarding Teaching Assistant (TA) workload and pay. The Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion acknowledged these challenges, noting that TA hourly rates were increased in September 2024. The Director of Education and Inclusion mentioned that a 10% increase in funding provided to schools for TAs was intended to help schools cover the costs of TAs, with the aim of eventually reaching the full cost. It was noted that the Council could not directly increase salaries, as this would require national negotiation. It was also explained that the national funding system, including the notional £6,000 school contribution, had not been updated since 2014. Despite these issues, the Council was working within government-set funding regimes to support schools as much as possible.

The Committee was keen to explore further whether those schools with more children with EHCPs were disadvantaged financially.

Members asked about the cost-effectiveness and outcomes of initiatives in the report, and the risks linked to many EHCPs being deemed to have been poorly assessed, including financial and personal risks to the Council and potential judicial reviews. The Deputy Director of Education and Inclusion stated that measuring cost-effectiveness was challenging but noted independent special school places were three times more expensive than state-funded ones, suggesting possible savings.

It was noted that the Council was not currently meeting the 20-week target for EHCP completion but achieved 100% within 30-35 weeks. Risks included judicial reviews and financial costs, however the primary focus was on meeting children's needs promptly.

Members requested specific statistics and milestones related to reducing the 40% to 20% figure for EHCPs, as well as details about the expansion of the assessment team capacity and ongoing monitoring. The Children’s Services Operations Manager reported that the assessment team had increased from five to seven permanent roles, with additional support from agency staff. It was mentioned that there had been a 27% increase in EHCP requests compared to the previous year, affecting the timeliness of assessments. However, with the expanded capacity and the addition of 17 new agency educational psychologists, the team had cleared the backlog of assessments. This improvement was expected to positively influence the 20-week completion rate in the upcoming months.

Members asked about the enhanced pathways and whether, within the constrained budget system, money was rationed to be used further down the line. Members also inquired as the impact of services from staff turnover rates in the SEND services. It was confirmed that there was no rationing of money within the constrained budget system, although the Council had to ensure the appropriate use of public resources. Additionally, that the enhanced pathways aimed to provide early help to reduce long-term costs.

Regarding staff turnover, it was noted that there was significant turnover in the SEND service, particularly among educational psychologists and SEND caseworkers, who could often find higher-paying roles in neighbouring authorities. It was also noted that, whilst CAMHS had faced significant challenges with workforce turnover particularly following the pandemic, progress in reducing vacancies and expanding services had been made.

Mathew Tait, Chief Delivery Officer (ICB), left the meeting at this stage.

There was discussion about whether the information included in the report was entirely accurate as it was not recognised by all members.  Specific issues raised included whether or not the SEND Youth Forum Seal of Approval had been approved by the Forum.  Concern was also raised about how fully the Forum had been able to feed into the work of the SIAB and how future information about the Forum could be improved and approved by the forum members.

The Director of Children’s Services responded that the information in the report was accurate, emphasised that the SEND Youth Forum did have a work plan and that it had developed some initiatives. Examples were provided of individual issues raised by the youth forum which had led to actions, including separating out the preparing for adulthood and employment opportunities.  It was explained that the seal of approval was based on designs created by members of the forum, but it might have been adjusted for printability. It was confirmed that the SEND Youth Forum had not been sent the Scrutiny report for approval before its submission to the Committee.

The Committee AGREED to the following actions:

• The Director of Children’s Services would share with the Committee the KPIs reported to the SIAB and the RAG rated Priority Action Plan tracker;
• The Scrutiny Officer was requested to work with the Director of Children’s Services to ensure an answer was provided to the Committee’s question about inclusive schools and potential financial disadvantage.

The Committee AGREED to recommendations under the following headings:

• The Council will publish the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as well as the RAG Rated Priority Action Plan Tracker and ensure they are accessible to the public.

• The Council will set out how the views of the SEND Youth Forum, and its members, will be taken into account and how they will be presented, including any consultation prior to the publication of any reports about the Forum.

Cllr Povolotsky, Cllr Corkin, and Cllr Lygo left the meeting at this stage.

The Committee adjourned at 12:20 and reconvened at 12:33.