Meeting documents

For the Committee to ask Cabinet Members questions on current key issues for their portfolios.

I.                Mr M Appleyard, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

II.              Mr W Whyte, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

This agenda item will also include an update on the performance of the Educational Psychology Service.

The Chairman noted that Mrs Cranmer – Deputy Cabinet Member for Education & Skills, was attending in place of Mr Appleyard and Mr Williams – Deputy Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, was representing Mr Whyte as he was attending a Local Government Association Children & Young People Board meeting in London. He also welcomed Miss Callaghan, Service Director Education.

Mrs Cranmer told the Committee that the changes to post-16 transport arrangements were being rolled out. It was confirmed that new children who had been eligible for free transport would be assessed based on their ability to travel and their family’s income. Charges would only be a partial cost recovery with a distance banding rate. Discretionary support to families who needed it would continue.

A Member requested that the excellent education results which had been achieved in Buckinghamshire should be better publicised. This was agreed with the understanding that there would be a time delay while results were validated nationally.

The Chairman asked for an update about the Burnham E-Act Academy. Miss Callaghan told the Chairman that there was a prescribed process set out by the DfE for all school closures. In situations where the school was an Academy, the role of the Council is that of a consultee. In these instances, the Council had not been responsible for the Academy’s proposal to consult about potential school closure, but BCC officers had been working cooperatively with the Academy to minimise effects on local children who attended, continuing to fulfil its sufficiency duty.

Miss Callaghan delivered an update about the Educational Psychology service (EPS). Staff shortages had continued and the service area had mitigated this using the associate model and by implementing an improved structure, which facilitated integrated care between SEN, EP and Specialist teaching services. Backlogged cases continued to be an issue but the service area had been working towards clearing them.

The following points were made in response to questions from Members:

·       115 Education, Health, Care Plans (EHCP’s) had fallen outside the acceptable timeline of 20 weeks and new requests for EHCP’s meant work continued to accumulate.

·       The EPS consultation had ended, so a permanent Principal Education Psychologist could now be recruited.

·       Timings for EHCP completion had depended on the complexity of each case. The general assumption with relation to the associate model had been that an Associate EP could complete their contribution to a straight forward EHCP within 5 days, which would reduce the number of backlogged cases.

·       Nearly 4000 EHCP’s had been issued in total in Buckinghamshire, with 115 of these sitting outside of the expected timescale of 20 weeks. The service area had been sympathetic to parents experiencing delays but complex cases would continue to take longer to complete. The service area remained committed to using expertise and placements within Buckinghamshire, where possible, to alleviate pressures on the budget associated with high cost, out of County placements. The priorities for the service had been ensuring children received the right resource, that they had tailored support to a child’s individual needs and that they worked cooperatively with parents as this was the objective of the SEND reforms introduced in 2014. In Bucks, there has been a slow response to implementing the SEND reforms which had created pressure on the service to meet statutory timelines. This had been why performance within the service was not as good as it should be.

·       The reformed early help strategy would be expected to spot issues earlier and would encourage early work with families before more serious intervention would be needed this will decrease the number of Education Health and care Plans by putting in the support before things escalated to requiring a plan.

·       Population growth within Buckinghamshire had resulted in nearly 1000 additional plans requiring completion.

·       Buckinghamshire was no longer an outlier with SEND numbers as this had evened out nationally with Bucks stabilising at 3.1%, the same as regional comparators. National SEND policy reforms had increased the age range of children who potentially required an EHCP up to 25 yrs. Buckinghamshire County Council had not responded fast enough to these reforms but had been remedying this situation.

·       Home-educated children had been able to gain an EHCP and had been entitled to the same support as children within an educational placement, depending on their needs. Information to assist parents with the process and setting out the local offer was available on the Bucks Family Information Service (BFIS) website.

The Chairman requested that the EPS update continued in future meetings and that data would be clearly stated within tables. This was agreed by Miss Callaghan.

ACTION: Service Director Education/Committee & Governance Advisor

Mr Williams presented apologies on behalf of Mr Whyte. He told the Committee that they had recently attended the opening of a new Buckinghamshire children’s home and that the new fostering offer had been working effectively since it had been reformed. The service were still looking for more adoption and fostering placements.

Members requested a visit to the new children’s home and asked about ongoing vetting processes for foster carers after they had commenced fostering. Mr Williams reassured Members that foster carers faced continuous assessment to ensure they remained suitable and that they had been subjected to a fostering panel as well as independent reviewing officers.

A Member asked whether a suitable site for a new children’s home had been identified in High Wycombe. Mr Williams said that a site had been found and the required work to make it fit-for-purpose would be costed up. The service area would involve the local Member in the process and keep them updated.

Mr Williams informed Members that the national trend over the past few years had been for local authorities to outsource children’s home provision, but recent spikes in supply and demand had resulted in the necessity for the Council to invest in their own children’s homes. This ensured that the Council retained oversight, control and management of the homes and also of the children who had been placed within the homes. It was explained to Members that children placed within the provision had to get along for placements to work. Mr Williams reported that there had been no complaints about Buckinghamshire children’s homes and the newest children’s home was awaiting approval from Ofsted.