An update on the Ofsted-CQC Area SEND Inspection Revisit in November 2022 and Next Steps following publication of the Inspection Report in February 2023.

Contact: David Shaw, Assistant Director of Education and Achievement

David Shaw, Assistant Director of Education and Achievement introduced the report and drew Members’ attention to the updated draft Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) which could be found on the website for the meeting.

It was suggested that Members go through the plan line by line, to highlight the agreed actions designed to lead to improvement within priority areas.

Jennifer Griffin (Designated Clinical Officer for SEND, NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin) gave an overview of actions within Priority Area 3: Significant wait times for large numbers of children and young people on the ASD and ADHD diagnostic pathways, and Priority Area 4: Significant waiting times for those needing assessment and treatment from the speech and language therapy service, and the impact measures to be achieved within each Priority Area.

Karen Levell (Service Manager SEND) gave an overview of actions within Priority Area 5: Inconsistency in the quality of input from education, health and care into EHC assessment and planning and the impact measures to be achieved.

Members acknowledged that the APP was a draft, developing Plan but expressed their concern that it was not ready to be submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England (NHSE) by 5^th April 2023. It was noted that the Area SEND Partnership Board was responsible for the delivery of the Plan and that the DfE and NHSE will hold them to account if the Plan is not delivered. Members were advised that a period of monitoring would commence once the final APP had been signed off by the DfE and NHSE and a monthly progress report would be received. The final APP would also be shared with Members, demonstrating how it connects to the SEND Strategic Plan. It would then be published.

It was suggested that there should be a dedicated budget for each discipline in the APP to demonstrate where priorities lie and to ensure funding is available to deliver each action.

The Executive Director for People advised Members that demand and capacity across the system would be looked at, recognising that across all the system partners there has been an increase in demand; resulting in further gaps in provision. There is a commitment to understanding whether the right services are being commissioned and if there are enough of them, which will lead to discussions with the Strategic ICS Board regarding further investment across health and social care.

Members felt that communication was imperative with regards to waiting times for diagnoses and that this could be improved more proactively. The Parent and Carer Council representatives advised that there may not be a dramatic reduction in waiting times, but there was an emphasis on the support available to an individual whilst on a waiting list and that communication with young people and their families was a vital element to enable them to be ‘waiting well.’

RECOMMENDED:

That the People Overview Committee:

·       Voice their concerns regarding the Health sector’s ability to commission and deliver the Accelerated Progress Plan to Cabinet; and that Cabinet may wish to write to the Department for Education or Department of Health to express these concerns.

·       Pass on their thanks to all the groups that have given up their time and had an input into Plan.

·       Approve the recommendation that SHIPP and the Learning Disability and Autism (LDA) Board include a standing agenda item or similar approach to ensure key items/papers related to the Area SEND Partnership can be raised with SHIPP/LDA members.

·       Approve the recommendation to schedule bi-annual updates for the People Overview Committee on the progress of the SEND action plan, including the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP), and the impact this is making to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.