Agenda item

This report sets out the response to an issue raised by Councillor Johnson regarding home to school transport arrangements for children with Educational, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Discussion:

Councillor Johnson introduced the report, explaining his reasons for requesting the item.  He noted the difficulties being experienced nationally in relation to funding for Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services, demand for which was increasing.  He commented on the implementation of the Education Travel Assistance Policy which had made some changes to SEND transport provision and the implementation of these changes had resulted in a number of issues being experienced by families, including poor communication, uncertainty of arrangements, pick up point information being incorrect and new arrangements being unsuitable.  He recognised the hard work and commitment of staff to resolve the issues and considered that the limited time between Cabinet agreeing the new policy and implementation was the cause of the problems.

The representative from the Medway Parent and Carers Forum explained that there had been a number of families who had experienced difficulties over the summer months and she had summarised these in a document tabled at the meeting. She also commented on how the Council had worked with the Forum and families to get as many children to school in time for the new academic year and thanked officers for their hard work.

The Director of Children and Adult Services then expressed his regret that some families had experienced worry and concern during the summer in relation to the reapplication process and the delay in confirming new arrangements.  He explained that the policy changes had been borne from a challenging financial situation to streamline routes and deliver a more cost effective service and to create a service that provided flexibility for families and promoted independence where appropriate.  He explained that the timeframe for implementation was difficult and that early communication with parents, such as language in letters, could have been better but that this was rectified early on and that additional staff were deployed when the problems began to emerge.  He confirmed that the majority of children had their arrangements resolved and in place for the start of the new academic year and thanked the Medway Parent and Carers Forum for their support.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·         Reassessment process – in relation to some concerns raised about the reassessment process in the future, the Director explained that previously there was no reassessment and a child could have the same travel arrangements in place from the age of 3 to 19 when in fact it could be quite possible that their needs would change during that period.  Therefore reassessment of need was important but in future it was envisaged this would be linked to annual reviews, such as Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) reviews, to make the process more straightforward for families.

·         Communication methods – in response to a question about using other communication methods such as phone calls, instead of relying on letters sent through schools, officers confirmed they would be looking at communicating in various ways in the future such as social media, forums, contact through schools and phone calls.

·         Appeals – in response to a questions about the number of appeals outstanding, officers confirmed there were five children for whom travel arrangements were still being finalised due to their specific complex needs but it was confirmed there were no outstanding stage 2 appeals.

·         Travel training and the involvement of transport providers – in response to a question about the involvement of transport providers in relation to supporting those with physical and learning disabilities to travel on public transport, it was confirmed providers would be involved in travel training provision.

·         Use of jargon – A Member raised the issue of using acronyms and jargon language in communications and suggested that this be avoided in future. Officers confirmed they were working with the Medway Parent and Carers Forum to help quality assure communication and language and would also work with organisations who could support the Council in providing communication through the use of pictorial images and video blogs.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.