Agenda item

This annual report provides an account of the role of the Portfolio Holder for Education. It details their ambitions for their areas of responsibility, how they have and will undertake political challenge and leadership and what their priorities and ambitions are for the year ahead.

Discussion:

Councillor Tracy Coombs, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services was in attendance and took questions from the Committee.

Members raised several questions and comments which included:

The summary produced by the Medway Parents and Carers forum on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms was recommended to all to access as it outlined the changes clearly and concisely.

Access to SEND provision - it was asked how parents were being educated on how they could access SEND support in order to alleviate the anxieties around capability of mainstreams schools being able to support their children. The Portfolio Holder said that there were changes being planned for SEND support in order to improve and streamline the system and access to services. The SEND reforms white paper aspirations were for families to receive early support without the need for Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and formal diagnosis, improve training of staff in schools through national SEND training and ensure that school environments were more inclusive. Work on the reforms was already underway, with the department and partners identifying areas for improvement. Schools continued to work together to meet the needs of children, with 21 schools involved in the Partnership in Neurodiversity(PINs) programme and a further 14 schools due to come on board.

Inclusion rates - it was commented that whilst the drive for inclusion was welcomed, it was important to be mindful that mainstream education was not appropriate for some children with complex needs and that parent and carers views must continue to be sought on appropriateness. The Committee was informed that children’s needs were assessed on an individual basis, with parental wishes being accommodated where appropriate. Children with very complex needs would continue to attend specialist provisions. Medway continued to work extensively to increase local capacity of provision and the two new schools would provide that local provision. Mainstream schools would receive strong support on how to provide and care for children with SEND.

Elective Home Education (EHE) - it was asked how parental confidence was being strengthened to prevent further increases in EHE numbers. The Portfolio Holder said that it was vital to continue to address the drivers behind parental decision to EHE. A pilot study was conducted which revealed that the main reason for EHE was dissatisfaction with schools and lack of confidence in their abilities to meet children’s needs. There was work to be undertaken on reassuring parents and carers, working with schools to assist with mediation and improve their communication and engagement with parents. The education department was being grown to enable increased support for families and check that the education being received by young people was appropriate. At present, the local authority had very few levers due to parental choice and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill would provide the local authority with more statutory responsibilities. This meant that there would be instances where parents would have to ask permission to EHE, in cases where children have an EHCP in order to ensure that those children remain safeguarded.

A Member further commented that families received extensive SEN support in primary phase, with less in secondary phase and post 16. The justice system had a high percentage people with SEND. There was also a need for more support and preparedness for transition to adulthood, The Portfolio Holder welcomed the helpful comments and agreed to look into preparedness and transitions into adulthood for young people.

SEND reform challenges - it was asked what the Portfolio Holder’s response to the SEND reforms were and what challenges she anticipated as concerns had been expressed to the Local Government Association on the capacity of local authorities to deliver the expected changes at pace. The Portfolio Holder said that the transition period would involve a great deal of planning and work was being undertaken with partners on identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses. Partners were used to working collaboratively together and were aware of their individual responsibilities.  The SEND reforms would be worked on alongside the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to minimise duplication of work. One of the challenges identified was in resourcing and as a result, plans were already in place to increase staffing in services.

ECHP - it was asked whether the resources put in place to clear the backlog of EHCPs were successful and if ongoing assessments met the legal timeframe of 20 weeks. The Committee was informed that all the backlog was cleared, and there was enough investment put into the service to maintain current assessments. There was a peak period where the service received over 100 EHCP requests every month and whilst resources were put in place to manage. The demand kept increasing as a result of the knock on effect of the announcement of the SEND reforms. The demand had now started to reduce, and it was expected that officers would be able to maintain legal timeframes as time progressed.

It was further asked what was being done to address the academic gap of underperformance in children with EHCPs. The Committee was informed that whilst performance was below national, the gap was narrowing. Conversations continued to take place with school governors who were tasked with holding to account schools under their Trusts. There was support through the Department for Education for schools with very low attainments results, but many schools relied on their Trusts for support. Regular meetings took place with CEO’s of Trusts and education partners. There were however constraints within the academies systems, but officers do raise concerns and offer support to schools.

Highlights - in response to a question on what her personal highlights of the last year were, the Portfolio Holder said that there had been many, such as the clearance of the backlog of EHCPs and working on reduction of wait times for assessments. Working with schools in partnership and system leadership which she added led to significant reduction in suspensions and exclusions. Completion of the safety valve and addressing the deficit and Increased SEND provision from 23% to 46% in mainstream schools. Looking forward, there would be work undertaken to improve early years provision, and increased opportunities and training for Post 16. The two new specialist schools that were due to open in the next few years was also a major highlight of the extensive work by senior leadership.

Decision:

The Committee noted the report.