Agenda item

Overview of the alliance and the work they are doing across LLR, including developing a structure to support CYP with SEND.

The Director for LLR Send and Inclusion Alliance gave a presentation on the Change Partnership Programme. The following was noted:

• The Alliance branding and identity had been co-produced with local young people and that there were 5 strategic alliances in place.
• A co production lead for children and young people had been appointed, with links into a regional young people forum.
• A report produced by young researchers had been published for young people, parents and carers.
• The Local Inclusion Support Offer is a multi-disciplinary approach to bridge the gap between specialist and mainstream provision
• The Alliance had been formed from the national Change Partnership Programme, which commenced in September 2023.
• The first 2 years of the programme focused on the local area, with the current phase moving towards sustaining and embedding work beyond the end of the programme in March.
• The Local Inclusion Offer was outlined, with a focus on supporting children and young people with special educational needs to remain in mainstream education wherever possible.
• It was reported that a significant amount of testing and learning had taken place, with support in place to continue this work after the programme concluded.
• An overview of the change programme and the Local Inclusion Offer was provided. Key elements included the existing specialist teacher service in the city and a strong focus on alternative provision.
• Partnership working for neurodiversity support was highlighted, alongside a universal support offer for every child.
• It was noted that almost 1000 children had been supported and diverted away from specialist services.
• There was a particular focus on early years and pre-primary provision.
• Community inclusion work was outlined, with similarities noted to other local programmes focused on inclusive practice.
• Work had taken place within local communities to better understand and strengthen the role of the voluntary and community sector.
• Social prescribing for 14 to 18 year olds had been tested, with a particular focus on key trigger points for neurodivergent children.
• Consideration was being given to expanding the social prescribing role to include children and young people as part of a general offer.
• Strong links were reported with the Families First Programme and Family Hubs, with work underway to integrate services more effectively.
• Frustration around navigating the system was acknowledged as a key priority.
• Commissioning for the programme had been aligned, with no additional funding available.
• It was noted that supported services were working well across age boundaries.
• Priorities had been informed through local inclusion plans, local research with children and young people and work undertaken by health partners.
• A data dashboard had been developed to bring together intelligence and improve understanding of need.
• Seven key priority areas had been identified, which included Mental health, particularly for children below the CAMHS threshold and the impact of mental health on school attendance.
• Information, advice and support, highlighted through the local SEND inspection and the need to align local authority and health advice.
• Coordination and navigation of services.
• Preparing for adulthood, including post 16 pathways and learning to be shared across the wider system.
• Speech, language and communication needs, with evidence highlighting vocabulary challenges at age 4.
• Neurodiversity waiting lists, including work on integrated waiting safely offers and neurodevelopment pathways.
• Transport, noting the impact of SEND transport issues on continuing care packages
• Accountability and collective ownership were highlighted as essential, with a focus on strengthening governance arrangements.
• The Board was informed that the Alliance was constituted and funded through a Department for Education funding stream.
• Partners included health providers, integrated care partners, all 3 local authorities, and parent and carer forums, which were described as critical to the work.
• Schools development and local organisations were noted as playing a key role in regional and local support, informing and hosting key roles.
• It was acknowledged that the structure of the Alliance could appear complex, but it had been designed to enable specialists to collaborate flexibly across different areas of interest.
• The Alliance was described as operating alongside existing partnerships, with a focus on joint strategy, neighbourhood inclusion planning and profiling work in schools.
• It was noted that the Alliance was not resourced to resolve all issues but aimed to operate in gaps and take forward specific pieces of joint work, drawing on national models and links with NHS projects.

A test of SEND Local Partnership Maturity Assessment Tool had been designed by the DfE to support Local SEND and Inclusion Partners to evaluate and enhance current practice in a structured way.

1.    Co-productions with parents/carers and children and young people.

2.    Understanding and evidencing the needs of children and young people with SEND and those children and young people who may need alternative provision.

3.    A clear focus on early identification, intervention and inclusion in mainstream settings through improving mainstream inclusion.

4.    Creating collaborative relationships with providers of early years, school and further education places, specialist provision, children and young people health services for 0-25. Social care services and the Local Authority.

5.    Improving outcomes based accountability through transparency, communication and trust.

6.    Using a range of sources to monitor effectiveness and enable  continuous improvement, ensuring targeted, judicious and sustainable use of resources.

7.    Driving strategic decision making at the right level.

In discussion with Members, the following was noted:

• Members discussed the limited reference to the voluntary and community sector and noted that formal representation was not currently reflected within the Alliance governance.
• It was acknowledged that while some partnership links existed, there was scope to broaden engagement with local communities and a wider range of voluntary organisations, particularly to support social prescribing and reduce pressure on existing provision.
• Members highlighted the importance of stronger links with academic institutions to ensure that the work was underpinned by research, evidence and data.
• Gaps in alignment with existing SEND partnership governance arrangements were noted.
• Reflections were shared on the long term impact of exclusion and lack of early inclusion, particularly for young people aged 18 to 25 with complex needs.
• Members emphasised that early intervention in mainstream education could prevent later crisis interventions and reduce restrictive and high cost care.
• Concerns were raised about growing unmet need among young people aged 14 to 18, particularly those not in education, and the risk of young people falling through system gaps.
• Members noted that many young people did not identify with SEND terminology and that needs often related to wider social and family circumstances, reinforcing the importance of aligned family based approaches.
• Members welcomed the progress made through the Alliance but noted that funding was limited and time limited.
• It was highlighted that decisions would be required within the next year to sustain the work and retain skilled staff.
•  Members discussed diagnostic waiting lists and the significant backlog.
• It was noted that national models showed earlier needs based support could reduce pressure on diagnosis pathways, while recognising that formal diagnosis remained important for some families.
• The Chair highlighted concerns around rising exclusions of children with SEND, including informal exclusions, and the impact this had on families and the wider system.
• Members agreed that inclusive approaches across education and health were essential to address these pressures.
• Members emphasised the need for stronger evidence within reports to demonstrate improved access and outcomes for children and young people with disabilities, including how reasonable adjustments were being made across generic services.

AGREED:

1.    That the board notes the report.

2.    That the board will scrutinize future reports to ensure it is addressing the health and wellbeing of young people with disabilities.