Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed those present and led introductions.

There were no apologies for absence.

Meeting confirmed as quorate with 3 elected members present.

5.35pm Cllr Khan and Cllr Thalukdar join the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Dr Moore declared an interest in SEND items as she was the Chair of the Advisory Board at Millgate School. Councillor Dr Moore gave assurance that she retained an open mind for the purpose of discussion and any decisions being taken, on that basis she was not required to withdraw from the meeting.

5.40pm Councillor Willmott joined the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People, and Education Scrutiny Commission held on 7 September 2022 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Education Scrutiny Commission held on 7^th September 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

None at this time.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations, or statements of case received.

It was noted that a number of questions had been received this morning in relation to the Ashfield Academy Residential Provision – Strategic Review. However, under Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10 as set out in the Council’s Constitution, questions for scrutiny meetings must be submitted at least five clear days before the meeting. Those questions were therefore not submitted in time to be taken at this meeting.

The Chair asked that officers provide responses in writing to the questions received earlier today outside of the meeting.

The Director of Social Care and Education submits a report to provide an overview of a strategic review of the Residential Provision at Ash Field Academy and associated consultation proposal to cease the funding with effect from September 2024.  

The Chair agreed to a change in the running order of the agenda to take the item on Ashfield Academy Residential Provision – Strategic Review as the first substantive item of business next.

In accordance with Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8 and given that several people were present for this item, including those that posed the questions earlier today, the Chair indicated that she would allow two members of public to make a short address to the commission as part of this item after the report from officers.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submitted a report providing an overview of the strategic review of residential provision at Ashfield Academy and the associated consultation proposal to cease funding with effect from September 2024.

The Director of SEND and Early Help introduced the report and explained the residential provision was currently funded from the High Needs Block (HNB) grant which was awarded to schools for educational purposes. The HNB was under significant pressure due to increasing numbers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities being approved for Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) which placed a statutory duty on the local authority to provide support.

Members were advised that Ashfield Academy provided education and support to children and young people and all its pupils had an EHCP. The school capacity was for 160 pupils and there was provision for overnight residential for up to 18 pupils per night for 4 nights a week throughout the term. The overnight residential provision was only available to Ashfield Academy pupils and not the wider Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) population which amounted to over 1000 pupils across all special schools in Leicester.

Members noted the duty to provide short breaks and respite support for all SEND children and young people and that was currently provided through the council’s Disabled Children Service.

Members noted that:

·         The provision at Ashfield had been reviewed between January and March 2022 and school staff, pupils, parents had been involved in that.

·         The findings showed the residential provision was highly regarded but there was no clear evidence to show the outcomes could not be delivered within the daily school curriculum.

·         It was found that none of the children or young people attending Ashfield had a specific requirement documented in their EHCP for this sort of health or social care support which may be considered as educational and training and if so would need to be recorded in section F of the EHCP. Such a requirement would mean that the Local Authority would have to ensure the provision was available, which if needed could be provided through the Disabled Children’s Service, who have access to Barnes Heath House children’s residential provision.

·         Discussions with the school had taken place to explore options for expansion including opening the provision to other SEND children and young people across the City and those with complex health needs, however the school had indicated that was not an option they wanted.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report to summarise the educational outcomes and attainment of Leicester’s Looked After Children during the academic year 2021/22. It considers their achievements and the support provided by the Virtual School Team to achieve the best learning outcomes.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submitted a report summarising the educational outcomes and attainment of Leicester’s Looked after Children during the academic year 2021/22

Deputy City Mayor Councillor Russell, Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the report referring to the recent celebratory event to recognise looked after children’s achievements and providing details of those achievements and the support provided by the Virtual School Team.

It was noted that these Looked after Children, who often faced considerable challenges and trauma, were being given significant additional support by the virtual school to increase their educational performance and achieve positive outcomes.

7.10pm Councillor Khan and Councillor Willmott left the meeting.

Attention was drawn to the notable achievements, enrichment activities, and cultural activities which included involvement with organisations such as the Curve theatre, Frog Arts and Big Mouth forum as well as the work around transitions between primary and secondary schools and provision of opportunities to access learning.

7.15pm Councillor Willmott re-joined the meeting.

Members of the Commission welcomed the report and the provision of data which they felt was very impressive.

Members queried if there were issues with some schools providing the right level of support to Looked After Children (LAC). It was advised that sometimes a child would not have the right level of support as they were in and out of schools due to placements moving but each school had dedicated responsibility for LAC and sometimes, they were just getting to know that child so the challenge in the virtual school team was working with those schools to ensure continuity and there was a significant amount of training with teachers to ensure the same awareness for the child.

Key priorities of the virtual school were noted. Regarding the support given to foster carers and designated teachers it was advised that there was various support in place for foster carers. Educational elements formed part of the foster care programme and there were regular training opportunities within that programme. As an example, the virtual school offered key stage 1 support such as phonics and was providing that support to the foster carer in the same way a school offered it for parents thereby making sure foster carers had as many tools as possible to support the educational journey of children in their care.

It was advised that foster carers were greatly engaged, and they were present and celebrating with the children at the celebration events. There was also great engagement with kinship carers and carers in children homes too looking after all the children and all of them were keen and supporting the child’s educational journey.

Members noted that the virtual school worked with all children who are looked after, from pre-school early years to age 16 and beyond. In terms of post 18 year olds, for some young people the normal time line to pass specific exams etc didn’t work and so there was more flexibility to enable a break from formal education with opportunity to go back when they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report detailing the SEND pupil place planning model, which was refreshed for 2022.

The Strategic Director submitted a report providing details of the SEND Pupil Place Planning Model 2022

The Assistant City Mayor Cutkelvin for Education introduced the report, advising in terms of service sufficiency that the work done was quite advanced compared to other local authorities and officers had developed a sophisticated model of doing that. The new process looked at SEND projection and the work done was being held up as best practice.

Members welcomed the report, and the ensuing discussion included the following points:

Regarding the data contained within the report showing children’s primary needs and the main characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder, (ASD) and the categories of need that depended on medical diagnosis it was queried whether that medical diagnosis was evidenced or based upon a parent informing. It was advised that the figures referred to were taken from school census information but for a “confirmed” diagnosis there would need to be seen a medical diagnosis.

It was clarified that the Resource Allocation Panel made decisions about what placements and funding should be made of an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

In terms of discussions with Dept. for Education (DfE) about using this model currently there was no requirement to include a SEND place planning return to the government, however from next year that would become a statutory requirement, so the service was already ahead of that in terms of being able to provide the information. The service had developed this model and it wasn’t yet known what the DfE model would be so there may have to be some adjustment although at moment this was the best way for the service to be projecting SEND place need and gave power to look and forecast for the future rather than get to a crisis point and react.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education commented that the DfE had clearly indicated that the number of EHCP’s in a local authority area and the number children in special schools was a factor when determining the High Needs Block grant therefore the modelling was especially helpful as well as being several steps ahead nationally.

The Chair enquired whether the service was convinced that the SEND forecasting model being imposed from 2023 would improve the results of the model currently in use. In reply it was felt that the current model provided more information than the DfE were likely to be asking for, certainly in the first year and it was probable that both models would be used so that comparisons on accuracy could be made and to identify if there was a better model.

There was concern that paragraphs 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 suggested the block funding deficit would rise to £9.3 million in 2 years and queried whether the government would bridge that gap. Officers replied that if children were identified as having a specific need on their EHCP then the council had a statutory duty to provide for that need, however the Higher Needs Block was ring fenced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education will present a verbal update on the new Area SEND inspections framework from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.

The Director of SEND and Early Help provided a verbal update on the new Area SEND inspections framework from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The Director of SEND and Early Help reminded members that there had been a consultation issued regarding developing a new framework for SEND local areas. It was noted that in the past the city was subject to a SEND local area inspection last in 2018 which resulted in a written statement of action that led to an accelerated progress plan.

It was advised that the Dept. for Education had now issued proposals to change the process, a special meeting was held on 17^th August to brief on the content included in proposals and the submissions were made by 5^th September. Members noted that officers had also engaged with health colleagues and other stakeholders to ensure a rounded response.

The Chair thanked officers for the update.

AGREED:

That the update be noted and any further update to be brought to a future committee meeting as appropriate.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education will present a verbal update on the SEND Local Area Accelerated Progress Plan which was currently being considered by the Department for Education.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education provided a verbal update on the SEND Local Area Accelerated Progress Plan which was currently being considered by the Dept. for Education.

It was noted that NHS England had reviewed the submission and indicated they would respond in due course as to whether the team had delivered on their last objective requirement.

AGREED:

That the verbal update be noted and any further developments to be brought to a future meeting.

The Strategic Director or Social Care and Education submits the response from Leicester City Council to the Government’s SEND Green Paper Consultation. Members are asked to note the report.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education shared the response from Leicester City Council to the Governments SEND Green Paper Consultation.

The Director of SEND and Early Help introduced the report drawing attention to the response to the consultation green paper on SEND provision and explained that outcomes were still awaited.

It was noted that significant representations had been made from across the country, however with recent changes in the political climate there was some uncertainty about when the matter would move forward or if it would become legislation.

The Chair thanked officers for the update.

AGREED:

That the update be noted and any further progress on the consultation outcomes to be brought to future meeting as appropriate.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report to provide an overview of the activity and performance of the council    Fostering Service from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022. The report should be read in conjunction with the annual statement of purpose which sets out the service aims, objectives and configuration. Members are asked to note the report.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submitted a report providing an overview of the activity and performance of the council’s Fostering Service from 1^st April 2021 to 31^st March 2022.

Members also received the annual statement of purpose setting out the services aims, objectives and configuration and noted that there was an annual requirement to provide this report.

The Chair thanked officers for the report.

AGREED:

                        That the contents of the report be noted.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report to provide an overview of the activity and performance of the Family Adoption Links Regional Adoption Agency incorporating Leicester City Adoption Service from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022. The report should be read in conjunction with the annual statement of purpose which sets out the service aims, objectives and configuration. Members are asked to note the report.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report to provide an overview of the activity and performance of the Family Adoption Links Regional Adoption Agency incorporating Leicester City Adoption Service from 1^st April 2021 t0 31^st March 2022.

Members also received the annual statement of purpose setting out service aims, objectives and configuration.

Members welcomed the report and data although some initial concern was expressed that the marketing and branding in the report at first glance made children appear as commodities.

Deputy City Mayor Russell acknowledged the concern raised and explained the challenges in engaging more people to become foster carers and adoptees which was why there was marketing and branding.

The Chair commented that the new arrangements seemed to be working well and noted that the year covered by the report was heavily disrupted by Covid and enquired whether there were any concerns about the arrangements or particular cases as a result.

Officers advised that adoption was impacted by Covid however Leicester handled the situation well, continuing with introductions, placements, and innovative ways of introducing to adopters. Some aspects were done virtually which worked well and was something the service learnt from and have continued to include through the process.

As regards individual cases there were ongoing difficulties with court process and getting adoption orders due to court delays however there was no risk in terms of children already looked after or in placements.

It was queried whether there was any comparative data for the new regional adoption agency with other regional local authorities. Members were informed that although it had taken a while to become a regional adoption agency the service had been consistent with the work done around adoptions and throughout all inspection processes the service have been shown to be good bordering on outstanding. Leicester had joined with Lincolnshire and Leicestershire which were both strong on adoption and shared clear aims, wanting to see better outcomes and wanting to source adopters that could take larger sibling groups and older children and the new arrangements would be closely monitored to see how it developed.

The Chair thanked officers for the report.

AGREED:

                        That the contents of the report be noted.

The Commission’s Work Programme is attached for information and comment.

Members of the Commission were invited to consider the content of the work programme and any suggestions for inclusion to be brought to future meetings.

AGREED:

                        That the contents of the Work Programme be noted.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 19-55