Decision details

This report recommends that Cabinet approves the Service level agreement (SLA) for funding, delegated to secondary schools to support learners at risk of exclusion.

The SLA 2021-2023 is an evolution and replacement of the current service level agreement that expires at the end of December 2020.

The agreement commits the Council to work in partnership with signatories to ensure that all learners have access to quality education provision in school and at alternative provision when appropriate.

The agreement is supported by the SEND Inclusion Strategy 2020-2023, a key priority area of which is inclusion and removing exclusion in education.

I approve the continuation of the devolution of funding to schools and agree the updates to the Service Level Agreement, as detailed in the attached report.

This decision was made on 1 March 2021 and will come into effect on 9 March 2021.

The SLA expires at the end of December 2020 and a decision is required about whether the proposed SLA is appropriate. There is evidence that the current system of devolved funding is working effectively.

The alternative options include:

1)       To renew the current SLA unchanged. This option has been rejected as the current SLA needed to reflect changes in working practice as well as updated monitoring and reporting expectations of schools and the Council; Or,

2)       To adopt a position where the Council de-delegates the funding. This option has been rejected, as this position is inconsistent with the DfE vision to strengthen partnership arrangements for commissioning and delivering alternative provision set out in Creating Opportunity for all (2018).

The amendments to the current SLA were agreed by a consultation working group comprising head teachers representing each area of the county along with Council officers from Children’s Services and Public Health.