Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director, People.

Cllr Laura Mayes, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills, presented the report which provided an update on the draft Safety Valve Plan.

The Deputy Leader, in introducing the report explained that the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive were leading the work on this matter, demonstrating it’s importance. She highlighted that changes to the Council’s submission were made in response to Department for Education (DfE) feedback, in advance of the 12 January 2024 submission. With the revised version going forward to the Secretary of State for approval and to form the basis of a Safety Valve Deal for Wiltshire. Due to the ambitious approach of the Plan, the Programme Team would begin to deliver the Plan without delay to ensure key conversations take place before April 2024. 

Cabinet was reminded that the Safety Valve Plan offers councils additional funds from the DfE to help with their historic deficits, so long as the Department is satisfied that the council can return their DSG to a balanced position over the period of the deal. In addition, there is the opportunity to bring additional capital investment into the county to address some of the capacity issues that have historically been present. The Deputy Leader highlighted that the scale of the challenge should not be understated and required a concerted effort from everyone in the Council's SEND system.

The Leader explained his original views about the proposals and how these had changed over time and in listening to other Cabinet members and officers. He noted that all Councils were facing the same types of challenges to some degree and the issues had been caused by national policy. This created a set of challenges for the Council and delivery would be extremely challenging.

Cllr Graham Wright, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, on behalf of Cllr Jon Hubbard  Cllr Jon Hubbard, Chair of the Children’s Select Committee, reported that the Select Committee had considered the report at their extraordinary meeting on 7 December 2023. It was noted that the Select Committee had considered the report in great depth and noted that the proposals allowed for investment to address the challenges being faced.

Cllr Gordon King, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, thanked the Leader for his kind comments about Cllr Bob Jones. Cllr King welcomed the update, agreed with the comments already made and indicated that this was indeed a complex issue with a number of associated risks.

Resolved:

1)    To note the changes made to the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Management Plan and the SEND Sustainability plan.

2)    To note the submission of these documents to the Department for Education (DfE) on 12 January 2024.

3)    To note the continued progress to reduce and remove the financial risk that the deficit in the High Needs Block (HNB) represents.

Reason for Decision

The submission of amended documents to the DfE was agreed at Cabinet on the 12 December 2023 and this update ensures that Cabinet are kept appraised of the changes.