Agenda item

The report of Liz Williams (Finance Lead – High Needs Sustainability) seeks  to update Schools Forum on the SEND Transformation Programme.

Liz Williams, Finance Lead – High Needs Block Sustainability, alongside Ben Stevens, SEND and Alternative Provision Lead, updated the Schools Forum on the SEND Transformation Programme. The following was then highlighted: 

• Paragraphs 2 to 4 were briefly detailed, and it was confirmed that the new SEND and AP Strategy “Meeting Needs Together – Ambitious for All” was approved by Cabinet on 17 September 2024, with the strategy document attached as Appendix 1 to the report. 

• Appendix 2 outlined the second Safety Valve monitoring report sent to the Department for Education (DfE) at the end of August 2024 which covered the activity and data from June to August 2024. It was emphasised that it was a requirement of the agreement with the DfE for the Council to report against the key conditions of the agreement and on the progress to deliver capital projects associated with the agreement, with Paragraph 8 listing the conditions themselves, and Paragraph 13 listing the status of the conditions.   

• Although significant steps had been taken, and much of the planned ‘activity’ being on track, Members were informed that the time from implementation of the project to realisation of the benefits was greater than anticipated. As such, the Council was not on track to meet Agreement Condition 2 and would exceed the forecast £84.5m cumulative deficit in the financial year 2024/25 (excluding Safety Valve payments).  

• Paragraphs 15 to 16 noted the impacts of the increased commitments in the system from activity in the current year, the further mitigations that needed to be implemented in order to reduce spend by the 2028/29 financial year, and the profile of the revised forecast. 

• Paragraphs 17 to 19 detailed further financial considerations and confirmed the successful bid for the additional High Needs Provisional Capital Allocations grant made available to Council’s on the Safety Valve Programme. Therefore, an additional £5.7m of funding had been secured in order to accelerate the delivery of additional Special School capacity.  

During the discussion, points included: 

• Members expressed concern at the misjudged perception of timings and confirmation that the Council was not on track to meet the condition to reduce the cumulative deficit. Officers drew attention to the fact that more Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were issued than forecast by this stage of the plan which was driving the increase in spend. On the other hand, this demonstrated the positive action that had been undertaken to clear the backlog of assessments which had resulted in generated plans entering the system quicker than projected.  

• Officers noted that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the EHCP data more than expected, with the sharp incline in requests post-COVID skewing the initial modelling. However, Members were reassured that since January 2024, the level of EHCP requests had stabilised, giving a more accurate representation of demand for officers to confidently benchmark against.  

• Officers emphasised the significant amount of work that was needed to meet the conditions of the agreement, reiterated the need to be transparent on the progress of the plan to date, and highlighted the importance of including all schools, parents, carers, and the Forum as partners in the process. 

• Members highlighted early intervention and prevention, and it was confirmed that by being both a key priority and condition within the agreement, officers were focussing on developing increased support in this area so that schools and families could start to see the changes more quickly.  

Following which, it was: 

Resolved: 

The Schools Forum noted the update on the SEND Transformation Programme.