Agenda item

To present the conclusions and recommendations of the Schools and the Local Authority Task Group for endorsement.

Rev Alice Kemp, Chairman of the task group, will provide a verbal introduction.

The Chairman introduced the report by reminding Members that in October 2013 this Committee discussed its work priorities for 2013-17 and agreed that children and young people with SEND should remain a key part of the forward work programme. Following a scoping exercise that included officers and executive members, the SEND Task Group decided to explore how best to prepare young people with SEND for adulthood, with a focus on the four main themes of education, employment, housing and community inclusion.

The following members of the public then made statements:-

·                Janet Kenward, Principal & Chief Executive of Fairfield Farm College, expressed concern that if the provision, at Fairfield Farm College, which had a programme of continuous improvement both in terms of curriculum and facilities, was not used it would be lost as a resource to the county.   The college was in the middle of a building programme to further improve its teaching facilities and this had been supported by the EFA Capital improvement programme with a grant of £712,000 and by two large trust funds.

She further stated that the college wished to work collaboratively with the Council, Wiltshire College and special school sixth forms to enable young people from Wiltshire to have a choice of post 16 environments in which to learn, to ensure that each young person had a person centred individualised programme of learning, felt safe and had the best opportunity to progress to supported employment or other meaningful daytime activity and to live as independently as possible. 

·                Dr Tina Pagett, Principal of Fairfield Farm College, w.e.f. from 1 April 2015, stated her appreciation to the Members and Officers for the work carried out in producing the report but she requested that consideration be given to including an additional recommendation that encouraged Council Members and Officers to explore working in collaboration with Fairfield Farm College, alongside other providers, to ensure that young people with SEND in Wiltshire had ‘choice’ and could benefit from the full range of facilities and experiences available ‘in-county’.

·                Mrs Debra Elliott, parent, fully supported the recommendations of the Task Group but was disappointed that the Task Group were unable to undertake wider consultation with parent carers and reflect views throughout Wiltshire.  She requested that choice be extended in Wiltshire rather than the provision of just one preferred option that, at best, would prioritise the local authority’s needs.

She further requested that the Committee should investigate the provision of appropriate and meaningful activity for those unable to find employment. This would have the greatest impact on daily life for the majority of adults with the most severe and complex needs.

·                     Mrs Jan Winfield, parent, expressed her concerns regarding issues covered in the report regarding educational provision and respite provision. She  was surprised to see that the Task Group had ‘reported’ on the relative costs of educational provision at Wiltshire College and Fairfield College – without providing accurate data to support their assertion.  Her understanding was that the average cost of education provision for a day student at Fairfield College was approx. £22,000 – not the £60-70,000 or more, claimed in the report.  The cost of a residential student’s accommodation was met by social services funding, not education.  No doubt many students with SEND attending Wiltshire College would also have additional social care needs which would have to be similarly funded, for example, housing and/or additional support for independent living.  She questioned if the Task Group’s comparison could be regarded as a fair or equivalent one if it did not compare like with like.

In the matter of respite provision, she felt that there was an urgent need for the provision of an age appropriate respite facility for young people aged 18 - 25 in Wiltshire.

Rev Alice Kemp as Chairman of the Task Group explained that it had examined a number of areas as follows:-

(i)           Local education and training options, including managing transitions.

(ii)          Planning for employment and supporting local employers to employ young people with SEND.

(iii)         Providing housing options to support young people with SEND to live in their communities.

(iv)         Developing communities that are inclusive, welcoming and supportive of young people with SEND.

She reported that the Task Group had identified much good work that was being undertaken including some meaningful daytime activity; however, this area was so broad that there was really insufficient time for this to be considered in depth and could well be undertaken as a piece of work in the future.

She also informed the Committee that the Task Group had given some initial consideration to the need for respite for young people with SEND but further work was required.  It had been noted that respite facilities were available at Canon’s House, Devizes but it specialised providing for young people aged 5-17 with severe learning disabilities and consequently were unable to provide sufficient short breaks for the needs of other young people.

Members also were informed that young people aged over 18 were not eligible for care at Canon’s House and were directed towards a suitable residential adult care provider. Some parents had expressed concern that this led to their 18 year old young person being supported alongside people who were much older, some of them elderly.  Parents were also concerned that, unlike the pre-18 respite provision, adult provision did not always provide structured activities that developed the young person’s independent living skills.

During discussion, Cllr Simon Jacobs explained that Devizes Area Board was building links between employers and young people with SEND, thus demonstrating that many assumed barriers to employment could be removed. A grant of £2,600 had been made by the Devizes Area Board towards the production of a film highlighting the challenges and opportunities for SEND young people in the Devizes area trying to find employment.  He offered to make the film available to this Committee and also to other area boards once it had been finalised.  The Chairman thanked Cllr Jacobs for this offer which he suggested should be shown to Members immediately before the next meeting of this Committee.  Furthermore, he would draw the attention of Cllr Chris Williams, Portfolio Holder for Area Boards & Libraries, to this film for possible discussion at the next Area Board Chairs’ meeting.

Resolved:

(1)       To endorse the Task Group’s final report and refer it to the Cabinet Member for response at the next meeting.

(2)       To request the Cabinet Member to respond to the points raised by Janet Kenwood, Principal & Chief Executive of Fairfield Farm College.

(3)       To request the Chairman and Vice-Chairman to raise the issue of scrutiny exploring meaningful activities for 18-25 year old SEND young people who would find it challenging to undertake employment or further training/education at their next meeting with the executive and officers.

(4)       To review the implementation of the Task Group’s recommendations in 12 months’ time.