Agenda item

Members are provided with an overview of the work undertaken since January 2016 on securing appropriate and adequate special school provision for children and young people in Wiltshire.

The Children’s Select Committee is asked to note the progress of this work.  Officers will continue to work closely with the Lead Member for Children’s Services and their Portfolio Holders to develop firm proposals to address the need to secure appropriate and adequate special school provision for children and young people in Wiltshire.

Consideration was given to a report by the Associate Director, Commissioning, Performance Management & School Effectiveness which provided an overview of the work undertaken since January 2016 on securing appropriate and adequate special school provision for children and young people in Wiltshire.

It was the Local Authority’s responsibility for commissioning and securing provision to meet children and young people’s identified special education needs. The Local Authority would also retain responsibility for the oversight and management of the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools grant.  

It was reported that since January 2016 the Local Authority had been discussing with Wiltshire’s special schools the potential to re-shape provision, including the possibility of creating a Multi-Academy Trust involving a number of special schools working together so as to improve the services provided for children and young adults with special educational needs and disabilities.  Special schools had put forward a proposal to form a Special School Collaborative Partnership (SSCP) with potential for each special school to join a Multi-Academy Trust that also included mainstream schools.

Following receipt of a number of concerns, a joint steering group had been set up supported by a specialist SEN consultant, with agreed terms of reference. This work had now concluded and steering group’s terms of reference and the key findings and summary of the consultant’s findings were noted as set out in the report, which were categorised into short term, medium term and long term recommendations. 

Representations were received from the following special school representatives, copies of which are appended to these minutes:-

Paul Cooke, Chair of Governors, Downland School

Annette Foster, Chair of Governors, Rowdeford School

Tanya Rhodes, Bursar, Downland School

In particular, the school representatives drew attention to Para 14 of the report which stated that education outcomes were not as good as they should be for children with SEN.  The representatives went on to say that:-

(a)       This claim was unsubstantiated and strongly refuted by the Special Schools. The statement included all SEN students across the entire county including those in mainstream schools, and

(b)       In relation to the SS outcomes this was misleading. With the exception of Springfield Academy, who were rated RI at their last inspection and recent section 8 monitoring visit, all other Special Schools were rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding.

In response, the Committee was informed that there was certainly no criticism of individual schools which were recognised as providing an excellent service but rather that there was insufficient provision for children and young adults with SEN in Wiltshire, particularly in the south of the County. 

It was noted that a number of Special Needs placements were made outside the County which were very costly to the Council. There was also considerable pressure on the Council’s transport budget due to SEN travel costs. Some children had to travel significant distances to attend a school that could meet their individual educational needs.

The Committee recognised that options for reducing spend were limited, with long lead in times and it was noted that the current pattern of provision to meet the changing needs of children and young adults needed careful attention as this was driving unaffordable cost into the system.  However, there was no easy way to deal with the projected overspend.

During discussion it was suggested that the various proposals set out in the short and medium term categories of the Wood Report should be prioritised but Members considered that receipt of the complete consultant’s report was needed before any meaningful discussion could take place.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services stated that the provision of services for SEND children was continually being monitored and there was a need to be receptive as the situation changed. 

Resolved:

To recommend to the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee  that a task and finish group be formed to consider the future provision of education for SEND children and young people, specifically working with Officers, Schools and Parents to identify and consider the challenges outlined in the Wood Report and other associated documents.