Issue - meetings

In July 2021, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted a joint inspection in Warwickshire to judge the effectiveness of the local area in implementing the SEND reforms as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. This item looks at the effectiveness of the local area holistically in delivering the desired outcomes.

Duane Chappell, Strategy and Commissioning Manager for SEND and Inclusion introduced this item, along with Rachel Barnes from the Change Hub. In July 2021, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted a joint inspection in Warwickshire to judge the effectiveness of the local area in implementing the SEND reforms. The report set out the organisations included within this inspection and other groups from whom views were sought. A copy of the inspection report was provided with the covering report outlining both the positive findings, together with five areas of weakness to be addressed:

·       The waiting times for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessments, and weaknesses in the support for children and young people awaiting assessment and following diagnosis of ASD

·       The fractured relationships with parents and carers and lack of clear communication and co-production at a strategiclevel

·       The incorrect placement of some children and young people with an education and health care plan (EHCP) in specialist settings, and mainstream school leaders’ understanding of why this needs to beaddressed

·       The lack of uptake of staff training for mainstream primary and secondary school staff to help them understand and meet the needs of children and young people withSEND; and

·       The quality of the online local offer.

There was a requirement to produce a Written Statement of Action (WSoA) by 24^th December 2021, that outlined how improvements would be made. Progress would then be monitored over the next 18 months by the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England (NHSE). For each area of weakness, the WSoA detailed how the concerns would be addressed. The draft plans had been circulated. A steering group had been established to oversee development and delivery of the WSoA and the future actions needed. Progress would be reported to the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme Board. The strengthened governance arrangements and communications plan were outlined. Several areas identified in the inspection were being responded to as part of the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme. Some areas addressed in the WSoA were outside the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme. The financial implications were reported including the one-off funding to support delivery of the WSoA in the sum of £98,750.

Questions and comments were invited:

• Councillor John Cooke referred to the area of weakness on waiting times for ASD assessments. He sought context on the comparative performance data for Warwickshire to that of other areas. This information was available from a performance dashboard. The aim was to improve Warwickshire’s performance to be in line with statistical neighbours. Currently, there was a lot of data which could be refined into a format useful for members, including comparators to statistical neighbours.
• It was confirmed that the information was available for each district and borough area.
• The Chair noted that the preceding item from CWPT did not include a lot of data. This would be a useful area for follow up by the overview and scrutiny committees. Similarly, the new SEND group could look at the assessment process and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4