Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Committee Room 2, Shire Hall. View directions

Contact: Paul Spencer - Senior Democratic Services Officer, Helen Barnsley - Senior Democratic Services Officer. 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

General

Additional documents:

1(1)

Appointment of Chair for the Meeting

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

Resolved

 

That Councillor Jerry Roodhouse be appointed Chair for the meeting.

1(2)

Apologies

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Yousef Dahmash, Tracey Drew, Clare Golby, Pam Redford (Co-opted member of ASC&H OSC for Warwick DC) and Kate Rolfe.

1(3)

Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

1(4)

Chair’s Announcements

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

1(5)

Minutes of previous meetings pdf icon PDF 330 KB

To receive the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2020 were approved and signed by the Chair.

2.

Public Speaking

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

3.

Update from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust (CWPT) pdf icon PDF 74 KB

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee will receive an update from the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

CWPT had provided two reports to the joint overview and scrutiny committee. These updated on the RISE children and young people emotional wellbeing and specialist mental health service and Autism waiting times.

 

Chris Evans presented the first report, which gave an overview of the strategic response to the independent review of the crisis offer in Coventry and Warwickshire. The report included the four system recommendations coming from the review and stated the need for a system response. Sections of the report focussed on the following areas:

 

  • Whole system transformation and leadership
  • Building the preventative offer and development of a trauma informed system
  • Enhancing the current crisis service
  • Continued development of the offer to support the restoration and strategic aims
  • Further service transformation to support the strategic aims.

 

Questions and comments were submitted with responses provided as indicated:

 

  • Councillor Marian Humphreys asked a series of questions about:
    • The process to identify children with behavioural problems and those who were disruptive at times impacting on other children.
    • Where there had not been a formal diagnosis the referral to services for advice and length of time before referral to a consultant.
    • The timeframe for parents to receive advice and support, independent of the school.
    • When an Integrated Personal Commissioning (IPC) arrangement should be put in place. From recent case work, there was a need for more training and capacity within schools.
  • Michelle Rudd responded with an outline of the collaborative service offer through RISE, working with families and teachers. A key aspect was the cause of disruptive behaviour, with anxiety sometimes being a cause. There was collaboration with headteachers, the County Council’s teams, family support and families. The impact of Covid was stated and examples given of the workshops which had continued. Councillor Humphreys spoke of the timescales before services were commenced and the lost education. A need to look at how schools responded. Michelle Rudd gave context on the number of schools across Warwickshire, and an outline of the mental health in schools programme, which was being rolled out. There had been considerable success from the earlier phases of this initiative, with the north of Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth being the next area.
  • Councillor Brett Beetham referred to the appointment of the data quality officer and asked about their initial findings and impact on waiting lists. On the CWPT website, there was not a clear list of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) services provided and it would be helpful to have a list of the services.
  • Helen Stephenson responded to the question on data quality. Patient records were being migrated to a new clinical system, which could identify errors or duplication of cases. The data quality officer’s role included ensuring the patient lists were as accurate as possible to avoid duplication. The provision of a comprehensive ASD list was being developed and would be published via the CWPT website in due course.
  • Councillor Penny-Anne O’Donnell sought further information about patients with anxiety linked to additional undiagnosed learning needs and the links to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

SEND Inspection and Written Statement of Action pdf icon PDF 324 KB

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.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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 24th 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.

5.

Joint Coventry and Warwickshire All Age Autism Strategy 2021-26 pdf icon PDF 493 KB

The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee is asked to consider and endorse the joint All Age Autism Strategy for Coventry and Warwickshire 2021-26.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The joint overview and scrutiny committee received a copy of the report considered and approved at Cabinet on 7 December. The report was introduced by Ali Cole, Joint Commissioner for Learning and Autism. She outlined the various bodies which had considered and approved or were due to consider this strategy.

 

She reminded of the helpful feedback received from this joint committee in October 2020, which had assisted in formulating the strategy, also speaking about the new national Autism strategy, which this strategy aligned with. She picked up the points from earlier debate around a focus on support and the strategy made a commitment that people could access support with or without a diagnosis. There had been a clear message from autistic people and their families that diagnosis was important to helping people understand themselves and their identity. Many autistic people lived independently without support. Further points raised that this was an all-age strategy, touching on the issues for adults with Autism, about how society could become more Autism friendly and inclusive. This strategy took a broad approach to creating inclusive communities, beyond health education and social services; the national strategy did likewise. There was no additional recurrent funding, but reference was made to the business case raised under the CWPT item.

 

Questions and comments were submitted with responses provided as indicated:

 

  • Councillor Beetham spoke about working with employers and the need for reasonable adjustments to be made for autistic people. He asked how this was achieved if there wasn’t a diagnosis.  He referred to a section of the report on prevalence of Autism. The data for the Warwick and Nuneaton areas were similar despite Nuneaton having a much larger population and he sought an explanation of the reasons for this. The report stated there would be reduced demand if access to support was available. Ali Cole responded that a diagnosis would make employers aware that they might need to make adjustments. Feedback from autistic people consulted as part of the strategy showed that a diagnosis did not make enough of a difference. Autism was a spectrum condition with individual needs. The need for a public awareness raising campaign was stated, drawing comparison to that undertaken for dementia. A particular area referenced was the County Council and NHS organisations setting a good example as employers. On the point about prevalence, this was a topic both nationally and locally with the rates being higher than the 1.1% identified via a commissioning tool. There were a number of contributors why an Autism diagnosis was not captured reliably. Capturing data and building an evidence base were a priority within the strategy. A key priority was looking at the diagnostic pathway having regard to recent referral data.
  • Councillor Humphreys spoke of the mislabelling of undiagnosed children as naughty. This could lead to a social stigma and additional problems, both for the child and their family. A recent case was used to highlight this. Ali Cole agreed that this demonstrated the need for awareness raising and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.