To approve arrangements for the interim support and supervision of the Herefordshire Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) staff team and to arrange for an external review of the SENDIASS service with an options appraisal and recommendations for service structure and delivery from 2018.

While the service is operated within the council, with its staff being council employees, it is operated at arm’s length in order to maintain a degree of independence, particularly to be seen as independent from the council’s additional needs service for children with special educational needs. This means that the service has been self-managed for several years, while national arrangements have changed and are expected to continue to change. Following the retirement of the previous service manager, there is an opportunity to engage external technical advice and support to review the service and future expected demands, in order to plan for a sustainable and effective service in the long term.

Worcestershire County Council also operates a SENDIASS service, which has undergone some change and improvement in recent years that allows opportunity for peer support and challenge and potential to apply learning in Herefordshire.

That:

(a)     Herefordshire Council to enter into an agreement with Worcestershire County Council for a period of six months from 1 September 2017 to 31 March 2018, at a cost of £20K, for the latter to share staff (under the provisions of Section 113 of the Local Government Act 1972) to provide  technical management oversight and a review of the Herefordshire SENDIASS;

(b)     By virtue of this decision report an exemption to paragraphs 4.6.11 of the council’s contract procedure rules shall be granted to enable the direct award for the reasons as set out in paragraph 16 below and referred to throughout this report.

To immediately recruit to a permanent full time management post to oversee the service in Herefordshire. This option is not recommended. The commissioning of Worcestershire County Council to provide support to the SENDIASS service in Herefordshire through the sharing of a manager post to March 2018 will give Herefordshire the opportunity to benefit from the extensive knowledge the post holder brings concerning SENDIASS services, their management and best practice within the service. Once a review has been carried out by the post holder recommendations can then be made regarding staffing requirements.