To brief Cabinet on the duties to provide short breaks for disabled children and their carers, and the level of need for such services in Herefordshire.

To recommend the continuation of council funding up to £450,000 per year for 2017-2020 to procure services for Herefordshire’s short breaks offer for disabled children.

The cabinet member children’s wellbeing presented a report on short breaks for disabled children and their carers, and the level of need for such services in Herefordshire.  He pointed out that historically choice had been restricted and, combined with relaxed referral and assessment practices, this had meant that there had been a reliance on a single high-cost residential short breaks setting. Over the last three years, this culture had changed.

Within Herefordshire’s Children and Young People’s (CYP) Plan 2015/2018 the vision for disabled children was that they would be healthy, safe and lead happy and fulfilled lives with choice and control.  Short breaks for disabled children were part of Herefordshire’s local offer for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families.

The assistant director commissioning and education outlined the proposed local short breaks offer, and the nature of the three tiers of service.

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were made:

·         That the council was duty bound to offer any assessed families the option of direct payments, but that the choice around how such payments could be spent had historically been an issue.  The assistant director commissioning and education undertook to provide members with the number of families that took up this option.

·         That there were 4 approved specialist family based foster carers, and two further carers to be approved by the end of September.  This would provide 500-600 nights of support per annum.

·         The figures in the report were in line with the medium term financial strategy.

In reply to a number of questions from a group leader, the following points were made.

·           That members had to allow professional officers to make the appropriate assessments in these cases.  Children had been placed, in the past, on inappropriate short breaks. 

The assistant director commissioning and education said that, with regard to emergency cover, the council had a duty to meet assessed needs, and would do so irrespective of cost.  It would always be possible to spot purchase services, should this be necessary.

·           That all families had been consulted with, and the council had asked them what services they would value most.  The council would need to work closely with both existing and new providers in order to ensure needs were met.

The director of children’s wellbeing added that the assessment process was open and fair, and there were checks and balances in the system.  Families were able to request an SEN assessment where they felt that this was required.  Families were being encouraged to access universal provision across the county.

Resolved

That:

(a)       the commissioning plan and intentions at paragraphs 20-23 and Appendix B are agreed;

(b)      funding up to £450,000 per year is allocated to Herefordshire’s short breaks for disabled children programme for the three years 2017/18 to 2019//20

(c)       procurement of the provision of short breaks services for three years from April 2017 be undertaken to the indicative timetable at paragraph 21; and;

(d)       authority be delegated to the director for children’s wellbeing, following consultation with the director of resources and cabinet member for young people and children’s wellbeing, and subject to confirmation of  funding from the clinical commissioning group (CCG) to finalise procurement documentation and award service contracts within the financial envelope as set out in this report.