This report provides an update on the progress in implementing the SEND Strategy

The Service Director, Education, Skills and Learning introduced and gave an overview of the report, identifying a number of key issues.

The Service Director explained that the number of children with EHCPs was increasing at both a national and local level. Herefordshire’s increase was slightly below the national average, but nevertheless EHCPs had risen by 10% in the last twelve months and 50% since 2017, with there now being approximately 1,400 children with EHCPs in the county.

It was explained that demand for specialist places had increased in Herefordshire. A number of specialist hubs in mainstream schools had recently been opened to increase the number of places available and plans were ongoing to open more of these hubs. 

Following the presentation the report was opened up to the Committee, the principle points of the discussion are summarised below.

The Committee heard that additional demands had placed SEND case workers and educational psychologists under increased pressure, but they had prioritised workloads to ensure that families were not kept waiting for plans. The SEND team continued to perform well regarding issuing plans within the statutory 20 week timescale. Nationally the figure for hitting this target was approximately 49%, whereas Herefordshire consistently sat somewhere between 78-95 % month-on-month.

It was explained that all children in Herefordshire with significant needs had an offer of a school pace, which wasn’t always the case in other authorities, where some children with plans could wait years to secure an offer of a school place that met their needs.

The Head of Additional Needs explained that in order to mitigate against pressure from rising demands, the SEND team had restructured internally, looked at role descriptions, and worked more tightly on the triage systems with health partners and social care colleagues.

It was explained that one casualty of the increased demand was a reduction in the some of the early intervention and prevention work that educational psychologists had done with schools, such as whole school relational practice and trauma response strategies. However, they were still involved in emotionally-based school avoidance training and the virtual school was still active in that space.

The Service Director, Education, Skills and Learning explained that it was too early to measure the impact of cuts to early interventions, but they had been noted as a risk. However different ways of maximising resources and working with schools were being implemented to mitigate the impact. Herefordshire was also part of a programme, working with regional colleagues, to test DFE (Department for Education) reforms over the next few years. 

The committee heard that head teacher termly conferences provided insight about what worked well in schools and the directorate had been working with colleagues in Bedford, which had enabled them to focus on the network of specialist needs coordinators. Furthermore a network of three schools had been set up to peer review one another.

The Corporate Director, Children & Young People pointed out that significant work had been done as a partnership to embrace the peer review from last year. It was also suggested that the scrutiny could achieve a lot through working with agencies and political support to break down the need for EHCPs and make it easier for families to access services without having to go through what was a lengthy process.

In response to a question from the Committee the Lead Commissioner Children, Young People & Maternity stated that one of the most effective way to support families is to get to them very early on in family life. Providing and signposting support during the first thousand and one days of childhood would reap great benefits for children and parents in relation to positive mental wellbeing. It was important to set a direction where families would be empowered to help themselves, but that additional targeted support was available when required.

The Committee heard that government reforms introduced in 2014 had had the unintended effect of increasing the number of EHCPs being put in place. It was hoped that a child readiness project encouraging multi-agency working with families to provide intense support in early years would help meet needs and stop them from escalating to a point where an EHCP was required.

The Committee stressed the importance of pastoral care in schools and it was explained that recruitment in these relatively low paid roles was proving problematic.

The committee praised the report, but expressed disappointment at the omission of detailed dashboard information within it. It was acknowledged that detailed data may not sit well in public information documents, but was vitally important for scrutiny to be able to carry out its role properly. More detailed information was promised in future reports of this nature.

The Committee stressed the importance of working on ways to enable and encourage people to access services, support and advice. It was noted that providing families with the tools to support themselves and their children would potentially lead to a reduction in requests for EHCPs.

The online Parent Carer Voice Early Years information booklet that had been coproduced with input from Herefordshire Council and other agencies was praised by the committee.

A discussion around funding for early intervention remained a council priority took place and the Committee voted by majority to make the following recommendation to the executive:

Recommendation

That:

a) The executive ensure that early intervention in schools is funded adequately in Herefordshire Council's 2024-2025 budget.