To note the report.

The Director of Children’s Services reminded Members that the Panel had previously considered the SEND area inspection, and informed them that this report was to provide an update on the progress that had been made over the two quarters that had since passed.

Members were informed that an Inclusion Summit was held on April 19^th, which was the culmination of the first stage of the plan to address the weaknesses that had been identified by Ofsted and the CQC. The Director of Children’s Services said that the Summit allowed the Council to meet with partner agencies; although issues had not been raised by the SEND inspection report regarding individual care, concerns had been raised over the lack of joined-up thinking between different partners.

Members were told that the DfE and Ofsted had identified 107 action points for the Council to carry out. The Director of Children’s Services informed the Panel that of these, 49 were in the green category and on track to be completed; 30 were in the amber category as more work needed to be done; six were in the red category as significant issues had been identified; and five had not yet been started. A further 17 had been completed. The Panel was informed that the six red actions of concern related to four activities: reviewing whether the matrix used to assess the level of pupil need in mainstream schools was working effectively; reviewing the use of text messaging for obtaining feedback; implementing an updated ICT system; and agreeing the datasets and information to be updated on the Local Offer. The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that the Local Offer was a requirement for all local authorities to make available online information to parents and carers regarding services that were applicable to them that were provided by the Council, health authority and voluntary sector, as well as schools with their own Local Offers. Members were told that the information needed to be easier to navigate and should include clear descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of each care provider. Regarding the ICT system, Members were told that the Council was on the software developer’s work list.

Sarah Bellars, Director of Nursing at East Berkshire CCG, stated that it was important to emphasise the progress that had been made since the initial inspection, due to the complexities faced by some service users. In particular the progress that had been made in relation to getting the different groups to work together was of great importance. A key achievement that Sarah Bellars identified was the fact that all 750 statements of special education had been successfully converted into Education Health and Care Plans. The Chairman congratulated officers on completing this transfer.

Members were informed that a draft of the Inclusion Charter would be brought to Council by the Lead Member for Children’s Services in due course.

It was agreed that the Evaluation Report would be brought to Panel when the review that was currently in progress was completed.

Regarding the money provided by the Better Care Fund, it was clarified that the approval of £150,000 for three years meant that a total of £450,000 would be provided.

Cllr Luxton asked if the multi agency group that looked at EHC plans to suggest improvements and highlight good practice, which was referenced in the report, had been set up. Sarah Bellars stated that the first meeting of the group had taken place and their first set of recommendations could be made available to Members. The next set of thematic audits would be available in September.

Responding to a question from Cllr Jones about satisfaction levels over the statement conversions, the Director of Children’s Services stated that the feedback had been largely positive. He stated that five cases had progressed to the Tribunal Stage; of these, three had been settled in favour of the proposals put forward by the Council and two were settled in favour of those proposed by the parents. The Director of Children’s Services said that the thematic audit created by the multi agency group had identified a need for improving communication with service users.

Sarah Bellars informed Members that a transformation programme was being implemented with CAMHS, in order to provide support for emotional health and wellbeing to families at the earliest possible opportunity and to prevent the need for secondary care and inpatient admissions. Members were told that the Ofsted inspection had highlighted that the needs of those on the autism pathway had not been met quickly enough. Sarah Bellars stated that unless things changed, a backlog of cases would build up. It was clarified that the autism pathway was a mechanism for ensuring parents could be given a diagnosis of autism, and to be signposted to services that were the most appropriate to them. The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that he had recently met with his counterparts from Bracknell Forest and Slough, where it was agreed that mental health and wellbeing should be a key focus.

Cllr Wilson asked if the Inclusion Summit had been well received by those who had attended. The Director of Children’s Services informed Members that 174 people had attended, including more than 70 from schools within the Royal Borough. He stated that in his opinion he had never seen such a high level of participation by attendees at an event, and there appeared to be a willingness amongst school headteachers to work together in sharing best practice. The possibility of establishing a network for SENCO employees was being investigated. Members were informed that some of the smaller schools, who may not be able to employ their own specialist SENCO officer, were sharing a single member of staff to work across more than one site.

Members were informed that going forward, an update would be provided each school term.

The Chairman asked for the Panel’s thanks and congratulations to be passed on to the teams that had been involved in progressing the statement of action. The Director of Children’s Services stated that the Parent Care Forum had been of particular importance in ensuring this had happened.

It was agreed that the Panel:

i) Noted the report and endorsed the work undertaken to meet the statutory deadline of converting all statements of educational needs to EHC plan by the due date

ii) Noted the progress on the delivery of 107 actions in the action plan and requested an update in October 2018.