Agenda item

SEND Written Statement of Action

Decision:

That the Joint Written Statement of Action attached at Appendix A to the report be noted.

 

That the following next steps be approved:

 

·  That a detailed action plan is prepared and incorporated into the Council’s wider Recovery and Improvement Plan.

·  That the SEND action plan be presented to the People Scrutiny Panel in Quarter 1 of 2022/23.

·  That a report be brought back to Cabinet in the next 6 months giving an update on progress against the action plan.

Minutes:

The Lead Member for Children’s Services, Lifelong Learning & Skills and the Associate Director, Education & Inclusion introduced a report on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Written Statement of Action (WSOA).

 

The WSOA had been filed with Ofsted and the CQC on 18th February 2022 in response to the SEND local area inspection carried out between 27 September and 1 October 2021.  The Cabinet was asked to note the WSOA and approve the next steps which included the preparation of a detailed action plan to be incorporated into the Council’s wider Recovery and Improvement Plan.

 

The Ofsted/CQC report had identified a number of significant weaknesses in the areas practice that the Council and Slough Clinical Commissioning Group, working with other partners, would need to address through a WSOA.  The main areas of concern were outlined and they included weak arrangements for ensuring effective joint leadership, the overlooked voice of children and the timeliness with which Education, Health and Care plans were produced.  The inspection had also highlighted a number of strengths which were noted.  The WSOA had been co-produced with input from the Council, social care, health parents and school partners.  There was a clear desire to improve services and a substantial amount of work would be required to deliver the necessary changes.

 

The Cabinet emphasised the importance of aligning the WSOA with the wider Council Recovery and Improvement Plan and agreed that SEND improvements must not be dealt with in isolation but as part of the broader work with partners to improve children’s services.  Lead Members highlighted the successful co-production model used in adult social care and requested that that good practice be utilised with a strategy developed with service users, parents and carers at the centre.

 

Lead Members asked for clarity about one of the weaknesses identified in the inspection that: “not all schools were welcoming of children and young people with SEND and arrangements for partnership working with schools had been informal and ad hoc”.  It was noted that this observation had most likely arisen from some parent feedback to the inspection.  The Cabinet discussed the roles and responsibilities and schools in the improvement process.

 

A report on the WSOA would be considered by the People Scrutiny Panel on 31st March 2022 and the Cabinet asked that the focus be on looking forward to focus on the improvement journey.  The Panel should be encouraged to propose recommendations for Cabinet.  It was agreed that the Cabinet would receive a progress update on delivery in six months.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion the recommendations were agreed.

 

Resolved –

 

(a)  That the Joint Written Statement of Action attached at Appendix A to the report be noted.

 

(b)  That the following next steps be approved:

 

·  That a detailed action plan is prepared and incorporated into the Council’s wider Recovery and Improvement Plan.

·  That the SEND action plan be presented to the People Scrutiny Panel in Quarter 1 of 2022/23.

·  That a report be brought back to Cabinet in the next 6 months giving an update on progress against the action plan.

Supporting documents: