Agenda item

That the progress be noted and that it be agreed to continue receiving quarterly updates for the remainder of this municipal year.

The Lead Member for  Education and Children’s Services introduced the quarterly update report on the progress on the key actions taken to address the priorities identified by Ofsted and the CQC in their inspection report on SEND services in Slough in 2021.

It was noted that significant progress had been made since the Department for Education (DfE) monitoring visit in July 2023 and the first full monitoring report for the Safety Valve Agreement / High Needs Deficit Recovery Plan was completed in September.  The Executive Director of Children’s Services gave a verbal update on the  most recent DfE monitoring visit which took place in November.  Feedback was awaited but it was considered to have gone well with the service on the cusp of making significant improvements.  One of the key measures that Cabinet was monitoring was the number of Education, Health and Care plans completed and it was noted that there had been an increase each month since July with further acceleration of progress expecting in the coming months.

Members of the Cabinet welcomed the progress being made to date and asked questions about the key performance indicators and access to educational psychologists.

It was recommended that the formal quarterly updates be provided to Cabinet for the remainder of the municipal year with future updates beyond that outside of formal Cabinet meetings.  This was agreed.

Resolved –  That the progress be noted and that it be agreed to continue receiving quarterly updates for the remainder of this municipal year.