Agenda and minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the meetings held on 21 September 5 October 2021 as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meetings of the Improving Lives Select Commission, held on 21 September and 5 October 2021 be approved as a correct record of proceedings.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of intererst.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To receive communications from the Chair in respect of matters within the Commission’s remit and work programme.

The Chair provided an update on activity from the recent meeting of the Corporate Parenting Panel that she and Councillors Browne, Collingham and Griffin from the Improving Lives Select Commission had attended.

The Chair also advised that she had attended a briefing for members of the Health Select Commission on Young Carers.

To vote on the proposal made by Councillor Barley that the start time of meetings of the Improving Lives Select Commission should be moved to 5pm.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rules, it had been proposed by Councillor Barley that the start time for meetings of the Improving Lives Commission be amended to 5pm.

On being put to the vote the proposal was declared as lost.

Resolved:  -  That the start time for meetings of the Improving Lives Select Commission remain as 10am.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, the Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion, the Head of the SEND Service and the Head of Children and Young People’s Services Commissioning and Transformation attended the meeting to provide a progress report the implementation of the SEND (Special Education Need and Disability) Sufficiency Strategy in Rotherham. including updates with regard to the implementation of the SEND Sufficiency Phases 1, 2 and 3.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services noted that SEND Sufficiency Strategy set out a plan to look at meeting our emerging SEND provision needs against a structured profile of identified SEND needs in Rotherham with the three phases of SEND Sufficiency Strategy aiming to address key areas of need against a context of increasing demand for SEND services across the Borough.

The Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion made a presentation to the meeting that provided information on:

·       The definition of SEND and the requirement that was placed on the Council to ensure sufficient provision of suitable educational provision for children and young people with SEND needs.

·       How SEND Sufficiency was managed in Rotherham by the SEND Sufficiency Strategy.

·       The progress that had been made in delivering the three phases of the SEND Sufficiency Strategy noting that Phase 1 had been completed and that Phase 2 was 80% complete.

·       The objectives and activity included in Phase 3 including its focus on:

·       creating a specialist SEND campus in Dinnington.

·       combines rebuild of Newman Special, movement of upper part of Newman to Dinnington.

·       developing a Social, Emotional, Health Specialist setting in Rotherham.

·       Future phases and potential objectives for the strategy.

·       The recent Ofsted/CQC inspection of SEND services across Rotherham

Members expressed their concern regarding the amount of time that Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) were taking to be completed noting that in order to ensure that every child could access the correct support that these should be completed in a timely manner. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services noted that whilst the timely completion on EHCP’s was very important, it was more important that each child got the right support, in the right setting and at the right time. The Cabinet Member noted that as a result of the actions carried out as part of the SEND review support could be delivered to children and young people without an EHCP being in place. The Assistant Director detailed the processes involved in establishing an EHCP for a child and noted that whilst there was a 20-week target for completing an EHCP that this timescale could be very challenging due to the number of stakeholders involved in the process. The Assistant Director assured members that whilst an EHCP brought together a single document to support a child’s needs, support was accessible and would be provided before an EHCP was in place.

Members noted the importance of a safe and secure environment for all children, and especially for children with additional needs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Documents to follow

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, the Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion and the Head of the SEND Service attended the meeting to provide a report on the role of the Council in supporting the Social, Emotional and Mental Health of Children and Young People.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services noted that information that would be provided in the presentation that would be made by the Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion would be focussed on the role of the Council in the context of the provision of education in supporting the Social, Emotional and Mental Health of Children and Young People. The Cabinet Member noted that the issue was being considered at the meeting in response to concerns that members of the Improving Lives Select Commission had expressed regarding the impact of the pandemic on the Social, Emotional and Mental Health of Children and Young People.

The Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion noted that services for the support of the Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) of Children and Young People was delivered by a wide range of agencies and delivery partners such at the local Clinical Commissioning Group and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.  The Assistant Director advised that due to the number of partners involved, all who had different roles and responsibilities in addressing SEMH effectively was challenging, it was essential that all activity was coordinated in order to support children and young people with their SEMH post-pandemic.

The Assistant Director advised that the number of children who required support with their SEMH continued to increase at steady rate and noted the impact of the pandemic and the related restrictions that had resulted in an increase in children with these needs, especially at around transition points in the education system. The Assistant Director noted many of the issues of SEMH in children and young people were a result of the lack of socialisation during the pandemic.

The Head of the SEND Service affirmed that the emotional wellbeing of children was a growing issue amongst of children and young people of all ages and that this had been compacted by the impact of the pandemic. The Head of the SEND service noted that whilst during the pandemic children had engaged well with online learning that the return to school had been very challenging for some children.

The presentation provided information on:

·       What Social, Emotional, Mental Health was and how it was defined in the SEND Code of Practice.

·       SEMH in national, regional, and Rotherham context. It was noted the number of children with these needs had grown and was projected to increase further.

·       The number of children and young people in Rotherham with SEMH needs and how this compared to other areas both locally and nationally.

·       The number of children and young people with SEMH who also had an Education Health and Care Plan.

·       Ongoing areas of focus with regard to SEMH including:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To consider and approve the Commission’s Work Programme.

The Committee considered its Work Programme for 2021/22.

Resolved: - That the Work Programme for 2020/21 be approved.

For the Chair/project group leads to provide an update on the activity regarding sub and project groups of the he Improving Lives Select Commission.

The Chair provided a progress report on sub and project group activity.

Resolved: - That the update be noted.

To consider any item(s) the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items that required the exclusion of the public or press.

The next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Tuesday 7 December 2021 commencing at 10am in Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Tuesday 7 December 2021 at 10am at Rotherham Town Hall.