Agenda item

For OSMB to consider the outcomes from the Improving Lives Select Commissions spotlight review on preparation for adulthood, in relation to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The Chair explained to members that this agenda item had been a scrutiny review, which had been carried out by the previous Improving Lives Select Commission (ILSC) and was a review of adults and children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, known as SEND.

The Chair informed Members that the Chair of ILSC (Councillor Pitchley) was unable to attend to present the report.  However, the Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance and the Assistant Director for Adult Care and Integrationwere present at the meeting to answer any questions from Members in relation to the review.

The Chair explained that once the report had been considered by Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB), it would then be considered by Cabinet who had an eight-week period to respond back to the OSMB. The Chair then asked if members if they had any questions or comments in relation to the report.

Councillor Yasseen stated that she had been involved in the spotlight review at some stage and had contributed to the report. She felt it was crucial for Cabinet to understand this situation, given the previous discussion around the Council’s overspend and weekly expenditure for Rotherham’s Children in Care.

Councillor Yasseen raised her uncertainty as why Rotherham had such a high percentage of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) compared to the national average and other councils such as Barnsley, Doncaster, and Sheffield. She felt that this report did not provide clarity on the issue. Additionally, Councillor Yasseen was concerned that the long-term implications for Rotherham, particularly around the school-to-home transport service. She stated that a higher number of SEND children would contribute to increased transport costs and affect transition services into adult social care. She suggested that there should be an academic inquiry or a commissioned report from scrutiny to better understand why Rotherham had such high prevalence of SEND pupils, as this could lead to further overspend for years to come.

The Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance stated that the area raised by Councillor Yaseen would be more relevant to an independent inquiry from the service. However, she informed Members that it had not been in the scope for this particular review to consider why Rotherham had such high SEND numbers. She apologised for being unable to provide a response to the question at the moment.

Councillor Yasseen was concerned that as this report would go to Cabinet it did not include any in-depth investigation as to why Rotherham was an outlier which should have been considered within the report. She believed to really understand the reasons behind such high figures there should be an academic piece of work undertaken if there was not the right expertise in Children’s Services. Councillor Yasseen stated that as these young people entered into transition services there would be a greater impact on the system, which would result in a greater overspend for the Council. She proposed that an additional recommendation should be submitted to Cabinet, in addition to the report.

The Chair acknowledged Councillor Yasseen’s commentsand assured Members that there were experts in Children's Services who understood SEND and could provide further information on Rotherham’s criteria and threshold. He suggested that the high figures could possibly be due to Rotherham’s thresholds being much lower than Barnsley, Doncaster, or Sheffield.

Councillor Yasseen agreed and emphasised the importance of receiving a response on this matter. She noted this was not a new issue and that the actual figures showed Rotherham had the highest number of cases at 22.1%, compared to Barnsley at 6.9%, Doncaster at 17.9%, Sheffield at 19% and Leeds at 10.2%. She asked whether Rotherham’s threshold was different from that of other councils, if the characteristics varied, and how the assessment of SEND pupils was conducted. Councillor Yasseen acknowledged the report’s value but expressed that the current version did not adequately address these concerns.

The Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance commented that the issues raised by Councillor Yasseen had not been included in the original scope of the review, which had been conducted by ILSC. However, she did state that the Board jointly chaired by the Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance and the Assistant Director for Adult Care and Integration had recently reviewed their plans. These plans fed into the SEND Executive Board as well the SEND Delivery Plan for the whole borough addressing some of the concerns raised at the meeting.

The Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance stated that there were specialists within Children and Young People’s Services who actively worked with schools to ensure they could effectively identify children as SEND. It was noted that Rotherham and its partners had been particularly pro-active in this area, and were engaged in understanding the needs of children, including those related to SEND and safeguarding. She informed Members, that the figures for Rotherham actually showed a higher number of children and young people who had been diagnosed with autism.

The Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance assured Members that the national framework was being used by the Council and regular engagement was maintained with schools to benchmark against the framework. In addition, Rotherham also had a graduated response system that instructed schools to identify children or young people as SEND in accordance with this framework. The Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance concurred with Councillor Yasseen that exploring and analysing the reasons behind such high numbers for Rotherham and its associated needs could possibly exceed the expertise of officers within Children and Young People’s services and may need an external academic review.

Councillor Yasseen confirmed that it was an accurate scrutiny report and appreciated that the issue in relation to SEND was not part of the original scope. However, she felt it was important to understand why Rotherham had such a higher prevalence as it could have significant implications for the service in terms of pressures and costs.

The Chair suggested that as this had not been in the original scope of the report that this issue be referred back to ILSC for them to consider and investigate the reasons why Rotherham has such high SEND figures, particularly when compared to other local authorities and the national average.

The Chair then thanked the Joint Assistant Director for Commissioning & Performance and the Assistant Director for Adult Care for their participation in the meeting.

Resolved: - That Overview and Scrutiny Management Board:

1.    received the report and considered the following recommendations for onward transition to be considered by Cabinet.

1)    School Effectiveness:

a)    That the support available for preparation for adulthood for children and young people with SEND in mainstream education, in both the early years and post sixteen settings, is further enhanced.

b)    That education pathways relating to preparation for adulthood for children with SEND are reviewed, ensuring clear communication of the pathways to parents and carers.

2)    Inclusion and Communities:

a)    That information relating to the support available to parents and carers within communities is developed, enabling a seamless service that supports and empowers parent carers.

b)    That the feedback from the Autism Strategy Consultation is reflected in the support offer available, to ensure children and young people feel safe within their communities, at school and online.

c)    That there is a further focus on enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in relation to this area of activity, with a particular focus on improving engagement levels with children and young people with SEND in marginalised communities.

3)    Communication:

a)    That established networks and partnerships, such as the Rotherham Parent Carers’ Forum, are further embedded, to increase awareness raising and increase the number of SEND families that are engaged and reached in the Borough.

b)    That the process relating to Education, Health and Care Plans is reviewed to ensure the young person’s voice is present throughout the process.

2.    Agreed that the ILSC give consideration to investigating the reasons why Rotherham has such high SEND figures, particularly when compared to other local authorities and the national average.