Issue - meetings

The review of the Mainstream SEND Bandings and Descriptors is part of the SEND transformation work that is underway.

The main purpose of the review is to work in partnership to support BCP in delivering its commitment and aspiration of BCP being an inclusive place for SEND children and young people to thrive and be educated within; resulting in the long-term reduction of the overall overspend in the High Needs Block Budget. 

The Early Help Performance Manager gave a brief powerpoint presentation to accompany the published report, copies of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Early Help Performance Manager detailed the concerns that led to the SEN Banding Review and set out its purpose, its objectives and where the established working group and its sub-groups sat within the Schools’ Forum hierarchy. It was also pointed out that the review fell within the SEND Transformation Programme and therefore linked in with the following areas:

• High Needs Block deficit
• Education Transformation Programme
• The Written Statement of Action
• Appreciative Inquiry
• Inclusion Strategy

She highlighted the average cost of high needs placements by provision type, which demonstrated the significant variance in cost between different provisions. Prevalent need types were also highlighted and a breakdown by percentages was also provided. Four need types had been highlighted because they were areas in which there was the highest proportion of need, three of these areas had been marked in red because there had been an increase in these figures since 2019.

An update was also provided which set out the progress to date made by the main working group and indeed its three sub-working groups, which were looking at:

• Descriptors – revising the current band descriptors
• Finance and Data – Financial modelling, SEND data and cost analysis
• Processes – review and revision of current processes followed by the BCP SEND Teams, Schools and Parents/Carers

A proposed timeline was introduced to the forum, which gave a clear indication as to how the working groups would be dealing with this area of work.

Officers responded to Forum Members’ comments and requests for clarification, details included:

• Raw data would be provided to Forum Members to accompany the percentages already provided.
• Work on baseline figures was being undertaken to address the barriers in the form of pulling together a series of consultation groups to better understand why parents/carers weren’t necessarily applying for their children with additional needs to be educated within mainstream education. Email requests were due to be sent out to both Forum Members and other colleagues to invite them to join these consultation groups to explore any barriers and/or restrictions.
• The SEND Banding review would take approximately a year to implement from start to finish following the annual reviews and new EHCP’s being issued. This would reduce the impact on schools’ budget processes and the actual implementation date was likely to be during the summer term or ready for the following term in September.