Agenda

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of public questions is 3 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

A Written Statement of Action is in place to respond to the Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Inspection that took place in June 2021. An improvement programme to deliver this is in train and reports to the SEND Improvement Board. The SEND Inspection identified eight areas of significant weakness which need to be addressed. This resulted in a set of actions being put into the Written State of Action to address the weaknesses. 

The national picture since 2014 is one of a system that is overwhelmed. Nationally, applications for EHCPs have increased by 215% from 2015 to 2022 and SEND tribunals have tripled.

A huge financial strain has been put on local authorities. The total high needs deficits were estimated to be £1.9bn in March 2022, projected to rise to £3.6bn by 2025. The risk of the statutory override ending after 2026, will potentially force local authorities to issue section 114 notices.

For BCP Council by the 31 March 2024 Forecast Deficit will be £62.9m which makes the Council technically insolvent.

To assist in the management of this the DfE have invited BCP Council to be part of the Safety Valve programme.