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:-
BCP Council Constitution - Part 4 - Procedure Rules
The deadline for the submission of public questions is midday on 13 March 2024 (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.
Minutes:
The following questions were heard at Committee with responses provided at the meeting by the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People:
The following questions have been received from Mr Sofianos:
Agenda item 8 - SEND Statutory Direction
Question 1
Last month, the Council was issued with a Statutory Direction regarding its SEND services.
In its letter, the Department for Education stated that “we expect all partners, including… schools and colleges … and parent and carer groups to work together at pace to bring about the necessary improvements”.
Of course, this comes at a time when the Council is considering participation in Safety Valve – a scheme whose risks were first identified here, and brought to public attention, by parents.
Families understand these issues better than anyone. They are the victims of every lost form, every missed deadline, every budget constraint, every service cut.
Will the Council commit to fully briefing and involving parent-carers in its ongoing improvement plans?
And, will the Council coordinate a joint discussion between officers, councillors, schools, and parent-carer groups & campaigners, to ensure all voices are heard by all parties?
Answer from the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People:
There is an established SEND Improvement Board which has representation from across the partnership, including Parent and Carer representatives and Schools.
In BCP we have two Parent Carer groups; Parent Carers together, the official BCP supported group, and Parent Carer Foundation, formally Bournemouth Parent Carer Forum.
Both these parent groups attend the meetings and play a full and active part. (In the written answer I have included links to these two parent groups and would encourage interested parents to contact them and become a member)
The Board meets every 6 weeks and reviews progress against the SEND improvement plan and is chaired by an external, DfE appointed, SEND Commissioner. The plan was co-produced with our Parent Carer organisations and schools and continues to be adapted and changed to further improve our SEND service.
The SEND Improvement plan is separate from the SEND Safety Valve application.
Parent Carer Foundation (parentcarefoundationorg.co.uk)
Question 2
The main report for agenda item 8 sets out some updated statistics on EHCP performance.
This data is very useful, although the dataset differs from previous reports, such as the Accelerated Timeliness report published in September 2023.
As the Council moves through this critical period in its improvement journey, it’s essential for other stakeholders to have an up-to-date picture on how this is affecting SEND services.
Could the Council therefore agree to publish a monthly data dashboard, to provide a full, consistent overview of service performance statistics?
And would the Council consider applying this across other areas of Children’s Services?
Answer from the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People:
Yes, there is an established SEND Scorecard which has been agreed by the DfE and SEND Improvement Board. This can be shared.
The following question was received from Ms Pearson:
Agenda item 6 – Early Help System
Question 1
As a single parent with two children with extra needs we find ourselves trapped between being too complex for early help and not eligible for CIN. It is isolating and we are left with no support. What is being done under this new plan to ensure families, such as mine, are not stuck between tiers of support and therefore left with nothing?
Answer from the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People:
The new Early Help Strategy and service redesign is aimed at providing greater accessibility to services.
The past 18 months has been spent working with partners to ensure that services within the community are known, and children and families are able to access the services they need at the time that they are needed.
Enhanced provision for children with SEND will be available through the Family Hub Transformation Programme. In addition, partners will be required to improve the coordination of care planning for children with multiple and/or complex needs through the development of Family Network Meetings.
These will be multi-agency care planning meetings with families to develop the most appropriate care package available to best support a child and family’s needs.