Agenda item

This report provides further information relating to the proposals for the use of the £2.8 million Innovation Fund.

The Fund was previously proposed as a way to provide support to mainstream schools to enable them to successfully maintain more placements for pupils with SEND in their mainstream settings to reduce the number of new ECHNAs and use of Alternative Provision where possible. This report includes the content of those proposals, the breakdown of the financial costs, and potential consequences from the decision made by Schools Forum.

The Interim Head of Schools Inclusion presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

This report provided further information relating to the proposals for the use of the £2.8 million Innovation Fund.

The Fund was proposed as a way to provide support to mainstream schools to enable them to successfully maintain more placements for pupils with SEND in their mainstream settings to reduce the number of new ECHNAs and use of Alternative Provision where possible. This report includes the content of those proposals, the breakdown of the financial costs, and potential consequences from the decision made by Schools Forum.

The forum raised questions about whether the £500,000 allocated for outreach would be distributed over a period of time. It was confirmed that this amount would serve as the annual allocation for the financial year, in addition to the existing funding for outreach. The forum was assured that the application process for this funding would be transparent, with clear criteria established. The SEND Sufficiency Progress Board would review the applications, and officers informed the forum that they could share relevant information about this process.

Additionally, the forum was informed that KPIs and service level agreements would be established to measure the effectiveness of the funding. These would outline key deliverables and emphasise the importance of early intervention. The forum agreed that safeguards were necessary for smaller schools, ensuring that funding bids would be accessible to all institutions.

RESOLVED that Schools Forum:

-       Note the information in the report,

-       Recommend agreement for provision of the £2.8 million funding for BCP Council to proceed with the proposed actions including a preference for it to be allocated to the most useful area of training based on the available information,

-       consider the benefits of agreeing ongoing funding for the Inclusion Consultant roles as opposed to restricting the funding to one year and repeated approvals where posts would have to remain fixed term for short periods, reducing the potential pool of candidates who would apply, and

-       consider the context of the current landscape when making its recommendation in relation to the Innovation Fund. If it considers recommending against the Innovation Fund, this report recommends that Schools Forum will need to consider what it sees as the alternative solution to the Innovation Fund to support the work with mainstream inclusion moving forwards

-       once the decision has been finalised, at least two members of the Schools Forum will participate in the discussion to ensure that the Forum has oversight and can contribute to the final decision regarding funding allocation.

Voting: Unanimous

The Forum recognised that progress had been needed on this item but was mindful that the Schools Forum had to monitor it and might need to consider future funding allocations.

The Chair advised he would reach out to Schools Forum members to confirm who would participate in the final discussion. ACTION