Agenda item

Report ED13069

The Committee considered a report outlining progress being made through the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Pathfinder Programme on testing and implementing the requirements set out in the proposed Children and Families Bill and indicative Code of Practice.  The report also requested that the Portfolio Holder for Education recommend that the Council’s Executive release funds totalling £194,600 held in the 2013/14 central contingency to continue to support work related to the SEND Pathfinder.  This comprised £150K relating to Year 3 funding to support the Bromley and Bexley Pathfinder and £44,600 to support Bromley and Bexley Pathfinder Champion work.

The SEND Pathfinder had been developed in partnership with London Borough of Bexley to test areas within the Children and Families Bill, published on 5^th February 2013, which aimed to take a more holistic approach to special educational needs and disability for children and young people in England.  The Bromley and Bexley Pathfinder had been asked to test the development and application of Education, Health and Care Plans for children and young people with complex needs from birth to 25 years, as well as areas including development of personal budgets, banded funding and preparing for adulthood (transition).  Work had been undertaken with parents through Pathfinder work stream activity, and a series of parent and professional workshops had been held to develop new Plan templates and processes that would support a single multi-age assessment process for children and young people as they moved from pre-school to school and then towards transition.

In December 2012, the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley were notified that further funding of £150K had been granted to take the SEND Pathfinder work forward until September 2014, in line with the timescales for the implementation of the new special educational needs reforms.  During this additional phase of the SEND Pathfinder programme, Education, Health and Care Plans would be scaled up for proposed full implementation for all new children and young people meeting the complex needs threshold in Pathfinder local authorities from September 2013. Work would align with the current statutory SEN legislative processes around statements which would remain in place until September 2014. 

The Government had also announced that £900k was to be made available to a small number of Pathfinder areas to become National Pathfinder Champions.  These National Pathfinder Champions would share learning and make a contribution to disseminating Pathfinder activity on a regional or national basis whilst also informing the local agenda.  Selection for Champion status was based on a mix of skills, experience and regional factors, and following submission of a joint bid, the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley had been selected as one of only 9 National Pathfinder Champions that would work to support non-Pathfinder local authorities. Bromley and Bexley Pathfinder had been granted additional funding of £44K to lead the Champion work across London. Work would include offering support to the 29 non-Pathfinder London region Local Authorities.  As London was a large region, two other Pathfinder Champions, Hertfordshire and SE7, would offer Bromley and Bexley some support. Champion work would also include the delivery of a London regional conference and 24 seminars across key areas of the Pathfinder reform agenda by the end of March 2014.

The Head of SEN and Disability advised Members that the SEN Pathfinder funding was utilised to support the development of robust processes that were beneficial for children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families and that could be sustained within existing budgets.  Education, Health and Care Plans would be used for those children and young people with the most complex needs.  For children and young people with lower level needs, it was proposed to increase the use of Pupil Resource Agreements, which were developed in partnership between the Local Authority, the school and a child’s family to meet a child’s individual needs.  Pupil Resource Agreements were a cost effective alternative to Education, Health and Care Plans and supported schools and other agencies to meet a child’s needs in a more flexible and responsive manner. 

In response to a question from a Member, the Head of SEN and Disability confirmed that there was a new duty on Health Commissioners to deliver the health element of Education, Health and Care Plans and noted that the Clinical Commissioning Group had engaged fully with the SEND Pathfinder to support the delivery of a comprehensive local offer.  There had been no confirmation from the Department for Education whether transport support needs would be included in Education, Health and Care Plans, but Members were advised that the Local Authority did offer a mileage allowance to parents where appropriate

In considering those children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities who were placed out of Borough, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that placements were regularly reviewed, and that the Head Teachers of Special Schools across the Borough had recently visited a number of high cost out of Borough placements to identify if it was possible to build a package of care for these young people in their own communities.

RESOLVED that the Education Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

1)  Note the update on the Special Educational Needs and Disability Pathfinder; and,

2)  Request the Council’s Executive to approve the release of funds totalling £194,600 from the central contingency into the Pathfinder Budget, comprising £150K relating to Year 3 funding to support the Bromley and Bexley Pathfinder and £44,600 to support Bromley and Bexley Pathfinder Champion work.