Agenda item

Report CEF23046

The Committee welcomed Jared Nehra, Director of Education, Fiona Nnanyere, Education Transformation Lead, Amanda Quincey, Group Manager: SEN Statutory Assessment Team and Victoria Soper, Director of Children and Young People Services at Bromley Healthcare who shared their expertise on education, health and care (EHC).

A Member was concerned to note the number of EHC Plans that were completed outside of statutory timescales.  The Director of Education explained this was primarily caused by delays in receipt of professional advice which had been exacerbated by ongoing recruitment and retention issues across a number of specialist areas.  There had been a marked improved in turnaround times for assessment in the short-term, and going forward it was anticipated that an increasing proportion of EHC Plans would be completed within statutory timescales as the backlog was cleared, particularly as more children and young people accessed services via the graduated offer.  The Group Manager: SEN Statutory Assessment Team outlined the Local Authority’s robust process for securing professional advice and advised how timescales were further improved through the inclusion of health partners on decision-making panels.  The Director of Children and Young People Services at Bromley Healthcare advised Members of work being undertaken by health partners to improve timeliness of professional advice.  This included building specialist resources in areas of shortage as well as transforming the way that Speech and Language Therapy was delivered in Bromley schools.

A Member underlined the importance of quality and asked whether the advice of health professionals was recorded in full on EHC Plans.  The Group Manager: SEN Statutory Assessment Term confirmed that professional advice was recorded as given except where there was conflicting advice in which case clarification was sought before the Plan could be agreed.  Additionally, it was a statutory requirement to share the draft plan with parents or carers and this helped ensure that EHC Plans did not deviate from professional advice without the agreement of the child’s parents or carers.  The Director of Education further outlined how quality assurance underpinned the EHC Plan process including the robust monitoring processes in place for external plan writing and professional advice commissioned from external providers. 

A Member observed that the five main priority areas under the SEND Strategic Vision and Priorities for 2022-23 did not include a reference to quality and the Director of Education agreed to feed this back to the SEND Governance Board which set the priorities.  Another Member was interested in the proportion of children with EHC Plans attending Local Authority Maintained, Academy and Independent Schools.  The Director of Education emphasised that whilst there was variability between individual schools, the type of setting was not a factor as EHC Plans specified the support to be provided.  In response to a question from a Member regarding a specific case in which the parents were unhappy with the way the School was meeting their child’s needs, the Group Manager: SEN Statutory Assessment Team explained that the Local Authority adhered to the national funding formula to meet needs specified in EHC Plans and that schools had the right to seek a review if there were any concerns around funding for a specific child.

The Committee was advised that a Celebrating Bromley SEND Stars event would be held on 1 November 2023 to celebrate Bromley families and the professionals who supported them, and all Members were invited to attend. 

The Chairman led the Committee in thanking Jared Nehra, Fiona Nnanyere, Amanda Quincey and Victoria Soper for sharing their expertise.

RESOLVED: That the thematic session be noted.