Summary of the December 2024 Board Meeting

This is the ninth meeting of the Local Area SEND Partnership Board

1. Review of Action Log (tasks to be completed by subgroups and members of the Board)

Since the last meeting of the Board, five actions have been completed and closed.

There are 11 tasks still open and three of those tasks were due for the December Board meeting.

2. Discussion of a report on the EHCP Recovery Plan

This meeting of the Board was a little bit different. Usually, the four subgroups report to the Board on what has been achieved the previous month and what they are working on for next month.

This time, the Board discussed a report from the Assistant Director for SEND and Inclusion at Wirral Council, Adrian Leach. The report was about the work that is currently being done to improve the timeliness of EHCP reviews and EHC assessments. The report also set out eight potential options for the Board to consider that would help increase the pace of making the EHCP process better for families. Some of these options would be short term until the new SENDSTART team is up and running but they would mean that families would start to see a difference in the EHCP service sooner.

There was a very open and honest discussion about each option, with input from headteachers, health colleagues and the parent carer forum. The following four options were then approved by the Board to go ahead:

·         Recruiting agency staff – this option involves recruiting more agency staff to fill any current vacancies. Wirral Council has recently hired 39 new members of staff for the team that deal with EHC assessments and EHCP reviews (this team is now called SENDSTART). These new members of staff should all be in place by the end of January. For this option, the agency staff could stay assist the new case workers as they settle into their new roles.

·         Increasing the amount of Educational Psychology assessments – this option looks at improving the time it takes to carry out educational psychology (EP) assessments as this is often the first point of delay in the EHCP process. The council will look at finding more companies and agencies that can provide this service.

·         Use staff from other departments in Education and Inclusion – this option means that staff working in other teams in Education and Inclusion at the council will spend some or all of their time at work carrying out EHCP reviews. This means that the SENDSTART team will be able to concentrate on finishing EHCPs. The Board discussed that all partners in health, education and the parent carer forum will receive an update on who will be helping the SENDSTART team and for how long.

·         Increased reporting – this option will see increased data collection and reporting for EHC cases that are still open. This will help managers and the Local Area SEND Partnership Board spot where things are being help up and intervene earlier

3. The Board also discussed the Self Evaluation work that is taking place

This work will give a clear overview of where all of the SEND services on Wiral are at the moment, and it will also show what is still to be done to improve services for families.

Parent Carer Participation Wirral (PCPW) have been working with colleagues on the Board to create a version of the Self Evaluation document for parents and carers of SEND children and young people. The Board proposed that the Self Evaluation document for professionals is finalised and that PCPW will meet with Board colleagues after Christmas to finalise the version for parents and carers.

A paper will come to the Board meeting in January to agree the document for parents and carers.

4. Home to school transport update

James Backhouse is the chair of the Delivering Better Value in SEND subgroup. James brought an update to the Board on Home to School Transport. A report was submitted to the Board to review the current transport options.

A review of the current Home to School Transport policy was approved at a recent Children’s Committee meeting. The review will take place over the next six to seven months and view will be captured parents and carers who use the service.