Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director Children and Young People’s Services which provided an update on the development of the new County Durham Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy and invited Members to comment and provide a contribution to the new County Durham SEND Strategy Vision and Aims (for copy see file of minutes).

The development of the new strategy’s vision and aims were based around six questions that were put to service users and stakeholders across County Durham.  Members were advised of a summary of response that were received so far and of the emerging headlines from specific groups.

Councillor Townsend was grateful to see the positive value of neurodiversity being mentioned - as a mother of three children, two of who were Autistic, she dreamed that they would be valued for what they brought to the world rather than as a drain on resources, which it sometimes felt like.  She praised Timothy Hackworth School in Shildon for their rights respecting agenda which fostered a great nurturing environment for children with or without SEN. 

Councillor Townsend advised that people should not just value neurodiverse people who learned to mask and behave in a way that was acceptable to the neurotypical status quo and to put support in where it was needed and allow people to comfortably be themselves.  This required a huge culture shift and to move away from telling children to have quiet hands or requiring  eye contact and the stigma surrounding fiddling which were prevalent in all areas of society, yet none of those things meant that people were not listening or interested in what was being said.

Training was needed for teachers, governing bodies and teaching assistants.  Councillor Townsend acknowledged that the strategy sounded brilliant like the world she wanted to live in, but did not live in at the moment and she was concerned that the Council did not have the facilities to put it in place.  There were so many other issues such as the NHS, CAMHS funding and the legal framework that underpinned how children got SEND plans and EHCP’s, which was a huge obstacle.  There were also families excluded from help through not having a diagnosis and many of the plans including SENDIASS, which was a specialist help service for parents with children who had SEN, could not be accessed without a diagnosis.

In addition, Councillor Townsend believed there was an additional problem of off-rolling, where children were forced out of schools.  She had been told her child did not have autism and that she was neglecting him, which was why he was unable to communicate with his peers.  This was happening in County Durham and sadly the reasons were based on fear of funding and how Ofsted ratings were affected by having children with SEND.  She was happy to discuss her personal situation further, after five years of trying, he had finally been given an EHCP just as he was about to leave primary school, but she could not help but wonder what situation he would have been in if he got the support that he needed five years before.

The Strategic Manager, SEND Strategy and Assessment, advised that the SEN Strategy was deliberately ambitious and there were variations in provision, but the service wanted to ensure that it was right and stable.  There were 11500 young people in County Durham with a SEN support plan and generally all of the  services were able to be accessed through the support plan.  For those with more complex needs, there was EHCP, 3600 and rising, the rate of plans going out of the system is higher than ever, the service were committed to increase casework capacity within SEN and had recently appointed 12 new support staff.

With regards to neuro-diversity, the Strategic Manager, SEND Strategy and Assessment, advised that this was an overarching strategy and there was already an established Autism Strategy which had been running for a number of years.  He advised that Council services were not based on diagnosis, but rather the presenting needs of a child.  He was aware that there were some services that required a diagnosis however that was not within schools and support services, or resources provided as a Council.  Councillor Townsend offered to speak to the Strategic Manager, SEND Strategy and Assessment, with regards to the experience, following the meeting.

Councillor Coult was familiar with SEND as her son was in receipt of an EHCP and she welcomed the SEND Strategy as it was well overdue.  It was extremely ambitious but SEN covered such a wide range of needs and it was crucial that these children were able to have a normal life, not labelled or stigmatised.  It was important that these children went to local schools with friends where they lived and she alluded to the  importance of having plans in a timely manner as the longer it took, the harder it was for families.  She welcomed this and was more than willilng to speak to the Strategic Manager, SEND Strategy and Assessment, to give more information from her perspective.

Councillor Walton advised that with regards to the aims of the strategy, there had been feedback indicating that families wanted improved communication and she suggested that this should be included in the aims.

The Strategic Manager, SEND Strategy and Assessment, advised that there had been a slight adjustment to the vision statement, however it could be made clearer as it was good practice and to be expected across all services.

The Chair commented on the statistics for EHCP’s and acknowledged the difficulty for all local authorities sine the Children and Families Bill had been introduced.  Not all SEND children needed an EHCP, however he was interested to know what are response rates were like for social care and health advice.

The Strategic Manager, SEND Strategy and Assessment, confirmed that not every young person would need the health and the care part of the plan, the systems in place for health care were picked up in Ofsted and Quality Care Council visits and found to be very strong in County Durham.  Any health and care needs that were identified would then be considered with regards to their impact on learning and development.  This was an area that the service wanted to continue to improve and there had been good quality assurance.  A self-evaluation of all services in the County was being undertaken and the Strategic Manager, SEND and Assessment offered to return and confirm outcome and any plans for improvement.

In response to a question from the Chair with regards to children who were waiting for special school provision, the Strategic Manager, SEND and Assessment, advised that there was not a waiting list for provision but that did not mean there were not children who would benefit from a specialist place.  In those instances the Council supported their provision, through funding through the High Needs Block, which ensured schools could make adaptations in order to create the correct environment in a mainstream offer.  That did not mean there was not a pressure for special provision but he would return with more detail if required.

Councillor Varty advised that having ran a hub in a secondary school, it was nice to see friends supporting young people with SEN and although she agreed it was better if they were in mainstream schools, there was also a case for some to be in a special school.

Councillor Varty had been assisting a number of parents to fill in Disability Living Allowance forms, who were confused at having to deal with a diagnosis and then having to deal with filling in forms whilst trying to communicate with school.  There were a few where communication had broken down with the school and she suggested that improved communication between parents and schools should be a priority.

The Strategic Manager, SEND and Assessment, acknowledged the challenges when it came to being diagnosed but highlighted that in school there was no need for a clinical diagnosis to access services.  When considering young people with SEN, this tended to focus on social communication and interaction or neuro-diversity.  There may be a clinical diagnosis at some stage and with regards to DLA that did carry some weight and similarly CAMHS could only be accessed with such.

Resolved

That the report and presentation be noted.