Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director for Children and Young People’s Services which presented an update following the special meeting of Children and Young People’s Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee held in January 2024. In addition to the update this report summarises the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) local area inspection of Durham which took place in June 2024 and the response to the inspection (for copy see file of minutes).

The Committee received a presentation of The Strategic Manager (SEND Strategy) which focused on an Ofsted and CQC partners inspection which aimed to provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with SEND. The inspection highlighted many areas of good practice and identified 4 main areas for improvement. The Strategic manager went on to outline the next steps following the inspection report which will focus on producing a draft of a multi-agency partnership action plan that will be submitted to Ofsted for review in October 2024. Inspectors are expected to return in 3 years for a repeat of the inspection.

Peter Mulholland, Strategic Manager (Specialist Inclusion) shared an update on Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) - Demand and Timeliness. He stated that there had been a 144% Increase in demand for EHCP requests for the current quarter standing at 668 requests compared with 645 for the same period in 2023 and 395 in 2019. A steady improvement in timeliness could be seen with almost double the number of EHC needs assessments being completed when compared with the latter of 2023 during 2024 18% of plans were issued within 20 weeks.

The Committee heard a practice spotlight for Early Years Speech and Language Strategy 0-4 years which focused on expected levels of language development in children at school starting age. Research has indicated that language development delays could be linked to areas of deprivation and often in cases where pupils are facing expulsion from school a significant delay in development order was evident that had not been fully addresses in early key stages.

The Strategic Manager shared an outline of a Local Government Association Peer Challenge (LGA) undertaken for Speech and Language Service on 17-20 September 2024. The peer challenge was not an inspection that produces a critical judgement but focuses on an outcome that informs integrated strategy development and self-evaluation.

The Chair thanked the officers for the report and questions and comments were invited.

Councillor R Crute acknowledged the need for de-escalation of the increasing demand and high complexity of EHCPs cases received. A dialogue with the new government in required outlining how we combat these demands and what we plan to do to support the needs of our children and young people.

In response to a question from Councillor D Mulholland, The Strategic Manager responded that we were in line with national trends in most areas and more complex profiling of need would be required in the next 12-18 months such as hearing screening tests for two to two and a half year olds.

Councillor C Varty noted work being undertaken to support children and young people that had missed early years assessment and intervention and recognised this as a challenge. The Strategic Manager agreed that the team were facing an anecdotal challenge, but through great partnerships and examples of good practice we are assured by self-evaluation and inspection we are on the right track.

Expressing her support Councillor S Deinali commented it was a positive step to hear there was ongoing support work with older children that were experiencing behavioural needs, and it would be useful to see further information on the focus and outcomes of these interventions.

The Strategy Manager shared that in 7 out of 10 cases when a language development delay is not identified in early years it would manifest into secondary needs at a later stage for a young person therefore early intervention is key.

Responding to a question from Councillor L Mavin regarding the increased demand for EHCPs and the process by which assessments are progressed or rejected, The Strategic Manager (Send Strategy) stated that assessments are a statutory duty that must be completed once a request is submitted. He added we are looking at other swift methods that we can offer through SEND planning work, confidence building and access to services at local level as assessments take up to 20 weeks to complete and it results in a delay for the young people.

The Strategic Manager (SEND Strategy) responded to a concern raised by Councillor R Crute in relation to the increasing demand and timeliness completing EHCPs. He stated that we are caught in a loop of increasing demand and have made a good case but currently we are doing what we can with what we are given.

Councillor R Crute added that we needed to use this opportunity to open an early dialogue with the incoming government as there had been movement in filling some Educational Psychologist’s posts as early intervention was important. However, a position statement was needed from senior leaders with the support of scrutiny on where we are going.

The Chair added that she will ensure the question goes to cabinet.

Resolved: The Children and Young People's Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the contents of the report.