Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Gavin James, and Councillor Bruce Tennent was in attendance as the substitute member.  Apologies were also received from Kate Watson, the Parent Governor Representative for Special Schools.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

No declarations were made at this point in the meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2020 were agreed by the Committee as a correct record of the meeting.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Committee did not receive any deputations.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman highlighted the recent serious accident in Winchester involving a Stagecoach bus carrying children to Henry Beaufort school.  On behalf of all Members of the Committee, the Chairman extended the Committee’s best wishes to all of the children injured or otherwise affected in the accident and wished them all a speedy and full recovery.

The Chairman also highlighted that at the July Select Committee, Members agreed an additional recommendation in relation to Childcare Sufficiency Assessment and Covid-19 impact and response for the Childcare Sector.  Members will have received by email a copy of the letter sent to Vicky Ford, Parliamentary Secretary of State for Children and Families in relation to this.

For the Select Committee to receive a presentation from the Director of Children’s Services, providing a further update on the impact and response to the Covid-19 pandemic on children and young people. (to follow)

The Committee received a presentation from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on Covid-19 in relation to different Service areas (Item 6 in the Minute Book) following on from the update received by the Committee at their July meeting. 

In relation to Children’s Social Care, the Committee were reminded of the three phased approach which was detailed on page 4 of the presentation slides, and Members heard that the service was now delivering 90-95% face to face visits with children and families, as well as face to face assessments.  It was noted that appropriate Covid safety measures were being implemented when doing so, as well as the use of PPE equipment where necessary.  It was explained that all children within the service would receive a face to face visit by the end of September.  Officers also drew Members attention to the importance of staff being brought together in a Covid secure way to ensure emotional support and wellbeing amongst staff and their peers.

Page 5 of the presentation slides detailed the month on month comparisons for referrals, and the complexity of recent work in relation to neglect and child abuse was explained.  Figures showed an increase in children subject to child protection plans as well as an increase in children in care, and it was explained that these numbers may continue to rise for some months to come.  Close working with partner agencies and schools to ensure vulnerable children attended school during lockdown was also highlighted.  Page 8 of the presentation slides detailed how the service would respond as the Covid situation evolved, which included the establishment of multi-agency hybrid meetings for families, examining ways to enable staff to work at Covid secure offices and enabling staff to have Covid secure face to face contact with peers.

An update on Education and Inclusion was presented to the Committee and Members heard that over the summer holidays, work was undertaken with schools to implement hygiene advice, staggered school start and finish times and the creation of ‘bubbles’ within schools.  Work was also done to ensure that initial classroom-based lessons were at the right level for children, assessing where children were with learning as well as a focus on wellbeing.  It was heard that in relation to attendance, Hampshire was performing well. 

In relation to GCSE and A-levels, it was heard that over the summer, students and parents had had access to careers services which had offered guidance, and colleges and universities had worked hard to ensure most students had a college or university place of their choice.  Members attention was drawn to page 13 of the presentation slides which highlighted positive case management.  It was heard that currently there were 2/3 positive Covid cases a day in Hampshire schools affecting both students and staff and the school improvement team work closely with Headteachers and public health in supporting the school and ensuring affective isolation of the right students, as well as handling media enquiries.  Officers also highlighted the work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 144.

For the Select Committee to receive a presentation from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of Clinical Commissioning Groups on Autism Assessment Services for Children and Young People.

The Committee received a presentation from Matt Powell of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of Clinical Commissioning Groups providing an update on Autism Assessment Services for Children and Young People (Item 7 in the Minute Book).  This followed a previous update to the Committee on 18 September 2019.

The presentation was introduced by highlighting key issues and challenges and the Committee heard that there were significant delays for autism assessments with an average waiting list of around 1,750 assessments with a waiting time of around 3 years.  Members noted that this was significantly outside of the current guidance of 13 weeks for an assessment from referral.  It was highlighted that piecemeal investment over the last two years had also poorly managed this waiting list. 

Members attention was drawn to page 2 of the presentation slides which explained the need for a cultural shift in schools from being diagnostic reliant to a focus on interventions such as sensory support and anxiety management.  It was heard that once interventions have been provided then a diagnosis can then be sought if necessary.  Page 3 of the presentation slides highlighted the other demands and the impact of Covid-19 which had disrupted commissioning plans, and commissioning remained at 2019/20 levels.  It was explained that there was a need to look at longer term procurement to future proof the Service.  It was also highlighted that there had been significant changes to senior leadership during November and December 2019 and the effect of this on procurement planning was explained.  Members heard that short term commissioning arrangements needed to be extended, and Covid lockdown had also affected the delivery of face to face autism assessments, and it was heard that the decision was taken to award the delivery of this to two providers who would be able to provide non face to face assessments for an initial 12 months.  Page 4 of the presentation slides also highlighted the progress that had been made by the Service in recent months which included a rapid deep dive and diagnostic to assess waiting lists, the agreement of additional funding in July 2020 for completion of 250 assessments in 2 months and the completion of an options paper on commissioning and budgets.

Page 5 of the presentation slides highlighted that ‘wicked’ refers to the situation in hand and how best to solve the crisis, and this was explained to the Committee in term of a multi-faceted phased approach.  It was heard that on the Isle of Wight, an 80% reduction was seen after these interventions had been put in place, and Members heard that there was confidence that this could work in Hampshire but would need to agree a funding regime for this.

Members heard that appropriate intervention as early as possible was the best solution and continuing to invest in assessment only service will promote families seeking diagnosis rather than support, with a risk of misdiagnosis for some children.  In concluding, Members attention was drawn to the services that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 145.

For the Select Committee to receive a report and presentation from the Director of Children’s Services providing a further update on progress following the implementation of the SEND reforms.

The Committee received a presentation and report from the Director of Children’s Services on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) 0-25 Reforms Update Report – SEN Performance and Joint Working (Item 8 in the Minute Book).

Members of the Committee were led through the presentation slides and the context to the SEND reforms which were launched in 2014 was explained.  The Committee heard of the strengthened focus on SEN support, joint planning and commissioning of services and a strengthened focus on parents and carers as well as children and young people.  It was explained that a new Ofsted/CQC framework had also been introduced which measured how local authorities responded to SEND reforms.   It was heard that the inspection which took place in Hampshire in March 2020 was a positive inspection and, unlike over 50% of areas, Ofsted/CQC felt they did not need to re-visit to check progress against the Council’s development plan.  Members attention was drawn to some of the outcomes of the inspection which were detailed on page 5 of the presentation slides. 

Officers highlighted that since the reforms were introduced, there had been a significant rise of 95% in the number of EHCP’s in Hampshire and currently the service is maintaining 10,000 EHCP’s.  Page 7 of the presentation slides detailed to the Committee the growth in EHCP’s since 2014 and the breakdown by age group was also highlighted.  The impact of SENSA removal was also explained and Members noted that as a result of the cessation of the scheme, a short term bulge was seen which resulted in an additional 435 EHCP requests which in turn affected the timeliness of assessment completion.  Officers highlighted that priority was given to work through this backlog and outstanding EHCP’s were due completion by the end of the week.

Members noted the SEN performance through phased transfer work and the investment in staffing also helped to ensure a high percentage of these were being completed on time with 98% of year 2 phase transfers meeting this deadline.  It was explained that Covid has had an effect on some year 11 phase transfers as these children may need further time to decide future plans.  Attention was also drawn to the work of the digital EHCC hub and the work of the Hampshire Parent Carer Network.  In relation to outcomes for children and young people with SEN, it was heard that at early years stage, children were performing well at school and above the national figure.  Members noted that whilst SEN support had increased from 17% to 21% at key stage 2, this was below national figures of 25% and work was focussing to improve this figure, and at key stage 4.

It relation to SEN out of county placements, it was heard that there were 482 children and young people with special educational needs accessing support in non-county placements, but this should only be the case if was in the best interest of the child.  Attention was drawn to place planning strategy to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 146.

To consider and approve the Children and Young People Select Committee Work Programme.

The Director of Transformation and Governance presented the Committee’s work programme (see Item 9 in the Minute Book).

A Member question was raised about the timing for the written updates on Autism Assessments in relation to the additional recommendation agreed at Item 7, and the Chairman confirmed that this would be received at the next scheduled meetings in November and January.

A question was also raised about the scheduling of the Fostering update, and the Chairman highlighted the full agendas of the next two meetings, but Officers would explore the scheduling of this update. 

RESOLVED:

That the work programme, subject to any amendments made during the meeting, was agreed.