Issue - meetings

Councillor Temperton to Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning

The Ofsted/CQC report on our SEND provision was damning and shameful. Despite the claim ‘children are at the heart of all we do’, we have clearly failed many of our most vulnerable children. Will the portfolio holder for Children, Young People & Learning explain how this happened on his watch and what could have been done to prevent it?

Councillor Temperton to Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning

 Which Bracknell Forest Schools have accepted students from other schools as a ‘Managed Move’ since September?

Councillor Bidwell to Councillor Heydon, Executive Member for Transformation and Finance?

This month Bracknell Forest residents will face increases to NI, doubling of the cost of energy bills and an increase in council tax, the maximum permitted. Although there has been social media advice on how to receive the £150 council tax grant can the responsible councillor advise:

·       How much money was in the hardship fund?

·       What has been the take up e.g. number of residents and amount of money given?

·       How many residents who applied via the BFC website have been denied and why?

·       What is the council’s strategy for broadcasting the availability of the hardship fund other than the BFC website?

Councillor Temperton asked Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning the following published question:

The Ofsted/CQC report on our SEND provision was damning and shameful. Despite the claim ‘children are at the heart of all we do’, we have clearly failed many of our most vulnerable children. Will the portfolio holder for Children, Young People & Learning explain how this happened on his watch and what could have been done to prevent it?

In response Councillor Dr Barnard apologised to those parents, carers and children who had been let down in terms of the service provided for SEND provision in recent years and commended those who contributed to the Ofsted inspection. He requested additional time to provide context to his response. The changes to the service began in 2014 when the service moved from a system of providing a Statement of Special Education Need to developing Education, Health and Care Plans. He explained that he was initially shown data that demonstrated that plans had been moved forward in a timely manner and that, as found in the Ofsted inspection, outcomes for Early Years and overall outcomes were good. He advised the meeting that he initially became concerned in 2019 due to an increase in complaints being received. He reminded colleagues that a complaints dedicated email account was created last autumn to manage this. He advised that another reason was that when looking at inspection reports from neighbouring authorities to SEND they shared partners delivering specialist assessments.

During late 2019 and early 2020 the council put in place a self-evaluation and SEND framework to monitor outcomes and track progress of plan development. He reflected that although the council consulted with partners it had become evident that they did not undertake enough engagement with parents and carers at that time. He added that work with the Schools Forum also highlighted issues. The self-assessment framework was implemented. He asked colleagues to note that when Ofsted began their inspection it was identified that the council knew what was required to improve the service. He commented that it was impossible to know whether faster progress would have been made without the pandemic but, although not an excuse, it impacted on the ability to move plans forward as the council worked with schools in a different way during that period. He advised that operationally additional resources and capacity were introduced and the quality and timescales towards the 20-week schedule was known to be improving. He stated that the relevant data was reported annually in January so the impact would not been seen for another year. He reflected that 5 of the 6 Berkshire unitary authorities had also received challenging outcomes from their SEND Ofsted inspections. He believed that better performance data could have been shared and two new forums had been established in order to address this: SEND Partnership Board which would be co-chaired by a senior officer and a parent and also the People’s directorate Performance Board where data would be analysed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69