To note the Membership of the Committee including the appointment of Chair and Vice Chair for the 2023/24 Municipal Year.  

RESOLVED: That the Membership of the Committee be noted.

To note the TermS of Reference of the Committee for the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED: That the Committee’s Terms of Reference be noted.

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

No declarations were made.

To receive and, if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2023.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held 7^th March 2023 be approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

Questions from Elizabeth Stanley

1.    How many tribunals appeals were there in 2022, including numbers that went to a hearing and cost to the council including staff time in defending those tribunals?

11 appeals were lodged, with Council’s position being upheld at 0.

Written response sent by the Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance

We pay legal £15,000 a year for advice on all cases which would include Tribunals.  Staff time would need to be calculated on a case-by-case basis.

2.    How of those tribunals in 2022 was the outcome that the tribunal agreed with the Local Authority?

Verbal response from the Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance

0

3.    How many tribunal appeals have been submitted in 2023 so far?

Verbal response from the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance

Five from January

4.    Number of complaints about the EHCP Team and process to date in 2023?

Written Response from the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance

There have been 12 complaints.

5.    Number of EHCP case managers and their current case load?

Verbal Response from the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance

One Service Manager, One Senior EHC coordinator, and 11.49 coordinators, with their case loads are roughly between 220 to 280 EHC Plans.

6.    Number of vacancies in the team?

Verbal Response from the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance.

None at this time, with temporary additionality in place at this time and looking to continue.

7.    How many EHCP needs assessment requests are there per month, (average)?

Verbal Response from the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance.

Data taken from 2022 as this was a complete year. The lowest number was 28 during the summer holidays. 62 was the highest in June and July, with the average being around 40.

8.    Number of children and young people with EHCP’ s without a school place for September?

Written Response provided by the Director of Education Standards, Quality, and Performance.

For Year 6 transition placements, we named 94% prior to the February statutory deadline and all of the remaining 6% had placements named for September 23. Year 11 placements are currently going through the enrolment process and as such, the team are working through these to establish confirmed placements and any that will be deemed as NEET.

9.    Number of children and young people who do not have an EHCP naming their new school/college placement for September?

Written Response provided by the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance.

All C/YP have either a named provision or establishment type.

10.How long are the wait times for health assessments, occupational therapy, autism assessments, mental health assessments, Physiotherapy assessments, are they completed in time for draft EHCP’s to be sent to families?

Written Response provided by the Director of Education Standard, Quality, and Performance.

May 2023 data, wait to first contact:

·       Autism assessment – 55 weeks

·       Occupational Therapy – 27 weeks

·       Physiotherapy – 21 weeks

To consider a report from the Children and Young People's Access To Mental Health Services Task and Finish Group.

The Chair provided some context on the Task and Finish Group. The Task and Finish Group had been a joint piece of work conducted with the Health Scrutiny Committee and the topic of mental health services for young people was something the Chair had wanted to do for a long time. The Chair highlighted her concerns with young people’s mental health and the increase in the number of referrals, during and post-Covid.

The Chair presented the report to the Committee and asked the Committee to agree the recommendations within the report for submission to the Executive for a response.

The Chair moved the recommendations of the report, and they were approved.

Thanks was offered by the Chair to Councillor Whetton, who was Vice-Chair of the Task and Finish Group, as well as Councillors Haughey, Maitland, and Hartley for their support on the Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED: That the report and its recommendations be approved for submission to the Executive.

To consider a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services highlighted how the organisation was now out of formal intervention and had its improvement notice lifted. The report provided an update to the committee on children’s social care’s improvement journey.

The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care stated that the report had been titled ‘Continuous Improvement’ as the service recognised that although the service was no longer under special intervention, this was not an end point, and members were very reassured by this. The Committee were asked to acknowledge there was still a long way to go to reach a point where the organisation was confident services were consistently good. The report detailed how the service had used the Isos Research method to improve children’s services.

The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care went on to say that, following the recent inspection, OFSTED had set out six areas for improvement, which had been built into the existing Ambitions Plan. The report provided detail of each of the eight ambition areas set out by the Council. The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care assured the committee that each of the plans had additional plans underneath which contained a greater level of detail. Through consultation with board members and partner agencies, an Ambitions for Children Board had been established, which had had its first meeting, and was to be chaired by the leader of the Council, which signified the importance of the continuing improvement journey. The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care highlighted how some of the ambitions, such as neglect, were linked with the strategic safeguarding partnerships, to avoid duplication of work and to be mindful of judicious use of resources.

The Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care followed up with several recommendations for Committee Members to know regarding the reconfiguration of the Ambitions board. These included detail of the improvement activity within the plan; to note the enhanced role of some of the ambitions leads jointly with the TSSP; also, to receive updates on progress against key areas of activity; and for the committee to supply constructive challenge to ensure the board continues to make a difference to the children and young people of Trafford.

The Chair asked if there were any questions regarding the report.

Councillor Parker asked a question regarding ambition 6 on domestic abuse. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services answered that there was a dedicated domestic abuse board, which responded to changes in legislation. The board had responsibility over the commissioning of resources and sat under the auspices of the Council’s community safety partnerships. Further to this, the Corporate Director for Children’s Services underlined that there was a costed plan, with commissioning resources in place. Two examples were highlighted, being that in Trafford, the council has opened a male domestic abuse refuge, and the council had also commissioned services dedicated for children. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services finished that there was always more the Council would like to do,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

To consider a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services.

The Director for Education Standards, Quality, and Performance opened by lifting some of the highlights of the report and the vison for the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system.  The Council was committed to improving the experience and outcomes for all who used the service. The Director for Education Standards, Quality, and Performance informed the Committee that more needed to be done to ensure the system providing as much support to service users as possible, with areas for improvement being identified by listening to the lived experience of those service users.

The Committee were provided with an outline of the renewed governance arrangements. The governance arrangements had been reviewed in response to changing needs post-pandemic and system wide pressures within the education sector. An independent chair had been appointed to the SEND strategic board, who brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role. The board wanted to establish a co-chairing arrangement, which could involve the families and parents. As part of the SEND approach the service wanted to make sure that children received the right support at the right time.

The Director for Education Standards, Quality, and Performance then went on to highlight the Ambitions for Children plan, how the SEND approach fitted into the plan and would be held to account against the plan. The Committee’s attention was drawn to the data within the update around growth plans and how there had been a rise in requests for very young children post-COVID. The data showed that the areas of deprivation were where the Council saw the highest SEND need. The Committee were informed that 20 weeks was the statutory time for a plan to be issued and the frustrations of families when plans were not completed in a timely manner, “There is a no 21^st week” was the mantra of the team. However, there were some cases where it was beneficial to take extra time to formulate to ensure it was as effective and robust as possible. The service also aimed to have the highest quality assurance mechanisms in place to guarantee every plan produced was effective and high quality.  

The Chair thanked the Director for Education Standards, Quality, and Performance, highlighting that a former Task and Finish Group’s recommendations have been implemented.

Councillor Sutton questioned why the proportion of plans issued in 2022 was much higher. The Head of SEND and Inclusion responded that it was due to an overlap of years. Councillor Sutton asked another question regarding EHC plans and how the report suggested an increase from years 4 to 5, and a reduction in years 3 and year 4. The head of SEND and Inclusion responded that the report showed a peak in year 2 as well and added that EHC plans tended to come at different key stages as schools focused on submitting referrals at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Councillor Sutton asked about transition to secondary schools, and if there was an issue with limited  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

For Members to consider the draft work programme and suggest any items they would like the Committee to scrutinise.

The Chair opened item 10 and referred an online meeting at which Committee Members had outlined the work programme for the upcoming municipal year. The Chair discussed the plan for the September meeting, which was to be around transitions and split into two topics, one about transition for children in care and the other for the transition of children with EHCP’s. The Chair then reminded the committee that if there was anything they would like to add to the work programme across the year the committee would try and incorporate it.

Councillor Sutton suggested that the Committee look at the ongoing impacts of the COVID Pandemic upon young people. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services offered a slight nervousness to looking at this as there was not an understanding yet of post-pandemic recovery, with the national audit office saying that it was likely to take ten years to catch up. The Chair expressed that while she understood where Councillor Sutton was coming from it was too difficult a topic for the Committee to scrutinise effectively.

Councillor Ennis asked whether the growing number of migrants and refugees within the borough and the challenges that come with this, was something that could be considered over the municipal year. The Chair responded that this was something looked at in the past municipal year, and something that to committee could continue to keep a watching brief on.

Councillor Butt referred to the discussion on the COVID situation, and whether general long-term sickness among the population was a covid related issue. The Director for Education referred to Public Health as possibly being able to provide that information. The Specialist Commissioner mentioned that there was information on the pathway of children who have been diagnosed with long covid which could be shared with the committee.

Councillor Hirst mentioned how migrant and COVID discussion could be had at the next meeting on transitions. It was agreed that Councillor Hirst was to be invited to the next agenda setting meeting to give her the opportunity to offer what she wants to be discussed.

Councillor Proctor asked whether exit interviews took place for foster carers who retired and what happened with the information. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services responded that they were conducted, and the Director for Early Help and Children’s Social Care added that information from the interviews was included in monthly performance meeting within her team, and in a quarterly report from the Head of Service for Fostering. The information was then considered in the development of the fostering modernisation plan and captured within annual report of the fostering service.

Councillor Proctor also asked about co-opted members and that we don’t have any. A Governance Officer reported that we do advertise these positions, but they rarely get a response. Another recruitment drive would take place.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the work programme be noted.

2)    That Councillor Hirst be invited to the agenda setting meeting.

3)    That information on the pathway of children who have been diagnosed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.