Agenda item

Vikram Hansrani apologised as it had been necessary to make the supplementary paper available after distribution of the agenda.  The consultation had been extended by a further two weeks, closing on Friday 1 March, which had resulted in the delay. 

Further to the banding report delivered in December 2018, the paper included examples of feedback received to a number of the questions and some of the responses from parents and carers which had been particularly positive. Transparency was required about the funding for the children concerned and a meeting had been held for parents and carers, as agreed.  The launch of the new banding model was scheduled for 1 April 2019 and support had been offered to special schools on how the model would work, along with workshops. 

It had been agreed it would be important to capture feedback and offer reassurances following introduction of the new model and it was proposed this be done in July and December 2019, and April and July 2020.  Follow up reports would also be made to Schools Forum.

It was noted that further work was required on weighting to reflect levels of need.

The model of continuing provision was planned to meet the needs of young people on ECHPlans. 

Nicky Willis asked about the transfer from Infant to Junior school and the possible implication for new assessments and requests.  It was explained that any change in fiscal value would be at the earliest in September and those children in new settings effective 2020 would have a banding under the new arrangements.

It was explained that Infant to Junior movement was being treated as within one phase and arrangements would be made through the Educational Psychologist team, to ensure there was a process in place.

Maggie Waller welcomed the report, which it was felt was clear.  Jamie Rockman added that it was important for members to be aware that special schools had shared their concerns about long term funding with Vikram Hansrani and were working with SBC to address these.  Overall, special schools supported the new models. It was requested that an update be presented to Schools Forum on this work.

It was pointed out that 55% of respondents had felt very or fairly confident about the new model although it was queried how many had accounted for the 45%.

It was suggested the key monitoring reports would be useful for members of Schools Forum to see and whether they should set the framework.  It was felt it would be appropriate for Schools Forum to have such input through the High Needs Task Group.

A member pointed out that during the transitional period there would be two systems running and the lack of parity between children was a potential concern.  There was also a need to recognise that within specials needs there were profile areas which did not meet all the categories.  There was also concern about the bands moving in denominations of £5,000, which could result in both under and over funding in some instances.

It was suggested there should be further discussion about baseline costs as special schools were funded differently to mainstream.

In answer to a query, Vikram Hansrani confirmed there was a mechanism for reviewing the banding amounts and his team were working closely with finance colleagues.  There were two models, but the needs of the children would be mapped against the new framework.  There had been extensive work with professionals on the four sub-areas of need to ensure all school settings would be able to work with this model.  Feedback indicated that schools understood this.

 Mapping for individual students was not feasible and individual top up was very difficult.

There was an expectation that some children would require the top banding level of support: it was noted there were two children in this category at the current time.

It was pointed out that SENCOs might make earlier assessment requests and it was queried what information would be shared with SENCOs.  It was explained that emergency assessments could not be started but the training for SENCOs would focus on how to use the new tool.  Although there would be two systems in place, the needs of children would start under the new framework.

A member asked if there would be a rebanding during the 20-week period and it was explained that any reassessment activity would not factor into the new banding model.

Schools Forum APPROVED the new banding model, to take effect from 1 April, 2019.

And,

AGREED to receive reports, as detailed, at key stages during the extended implementation period.

The Chair thanked Vikram Hansrani, and all his colleagues involved, for their work on this: in turn, Vikram Hansrani thanked members for their input.