Agenda item

This session will look at the process for developing  EHC plans in Southwark. We will bring together representatives from education, health and social care to see how this important joint working benefits children and young people with EHC plans.  A briefing is enclosed.

This session will looked at the process for developing EHC plans in Southwark, bringing together representatives from education, health and social care to see how this important joint working benefits children and young people with EHC plans. The following contributed to the discussions:

·  Bridget Nichola, CCG Designated Clinical Officer for SEND

·  Kate Moriarty-Baker, CCG Director of Quality and Chief Nurse will be attending for representing health.

·  Yvonne Ely, Head of SEN & Inclusion, Children's and Adults' Services

·  Shirley Walker  Head of Service  Children with Disabilities, Transitions, Out of Hours and National and Specialist CAMHS Social Workers, Children's and Adults' Services

·  Nina Dohel,  Director of Education

·  Sunil Chothi, Independent Sen advocate

·  Mrs Helen Poyton – Headteacher, Chair of Southwark primary Headteachers

The following issues, comments and questions were raised in the roundtable:

·  The Head of SEN & Inclusion said that the service had formally been working with the Parent & Carers Forum, and now they have a parent consortium guiding the work.

·  The service is focusing on one page plan, and has received good feedback on this approach.

·  It is harder to transfer plans from the old SEN format to the new ECHP as they are difficult to move well.

·  We have a good Local Offer that is easy to find on a smartphone - (with a youth offer siting alongside that.

·  Previously the Local Offer was for 0-19, now 0-25. The 16 to 25 segment has been most challenging: colleges have found it befuddling but are getting on board.

·  The volume of work has gone up.

·  Developing outcomes is one thing but delivering them is another.

·  The Headteacher commented that the council is doing great work, however the problem is the funding gap to do this work well as we have many children with high needs and expectations. Resources are not keeping pace with demands.

·  Independent Sen advocate commented that the e partnership work and also pace of doing transfers is very good in Southwark.

·  Do we have sufficient provision in mainstream and specialist provision?  The short answer is no; we do not have enough in borough places. We do have a capital plan which will enable a rebuild of Cherry Gardens School and an autistic free school. Both will have a nursery. Our local authority and academy school do an excellent job and do very well.

·  Do we have plans in place for advocacy? This is a tricky issue particularly when young people hit 16 as then they have ownership of their plan, but not always mental capacity and parents are often much invested in caring role. We do have advocate for young people. 

·  How do you evaluate the plans with children and parents? Officers said an independent expert contacts people every year. It has showed increased satisfaction. An online survey is there but we found ringing people works well

·  What happens when a plan is agreed? The plan is costed and then officers look at the funding band. Southwark puts this down so it is clear. The Headteacher this is good and we break down our provision further in school. The school puts in £6,000 per child.

·  What about the therapeutic support for Looked After children that might come up? There is a lower threshold for CAMHS. If needed officers would fund this.

·  Independent Sen advocate noted Southwark quantified plans in bands. He asked if there are challenges over the hours required as this can be a disputed area. Officers said these are often detailed in the plan. Officers said that they do sometimes go though mediation (a formal process) as a prelude to a possible tribunal. This does sometime look at this issues and usually finds a resolution.

·  There was a comment that the e-learning course for professional was useful. Officers were asked if they had thought about opening this up to families.