Support and aspiration: Implementing the SEN and Disability Reforms

The current system of SEND support is complicated, expensive and delivers poor outcomes Parents struggle to find the services that should be helping them, have to battle to get the help their children need, and have to tell their stories time and again. Moving from children’s to adults’ services can be very difficult. English LAs spend over £5 billion a year on SEND provision, and yet those with special needs are far more likely to achieve poorly at GCSE, Not be in Education, Employment or Training, or be unemployed. These issues affect a lot of people: 1 in 5 children are currently identified as having some form of SEND, with 2.8% having a more complex need. 2

We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special needs reforms will implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working. We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special needs reforms will implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working. Aims of the reforms

Working with children and young people and their parents and carers Section 19 of the Children and Families Act lays the foundation for working in partnership with children and young people and their parents and carers. It states that local authorities must have regard to: The views, wishes and feelings of the child, young person and their parents; The importance of allowing them to participate in decisions relating to themselves (or their child); The importance of providing information to enable active participation in decision-making; The need to support the child, young person and their parents to facilitate development and enable the best possible outcomes, educational or otherwise. 5

Option of a Personal Budget Integrated assessment and planning Joint commissioning Better disagreement resolution processes The SEND reforms: putting children and young people at the centre 0-25 Children and young people with SEND and families Where disagreements happen, they can be resolved early and amicably, with the option of a Tribunal for those that need it Children, young people and parents understand a joined up system, designed around their needs Having friends Outcomes Employment prospects Positive Wellbeing Good qualifications Making their views heard Local offer Enablers Education Health and Care Plan is holistic, co- produced, focused on outcomes, and is delivered Extending choice and control over their support. Information, advice and support

Managing transition - Change at a time of financial pressure Local authorities, healthcare providers/ commissioners, and voluntary sector organisations under pressure. New arrangements pose both a challenge, and an opportunity. Capacity constraints should not deter more integrated approaches. LAs have received additional resource to support logistics of new approach; several years of piloting new approaches and lots of experience and learning. A proportionate process of transition for children with statements. An effective local approach for looking at needs, and resources, and reaching consensual decisions; integrated assessment and planning should make for a slicker, more responsive service, and encourage integration of commissioning and service delivery – SLT is the key service which overlaps education and health for children with SEN.

Part of a wider suite of legislation Children Act 2004: - duties to integrate services NHS Act 2006 : - LAs and CCGs can pool budgets under Section 75 arrangements Health & Social Care Act 2012: - integration across NHS England, CCGs, Health & Wellbeing Boards Care Act 2014: - co-operation between children’s and adult’s services to promote integration of care and support with health services NHS Mandate 2014 (4.13): need for improvement in working in partnership across different services when supporting CYP with SEND. NHS England objective to ensure that they have access to the services identified in their agreed care plan and those who could benefit from a personal budget are offered one.

The Joint Commissioning Cycle

Joint commissioning Joint commissioning is how partners agree how they will work together, to deliver joint outcomes for children and young people with SEND. Listening and responding to the views of children and young people and their parents, and other partners is fundamental to this process. Based on a joint understanding of population need, commissioners will design integrated care pathways, which will then be presented publicly as the local offer. Delivery must be monitored to ensure the offer improves over time. Ultimately councillors are held to account to ensure this is done, and CCGs will be monitored against the NHS Mandate by NHS England. Rochdale’s joint commissioning approach

Local process A national statutory framework (Act, regulations and the SEND Code); local implementation, to reflect local priorities e.g. JSNA and JHWS

A speedier process The whole process, from initial request to issuing the final EHC plan, should take no longer than 20 weeks, with 6 weeks to make the initial decision about assessment. LA notification that plan will not be issued following assessment Final plan 6 wks 16 wks 20 wks Initial request for an EHC needs assessment Assessment and planning Contributors to planning must respond within 6 weeks of request for information LA response to request

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A more person centred plan 15

Who contributes to the EHC plan? Community paediatricians, therapists, nurses Schools, or early year settings Social workers, care workers Educational psychologists Designated staff for looked-after children Parents and family The child or young person and family

Managing transition to the new system Children and young people who have a statement or receive provision in further education as a result of a LDA will be transferred to the new system gradually: –young people in further education with an LDA will transfer to the new system by 1 September 2016; and –children and young people with a statement will transfer by 1 April To ensure that support continues for these children and young people, the legislation relating to statements and LDAs will remain in force during the transition period. Local authorities will be expected to transfer children and young people to the new system in advance of key transition points in their education such as when they move from primary to secondary school. There will be Independent Supporters on hand for families who need them, to help make the transfer as simple as possible.

Redress overview People will still be able to appeal to the Tribunal but parents and young people will have the opportunity to go to mediation before appealing; Before registering an appeal with the Tribunal parents and young people will have to contact an independent mediation adviser for information on mediation; Following this they can decide if they want to go to independent mediation – the local authority would have to attend and the mediation would take place within 30 days; This gives parents and young people the chance of getting their dispute without the stress of having to go through an appeal at the Tribunal; DfE are also: widening mediation so that it can consider health and social care; conducting a review of complaint and appeal arrangements for children and young people with SEND and; conducting pilots looking at the Tribunal being able to make recommendations about the health and social care aspects of EHC plans. 18

For health professionals 19 What: Health services for children, young people and families provide: early identification assessment and diagnosis intervention and review for children and young people with long term and disabling conditions Services are delivered by health professionals including paediatricians, GPs, nurses, psychologists and allied health professionals, e.g. occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. “I have found the new process really positive. The live documents we have generated with the parents capture a much better description of the child. Their personality really shines through and parents feel that this provides a truer reflection of their child.” Lead professional and consultant paediatrician in Cornwall

A final thought… 20