1. Need, demand or expectations - What is fuelling High Needs Block Pressures?
Les Knight – Head of Additional Needs for Herefordshire Council

2. Here we are
Not here

3. National Picture of Demand
f40 Survey – Summer 2016
Most LAs have a deficit in the High Needs block which is being filled either by the last of reserves or movements from other blocks
ADCS information – Nov 2017
68 of 85 responding LAs HNB average overspend £2m
Regional networks W. Mids. and S. West
All but one LA overspent in HNB
ISOS analysis – Incr % EHCPs 3.3% special school places
SFR and S251 benchmarking- moving target!
Some alarming stories with schools potentially being pitted against LA as attempts are made to ‘fill the hole’ in the budgets

4. Evidence of demand 1- High Needs top-ups

6. Evidence of Demand 2 – SEMH Special

7. Evidence of demand 3 – Home and Hospital Team
Numbers Rise in numbers from 18 to 46 learners over 3 years 80% emotional and mental health presentation All agreed as not being able to attend school by CAMHS Cost of providing the service £129k to nearly £273 k

8. Need, demand or expectation?
Change in need within population – better survival rates/Foetal alcohol etc – Estimated 5-10% growth
Children and Families Act – parental expectation
School performance measures
Curriculum pace and complexity
Increased costs of staffing – SEN discretionary spend
No national change in thresholds

9. Additional Unfunded Pressures
Post-16 Extension of EHCPs to age 25
Hospital School duties – sufficient and suitable
Education for Tier 4 mental health in-patients
Growth in EHC Plans pre-16 and pre-school
Growth in Tribunals

10. Action taken – short term
£800k from £14m HNB) taken in 2015/16
Flagged up ‘worst case scenario’ – schools focused
£2m overspend within 3 years with current growth
All areas of HNB under scrutiny – Top-up tariffs
Short-term measures to allow longer term thinking
Finer grained tariffs more responsive to need - £300k
Central services savings - £65k
PRU charges – pupils placement £6k to £7k
Reduce SEN protection scheme
Even with this, small reserves greatly reduced
Ensuring point of entry to system is strong – Rigour around SEN Referral panel

11. Strategic Approach Locally
The whole system is interrelated
Need to
Collective responsibility (Schools/settings/LA/Partners/Families)
Need to re-connect with a fully inclusive ethos – ‘not turn our back on any child’
Can we develop a system of partnerships to take responsibility?
Investment in training/skills/coaching
Important to understand consequences of actions and not to create perverse incentive

12. National Policy Drivers
Pressures on mainstream schools – Curriculum and targets (measuring progress of the most needy – difficult but could be improved)
What is really important for High Needs pupils?
Ambiguity with regard to inclusion – presumption to mainstream
Funding model for High Needs – Principles of national formula and ISOS work
Consideration of ‘sparsity’
The alternative is increasing levels of funding, continual pressure on local government to do more with less… and more young people not being well served