Decision details

The Board will consider where action is needed to meet the requirements of the Children and Families Bill that have relevance to the local health and social care economy. Of particular interest to the Board will be elements around Special Educational Need whereby children will get a new birth- to-25 Education, Health and Care Plan.

Helen Jenner (Corporate Director, Children’s Services) gave a presentation to the Board. The Board raised the following comments or issues in response to the report and presentation slides:

·  Mediation is strengthened by the Bill. This should result in fewer Special Educational Need (SEN) tribunals which can be a difficult process for families to go through.

·  The Council currently provides more than the statutory minimum in terms of transport assistance for young people. It may be difficult to maintain this offer as budgets shrink and responsibilities grow.

·  The Bill is contradictory in that it encourages young people to have personal budgets but at the same time Health and Care Plans will have very specific requirements.

·  The Bill does not marry well with some provisions of the Care Bill. The Children and Families Bill puts emphasis on a local offer of services whereas the Care Bill puts emphasis on national standards.  Furthermore, the Care Bill tightens eligibility criteria for adult social care meaning that when a young person moves from children’s social care into adult social care there is a possibility that the overall care package will be a smaller offer. This will naturally undermine the transition elements of the Children and Families Bill.

·  During the transition process the wishes of the young person and their parent/carer may be at odds. This could be a challenge for agreeing a Health and Care Plan.

·  Where schools are not under the control of the local authority it will be harder to achieve consistency in terms of the SEN offer.

The H&WBB agreed to:

·  Support the integrated project team

·  Endorse the direction of travel

·  Receive regular updates on progress against the Project Plan, particularly through the Children and Maternity Sub-Group.

·  Support the input from across the partnership to a Local Offer

Further to the recommendations in the report, the Board agreed to:

·  Develop a Local Offer on a page to make the document more accessible to a wider readership.

·  Circulate the Local Offer consultation documents to Board Members prior to the start of the formal consultation with members of the public.