Purpose

Our implementation plan for the DBV project
has been approved by the Department for Education (DfE) and
partners. This means that we been awarded a grant of £1m to
spend on improving the local SEND system.
Having analysed local evidence and listened to the experiences of
children, families and practitioners, we are now in a position to
expedite this plan.
A report considered by Cabinet on the 29th March agreed to accept
the grant award of £1m subject to the terms and conditions of
the grant and delegated further decision making regarding spend, in
line with the agreed implementation plan and in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the grant, to the Director of Children,
Young People and Families, in consultation with Portfolio Holder
for Education, Skills and Young People. It is also proposed that
the
Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 officer) is included in
signing off this spending plan.
Since the introduction of the 2014 SEND code of Practice, local
authorities have seen significant challenges in sustaining high
needs funding, as the level of need has risen over the last
decade.
This has been significantly exacerbated by the impacts of the
pandemic as we have seen an increase in those children and young
people whose levels of need have been affected by isolation and a
lack of continuity in education. The national funding gap for high
needs budget is already likely to now be above
£3billion.
In Doncaster we have seen significant challenges in our high needs
system. Our number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) have
increased from 1898 in 2019 to 2489, a 31% increase. We have
particularly seen a step rise in those young people with social,
emotional or communication needs, and this has in turn, led to
increasing number of placements for young people with these complex
needs. The High Needs Block funding in Doncaster is predicted to
overspend in 2022-2023 by £8.1m.
The DfE have continued to work with local authorities to try and
identify ways of managing or controlling local deficits. Doncaster
are one of 55 local areas who volunteered to be part of a project -
‘Delivering Better Value in SEND’, which ran from
October 2022 to March 2023. The council and partners were supported
by DfE to create a clear analysis of the underlying drivers in the
local system and to identify a set of actions which will allow us
to develop a more
sustainable SEND system.
Following on from this analysis, an implementation plan was created
aimed at making changes to the local system. This plan formed the
basis of an application for grant funding form the DfE to support
this work. Following scrutiny from DFE SEND advisors and key
partners such as the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and
Accountability, a full maximum grant of £1m has been awarded
to Doncaster. This will enable the local partners to begin work on
delivering the changes that we will all wish to make to the local
system, so that children and young people can benefit from the best
possible support and services as soon as possible.

See attached Officer Decision Record which provides details of the
areas in the Council the grant is intended to be spent.

Content

Approve the Delivering Better Value (DBV)
spending plan, detailed with in the body of the report and create
the temporary posts within the HR establishment as detailed within
the main body of the report. Also noting the terms and conditions
of the grant award now received in accepting the grant