Purpose

Proposed
decision
 
The Cabinet Member for
Education and Skills, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, approve
the funding arrangements and revised model for the continued
delivery of the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service (STLS)
beyond 31st August 2025  when
the Service Level Agreements cease.
 
Reason for the
decision
 
The Specialist Teaching and Learning Service
(STLS) was presented to the Children’s, Young People and
Education Cabinet Committee on 1 March 2022 and a transformational
Service Level Agreement (SLA) was established with the service from
September 2022 to August 2025. Issue
details - 22/00001 - Specialist Teaching and Learning Service
(STLS) - Consultation outcome on service redesign and delivery
options from April 2022
 
At the Children’s, Young People and
Education Cabinet Committee on 9 July 2024, a report was presented
detailing the performance of the STLS
(Public Pack)Agenda Document for Children's, Young People and
Education Cabinet Committee, 09/07/2024 14:00.
 
At that time, the intention to undertake a
public consultation into how the service might fit within the new
ways of working being implemented as part of the transformation of
Special Education Needs (SEN) support was stated.
 
An eight-week public consultation has taken
place. The responses have been analysed and recommendations
identified regarding the future of the service beyond August 2025,
when the current SLA ends.
 
It is proposed that the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service (STLS) continues to be
provided beyond the duration of the current Service Level Agreement
that ends 31 August 2025.
 
To support this, it is proposed
the future cost of STLS for school aged children will be funded
from the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant and form
part of the local decision-making of Special Education Needs (SEN)
support services that will be managed through the communities of
mainstream schools in Kent.
 
The STLS for children attending
early years providers will be funded via a portion of the Early
Years Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant that can be retained by
Local Authorities for central services, including SEN support
services
 
A revised service model will be
implemented to reflect the outcome of the consultation and wider
reforms that are being implemented as part of the ongoing
transformation of SEND services in Kent. The revised model will
include STLS moving to a Link Practitioner model with specialist
teachers aligned to communities of schools for school age children
and STLS working within the revised pathway for support for early
years settings. STLS will no longer deliver Local Inclusion Forum
Team meetings.
 
 
Background
 
The overarching aim of the STLS is to support
mainstream early years settings and schools to build their capacity
and confidence in delivering high quality provision for children
and young people with SEND, in improving pupil progress and
outcomes and to spread best practice across educational
settings.
 
It is commissioned by the Education and
Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Division within
Kent County Council (KCC) from 12 maintained Special Schools in
Kent via a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that ends 31 August
2025.
 
Information related to the performance of the
service over the period 1 September 2022 (Term 1 2022–2023
academic year) to 28 March 2024 (end of Term 4, 2023-2024 academic
year). was presented to Children, Young People and Education
Cabinet Committee on 9 July 2024. This included an options
appraisal about how the service could be funded and delivered in
the future.
 
At that time, the intention to undertake a
public consultation into how the service might fit within the new
ways of working being implemented as part of the transformation of
Special Education Needs (SEN) support was stated.
 
An eight public consultation was subsequently
undertaken, opening 9 September 2024 and ending 3 November 2024.
Specialist Teaching
and Learning Service Redesign | Let’s talk Kent
 
The consultation received a total of 523
responses, 427 from professionals and 96 from residents. The
largest group of responses (26%) where received from primary school
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCos). Responses were
received from all districts within the county. The consultation
provided insight into what type of support the STLS could deliver
in the future and respondents gave feedback on how it might be
funded.
 
As part of the consultation, a proposal was
submitted indicating that a single organisation could deliver the
service across the county. In considering this feedback, a further
options appraisal was undertaken to further inform how the service
could be delivered in the future. Based on this, the proposal is
that there is a sole provider of the service across the county and
that that provider is Kent County Council.
 
 
Options (other
options considered but discarded)

 
Based on feedback from the
consultation, the following funding options were considered and
discarded:
 
·        
Option 1: End the service when the current SLA ends on 31 August
2025.
·        
Option 3: STLS becomes a traded service.
·        
Option 4: STLS is funded via the School Inclusion Model for
Mainstream, meaning that the service would be funded by Communities
of Schools with money allocated to them from HNF block for local
decision making.
·        
Option 5: Transfer the service from special schools to KCC,
bringing the service in house.
·        
Option 6: Transition option, namely extending the current SLA for
one year to enable a transition to Option 4.
 
In response to a proposal submitted, a further
options appraisal related to the future delivery of the service was
undertaken. The following options were considered and
discarded:
 

deliver the service across an area
based footprint
deliver the service across a
district based footprint

 
In terms of the type of organisation that
could deliver the service, the following options were considered
and ruled out:

Maintained schools (mainstream and
special)
Academy trusts
Independent, external
organisation
The Education People (traded arm of
the Council)

 
 
How the proposed
decision supports the
Framing Kent's Future - Our
Council Strategy 2022-2026
 
These actions will support Framing
Kent’s Future through:
 

Priority 1: Levelling Up Kent and
our commitment to maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting
schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education
provision for all families, specifically: Maintain improvement
support services for all Kent schools, including maintained schools
and academies, to maintain Kent’s high-quality education
system.

 

Priority 4: New Models of Care and
Support and our commitment is to support the most vulnerable
children and families in our county, specifically in relation to
responding to national policy changes on SEND provision, working
with mainstream schools so more can accept and meet the needs of
children with SEND, increasing choice and proximity of school
places.

 
These actions will support Securing
Kent’s Future by:
·        
Supporting Objective 1 in bringing the budget back into balance
through cost avoidance achieved by supporting more children in
mainstream schools from the outset of their statutory education and
avoiding the use of non-maintained independent special school
placements. 
·        
Further transforming the operating model of the Council (Objective
4). A greater focus on understanding and demonstrating impact will
enable more effective decision making about how and where to focus
the use of resources.
 
Financial
Implications
 
The current annual cost of STLS is
£5,856,468. Over the course of three years this totals
£17,569,404. This is a static budget that has remained
unchanged since before the existing SLA. 
 
In relation to the above proposal, 124 STLS
staff would TUPE into the Council on their existing terms and
conditions. The estimated annual cost to KCC of these salaries is
£5,858,831 per year.
 
Estimated one off costs of bringing 124 people
in house are £581,318 which will need to be accommodated
within the first year.
 
The estimated cost of a six month extension to
the SLA, if required, in order to undertake the transfer process
transfer would cost £3,385,560.
 
 
The service is currently funded from the High
Needs Block of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) provided by the
Department of Education (DfE). The High Needs Block is funded from
a combination of the High Needs allocation from the DfE (annual
grant of c£330m) plus a further contribution from primary
& secondary budgets (equating to 1.2%) of approximately
£15m, in response to the Council overspending its grant
allocation. This transfer is expected to continue each year until
the Council is able to operate sustainably within its high needs
grant allocation. The transfer contributes towards the range of SEN
support services to schools (of which STLS is one example). SEN
Support Services are a discretionary service, and the total money
available for all SEN Support services for schools is considered in
context of the value of the transfer. In 2024-25, the budget for
central services to Early Years providers was £7m, and the
future funding of the early years element of this service will be
funded from a combination of recent savings in other early years
services and the expected increase in funding for 2025-26. By
maximising the use of other funding sources will support savings on
the High Needs Block. Spend is reported within the Special
Educational Needs and Psychology key service line presentation of
the 2024-2025 Medium Term Financial Plan.
 
This is not currently a direct cost to the
General Fund.  However, the Council has committed to
contributing a total of £82m towards the DSG deficit relating
to High Needs overspends by 2027-28, and the statutory override,
which is currently holding this deficit off the Council’s
balance sheet (in an unusable reserve), is due to cease from April
2026, unless the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Local
Communities extends this policy further.
 
 
Legal
Implications  
 
The Children and Families Act 2014 and the
SEND Code of Practice 2015 describe the role that early years,
schools and colleges play in meeting the needs of all children and
young people, including those with SEND, whether they have an EHCP
or not.
 
The SEND Code of Practice (section 6.44)
outlines the ‘graduated approach’ that all
schools/settings should apply when considering how they will meet
those needs. This also relates to the SEND Code of
Practice section 6.58 – 6.62 which outlines the use of
specialists to advise settings and schools on early identification
of SEN and effective support and interventions.
 
Advice will be sought  from Legal Services as required, during the
implementation phase of the decision in relation to future
commissioning arrangements.
 
Equalities
implications
 
The Equalities Impact
Assessment previously presented to the Children’s Young
People and Education Cabinet Committee has been reviewed and
updated based on feedback from the public consultation.
 
Key issues identified
include:
 

Age: respondents
identified a detrimental impact on younger children, specifically
those in early years settings, if the service were to end. This
would also be the case if the funding approach changed in a way
that meant early years settings could not
longer access the service.
Age: the impact on
younger children, specifically those in early years settings, was
also referenced in relation to transition into school age
settings. 
Gender: an
detrimental impact on women was referenced, if the service was to
end. Women make up the majority of the STLS, SENCO and teaching
workforce,
Disability:
respondents identified potentially detrimental impact on children
and young people with SEND if the support provided by the service
were to end. Some respondents identified a potential impact
specifically on children with Communication and Interaction, Social
Emotional and Mental Health, and Cognition and Learning needs. This
is because children with sensory and physical disability needs will
continue to be supported by in-house STLS which fulfils a statutory
duty.

 
In terms of mitigating
actions:
 

Age: the consultation
specifically asks for feedback in relation to whether consideration
should be given for funding early years and school age STLS
differently, recognising the different impact that funding options
might have on school versus early years settings. This feedback
will be considered carefully when making recommendations about the
service to mitigate the risk of a disproportionate impact on
younger children.
Gender:
recommendations regarding the future of the service will be
considered in light of the responses to the
consultation.
Disability:
recommendations regarding the future of the service will be
considered in light of the responses to the
consultation.

 
Data Protection
implications
Data protection implications
will be considered as part of the implementation of the revised
model.
 

Decision

As Cabinet
Member for Education and Skills, and in consultation with the
Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree
to:
 
1.   
APPROVE the funding arrangements and revised model
for the continued delivery of the Specialist Teaching and Learning
Service (STLS) beyond 31 August 2025 when the Service Level
Agreements cease:
a.   
that funding for school age STLS will be funded from
the high needs block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and this
funding will form part of the communities of schools budget for
local decision making.
b.   
that funding for the early years STLS will be
funded from the early years block for central services from the
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)
c.   
change of delivery from commissioned provision to
being managed in-house.
d.   
an extension to the existing Service Level
Agreement, if required, in order to implement this transfer.

 
2.   
DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director for
Children, Young People and Education, to implement the revised
Specialist Teaching Learning Service model.
 
3.   
DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director for
Children, Young People and Education, to enter into extensions to
the existing Service Level Agreements as required to implement the
transfer of STLS from a commissioned to an in-house service.

 
4.   
DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director for
Children, Young People and Education, to take other relevant
actions, including but not limited to entering into relevant
contracts or other legal agreements as required to implement this
decision.