The Children's Services Scrutiny Panel met on Thursday, 25 January 2024, to discuss the council's strategy for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the associated travel assistance provision. The panel also reviewed its work programme for the upcoming year.

Strategy for Children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

The panel received a comprehensive presentation on Ealing's SEND strategy, highlighting national trends and local challenges. Nationally, there has been an increase in the number of pupils with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and those requiring Special Education Needs (SEN) support. Ealing reflects this trend, with a significant rise in EHCPs over the past three years.

Key issues discussed included:

• Recruitment and Retention: The service is facing difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, particularly educational psychologists and therapists. Madhu Bachu, Assistant Director, SEND and Julie Lewis, Director Learning Standards and School Partnerships, explained that efforts are underway to address this through training offers, recruitment campaigns, and partnerships with universities.
• Caseloads: Education, Health and Care Coordinators (EHCCOs) have high caseloads, with an average of 194 children per EHCCO.
• Primary Needs: The most common primary needs among children with EHCPs are autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social, emotional, and mental health needs (SEMH). For children with SEN support, speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are most prevalent.
• Absence and Exclusions: Absence rates and suspensions/exclusions are higher for pupils with SEN, mirroring national patterns. An Access Inclusion Lead has been appointed to work with schools to challenge exclusion and behaviour policies.
• Reduced Timetables: The increased use of reduced timetables was identified as a concern, with a particular impact on the BAME community. Guidance has been issued to schools, and data is being collected to understand the issue better.
• Parental Support: While some support is available for parents, there is a recognised need for more work in this area, including digital literacy training to help families access services.
• Teaching Assistant Training: Work is being done to equip teaching assistants with the necessary knowledge and skills to support SEN children, including pre-employment training and in-school support.
• Waiting Times for Assessments: Concerns were raised about children waiting for extended periods for diagnoses and EHCPs. Jeff Elgar, Head of Education, Health, Care Plan (EHCP) Planning Services, stated that 83% of EHCPs were assessed within the 20-week limit in 2023.
• Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN): Ealing has higher levels of SLCN compared to national and London averages. This is being explored with the Speech and Language Therapy Service as part of a SEND Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).
• Expansion of Special School Provision: Ealing requires up to 500 additional specialist places by 2028, and work is underway to expand provision through satellite sites, increased ARP numbers, and additional specialist resource provision in mainstream schools.
• Travel Assistance: The council considered 602 new applications for travel assistance in the 2022-23 academic year, with 322 agreed for shared transport and 49 for a personal independence budget. An appeals process exists, though 66% of appeals were unsuccessful in 2022-23.

The panel made the following recommendations:

• The SEND Joint Strategic Needs Assessment should consider with medical colleagues whether the over-diagnosis of Speech, Language and Communication Needs is a factor for higher rates in comparison with other boroughs.
• Further consideration should be given to how best to address the use of reduced school timetables and enable schools to better support pupils to remain in school.
• The ethnicity breakdown of the different categories of SEN should be provided in writing.

Panel's Work Programme

The panel noted its work programme, which outlines future topics for discussion. The next meeting is scheduled for 26 March 2024, and a key item will be Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The panel also discussed how to engage local people and stakeholders on this topic.

The meeting was attended by Councillors Rima Baaklini, Hodan Haili (Chair), Blerina Hashani, Ian Kingston, Grace Quansah, Binda Rai, Tarept Sidhu, and Gregory Stafford (Vice-Chair). Councillor Karam Mohan sent apologies. The meeting was also attended by Harjeet Bains. Officers present included Madhu Bachu, Assistant Director, SEND and Julie Lewis, Director Learning Standards and School Partnerships, along with Fabiola Peacock, SEN Assessment Service Manager, Jeff Elgar, Head of Education, Health, Care Plan (EHCP) Planning Services, and Lucy Granger, Senior Education, Health and Care Co-ordinator.

The meeting was held at Perceval House¹.