The Children's Select Committee met to discuss the Safety Valve programme, Ofsted judgements, short breaks for children with additional needs, and the Families First Partnership Programme. The committee expressed concerns about rising EHCPs¹ and sought ways to assist with the issue. They also agreed to revisit the short breaks offer in 12 months.

Safety Valve Update

Ben Stephens, the Send Inclusion and AP Transformation Lead, presented the safety valve update, which included the monitoring report submitted to the Department for Education (DfE). He noted that while most conditions were broadly on track at the time of submission, the August and September positions felt different due to a recent uptick in new requests for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). He suggested this increase might be related to the government's discussions around send reform, causing concern among parents.

Councillor Laura Mayes, Chairman of the Council, voiced her concern about the rising EHCPs and questioned how the DfE would react, given the positive feedback received earlier. Catherine Davis, Director of Education and Skills, responded that the DfE recognised the national circumstances and that the council was doing the best it could.

Councillor John Hubbard, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education and Skills, emphasised the importance of addressing the high needs block deficit and the need to change the belief that an EHCP is the only way for a child to receive appropriate support.

The committee resolved to explore ways to assist with the high needs block deficit.

School Ofsted Judgements

Louise Lewis, Head of School Effectiveness, presented an update on school Ofsted judgements. She noted that a new framework is expected, and this would likely be the final report in its current format. Overall, the majority of schools demonstrated strong performance, with most areas outperforming national and south-west averages. However, she highlighted that the outstanding judgements and early years aspects were areas needing focus.

Councillor John Wells raised concerns about an anomaly in the graphs, where there was a decline in judgements about behaviour and attitudes and effectiveness of leadership and management, but an apparent improvement in the quality of education. Louise Lewis said that she would look into it further.

Councillor Dominic Munns questioned the usefulness of the trend data graphs, asking if the committee could take away any actionable insights from them. Catherine Davis responded that the graphs were there because trend data had been requested, but that the tables with the data were more useful.

Short Breaks Offer for Children and Young People with Additional Needs

Councillor Dominic Munns, lead member of the rapid scrutiny group, summarised the findings and recommendations regarding the short breaks offer. He highlighted the positives of the proposed new tiered approach, including collaboration with stakeholders and the removal of EHCPs from the assessment process. However, he also noted challenges, such as the reliance on the voluntary sector and potential parental reactions to the changes.

The recommendations from the rapid scrutiny group were:

1. Include a definition of 'short break' in the report.
2. Include how Wiltshire Council interprets its statutory duties in the provision of short breaks.
3. The rapid scrutiny group has sight of the final version of the report before it is presented to Cabinet.
4. Children's Select Committee reviews the delivery of the offer in March 2027.

Kai Muxlow said that the recommendations had been incorporated into amendments to the cabinet paper, particularly around the definition of short breaks. Councillor Jon Hubbard added that he had asked for EHCPs to play no part in the final wording of the offer to parents.

The committee agreed to revisit the offer in 12 months.

Families First Partnership Programme

Simon Thomas, who leads on the Families and Children's Transformation Program, provided an overview of the Families First Partnership Programme, a national social care reform initiative. He explained the strategic priorities, objectives, and expected outcomes of the programme, as well as the approach Wiltshire Council is taking to implement it.

He noted that the government is telling local authorities to use words such as integrated, seamless family help services but that Wiltshire was already really good at a lot of it.

He said that the council was looking to come back and do an update in January.

Other Updates and Business

• Ofsted Focused Visit: Daryl Freeman, Corporate Director, Children and Education, shared the positive feedback from Ofsted inspectors following their focus visit.
• Executive Response to Youth Homelessness: It was agreed that the executive response would be provided after the second scrutiny.
• Directors' Updates: Catherine Davis provided updates on the extension of government-funded early education and childcare and the opening of Melksham House, which is opening as a special school.
• Forward Work Programme: The committee noted the forward work programme and agreed to review it further.