Agenda item

Purpose of report

To seek the approval of the Cabinet Member for Children Families and Education on the proposals for funding mainstream schools with an Inclusion Centre for the financial year 2021-22 and onwards.

RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education agrees to the implementation of the proposal to move arrangements for mainstream schools with an Inclusion Centre, as set out in this report.

The report was introduced by Julia Katherine, Head of Inclusion, Children's Services and Education.

In response to questions Julia explained that decisions surrounding the banding criteria is made as part of the statutory assessment process and at the moment a level of funding will be attached to an EHCP or an agreement will be made with an inclusion centre. The change is that they will be allocating a band of funding depending on the child's needs.

The reduction in funding for Milton Park Primary School is not based on actual children currently placed, it's an indicative figure based on the assumptions made in the modelling. If the majority of children at Milton Park Primary were on the core banding then there would be less funding received, but they would also be required to put in a lower level of provision. If the children that are currently placed are at a higher band of funding then the reduction in funding would be reduced. Julia also confirmed that the home school transport funding was not affected.

Originally the admissions criteria for the Milton Park provision were different to that of the other inclusion centres and children had a higher complexity of need. Over the years as the number of children with autism has increased, there were more children with autism who needed that level of support than could be placed at Milton Park. Work was done with a number of the inclusion centres which now means there are six inclusion centres with the same admission criteria. Staff at these schools have been skilled up and training has been provided to develop the provision with them, this means that more children can be placed with them with autism and a higher level of need. This also means that more children can be kept in a local school and in their local community.

The new special school that will be opening in September 2022 will be for children will autism and associated social, emotional, mental health and behavioural issues as that is the biggest growth that is being seen. In the best interests of the children they want to be able to keep children within the city, but if the specialist provision cannot be made in the city then out of city placements will have to be considered.

Placement of any child with an education and health and care plan is made by the council and is based on assessment. The more thorough the assessment and the better the continuum provision available will hopefully mean the child will not have to move schools after the initial placement. Making sure there is the right continuum between primary and secondary means that a child can be placed at a primary school and move through that school and on to an inclusion centre if that remains to be the right provision for them.

In relation to the funding for Milton Park Primary it is not an option to fund every school at £8,000 as this would mean fewer places overall. The funding is matched to the banding criteria and this criteria sets out the range of needs and describes the provision, this includes the adult to child ratio that is needed for the children for example. Schools are not being asked to deliver £8,000 worth of provision and only be funded for £2,000. If a child needs the £8,000 funding then that will be recognised and they will be put at that band, however there are some children that do not need that level and they could be in a number of different schools and not all concentrated within the one school.

As part of the education health and care assessment process parents are always invited to express a preference and written into the legislation and into the code of practice is a presumption of inclusion. This means that if the parents want their child to be educated in a mainstream school there are only two very specific criteria why the local authority cannot comply with that request. Parental preference is always taken into consideration.

These specific reasons are if the type of school is inappropriate for the child's needs or if it would be inappropriate use of resources, in all other case the local authority has to go with the parental preference.

The local offer website is used to inform parents about the provisions that are available across the city and work is done alongside parents with regards to the inclusion centres to make sure that they are expressing their preference with all the information they need.

DECISIONS: The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education:

Agreed the implementation of the proposal to move arrangements for mainstream schools with an Inclusion Centre, as set out in this report.