Reflections from Steve Crocker - 23 January 2025

Hello and welcome to my 12th blog as independent chair of the Oxfordshire SEND Strategic Improvement and Assurance Board (SIAB).

The board met once more on 23 January. 

Chair’s remarks

I began by welcoming everyone to the meeting, the first of the year. 

I acknowledged the changes in the operating model of the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB), highlighting new responsibilities and roles, and introduced Matthew Tait, Chief Delivery Officer, who holds responsibility for mental health and commissioning.

The new BOB ICB model aims to strengthen a place-based approach of service delivery with an executive sponsor for each of the three places. Matthew will be the executive sponsor for Oxfordshire. Each sponsor is assigned to specific boards. This will enable more consistent and focused leadership within each place. 

For our SEND improvement work, the local interfaces with the new operating model remain very important, this includes the work being led by Chris Wright (Assistant Director, Partnership Development) and Karen Fern, (Designated Clinical Officer SEND 0 - 25 at BOB ICB) at BOB ICB.

First on the agenda was Jules Francis-Sinclair, Chair of Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum (OxPCF) and her colleague Liz Knight.

OxPCF feedback

OxPCF is continuing to review its internal processes and databases, including the development of a new themes tracker, which is evolving into a more comprehensive database due to its complexity. The forum is actively monitoring and managing the escalation of feedback to service leads.

Key themes identified from the tracker so far include education health and care plan (EHCP) processes and support within schools; lack of appropriate SEND school provision, particularly for specialist needs, including those who are academically able; accessibility concerns, such as wheelchair access and the need for reasonable adjustments in A&E; and requests for local authority attendance at mediation sessions.

A funding proposal has been submitted to the local area partnership, with the aim of incorporating it into a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU). This MOU will also reflect ongoing positive discussions around partnership working and a shared code of conduct.

OxPCF also highlighted several upcoming events, including the first EOTAS (education other than at school) working group meeting, which will begin the process of reviewing the draft policy and drafting accompanying guidance. Additionally, there will be various SEND Connect sessions covering topics such as sensory diets and alternative provision, as well as a Local Area Partnership parent carer event, scheduled for 13 March in Oxford.

Next on the agenda was Lydia Martin, Senior SEND Project Officer, and Joanna Hoskin, Senior Youth Worker, at the county council, who provided an update on the SEND Youth Forum. Jo works in the targeted youth support service and co-facilitates the forum with Lydia. They were joined by Sebastian, a member of the forum who shared his experiences and insights. 

SEND Youth Forum update

Jo and Lydia began by reminding us of the purpose of the forum. It aims to change the system, provide better support, and give young people opportunities to share their stories and feedback. It focuses on representing their lived experiences and making a difference. 

Forum activities have included providing feedback on the local offer youth hub webpages hosted on the county council’s website, leading to improvements based on young people's suggestion; a draft version of an animation video representing the youth forum was showcased, with further edits planned; and a competition was held to design a quality mark logo, with the final design nearly complete. 

Lydia and Jo introduced Sebastian.

Sebastian is a member of the SEND Youth Forum, having joined in June 2024. He highlighted the difficulty in transitioning from work placements to paid employment, emphasising the need for more structured support and opportunities for individuals with disabilities. 

The forum's next theme is employment, aiming to address the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in finding paid work and achieving independence. The forum plans to engage with the supported employment team and discuss employment journeys. 

Liz Knight, OxPCF, mentioned efforts to include feedback from children in specialist independent schools and those with different needs. She emphasised the importance of engaging all groups of children, whether they are in a setting or not, and highlighted the need for schools and settings to come forward to participate in this feedback process.

Caroline Kelly, Head of Commissioning, Oxfordshire Health, Education and Social Care (HESC), for the county council and BOB ICB discussed the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) review and how young people and the forum can get involved as a future activity.

Lydia and Jo mentioned that by the end of February, the young people in the forum will have achieved AQA awards for various topics and will receive certificates. They also plan to have an awards evening or afternoon towards the end of the summer to celebrate the young people's hard work.

We then moved on to the SEND transformation programme updates.

Programme updates

Theme one: Right support at the right time

We started with Kate Reynolds, Deputy Director of Education, at the county council, and Nathan Thomas, CEO Acer Trust. 

Kate and Nathan presented updates on several key areas.

We are focusing on putting forward financial and business cases to ensure our education system is adequately supported. This involves securing necessary funding and resources to implement the planned interventions and support mechanisms effectively. 

The intervention strategy is in place, and the dynamic support register is a key part of this. This strategy aims to address the specific needs of individuals and provide targeted support to improve their outcomes. The register helps track and manage the support needs of children and young people, ensuring timely and appropriate interventions. 

New arrangements are being made for the purchase of education provision. This includes developing a checklist for alternative education provision that schools can use to ensure they are meeting the needs of their students effectively. 

Issues around data and coding experience have been raised through the partnership. We are working on addressing these issues to improve the accuracy and reliability of the data used for decision making and tracking progress. 

Theme two: Right plan, right first time, every time 

Next to provide an update were Deborah Smit, Oxfordshire County Council’s Assistant Director SEND and Inclusion, and Karen Fern, Designated Clinical Officer SEND 0 - 25 at NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB). They focused on quality assurance and improvement activities.

They outlined the range of quality improvement activities that are now taking place each quarter to assess the quality of services including identifying strengths and identifying areas for improvement. The findings from the last quarters quality assurance activity will be presented at the meeting in March, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of services and the impact of recent improvements. 

Training is being rolled out across professionals to ensure a shared understanding of what good looks like in terms of advice and plans. This includes training for professionals who attend the multi-agency panels (MAP) to ensure consistent decision making. The training focuses on ensuring that all professionals involved in the process have a clear and consistent understanding of expectations and standards and a full understanding of their role at the panels. 

Service managers are becoming accountable for their timeliness and the quality of their work. They are undertaking audits and discussing themes at the multi-agency quality assurance meetings (MAQA). These audits help identify areas where service delivery can be improved and ensure that managers are held accountable for maintaining high standards. The discussions at MAQA meetings help share best practices and address common challenges across different services.

The education, health and care needs assessment (EHCNA) guidance is being refined to ensure it is not seen as a threshold or checklist but as a tool to help settings understand the graduated approach; the guidance aims to provide clear and practical advice to settings on how to support children and young people effectively at the earliest opportunity. The document outlines information that is helpful for decision making when an EHCNA is requested. This ensures that decisions are based on comprehensive and accurate information. The goal is to make the process more transparent and supportive, rather than creating additional barriers for settings. 

Theme three: Right provision, right time, looking to independence

Lisa Lyons, Director of Children’s Services at the county council provided an update on this workstream on behalf of its leads Emma Leaver, Service Director at Oxford Health and Chris Wright, Assistant Director, Partnership Development at BOB ICB.

The workstream covers a broad range of topics, including commissioning, health services, and preparing for adulthood. Due to its extensive scope, there is a proposal to split it into two separate workstreams for better focus and clarity. One will be dedicated to commissioning and health services, and another focused on preparing for adulthood. 

The commissioning and health services part of the workstream involves efforts to improve the commissioning processes and the delivery of health services for children and young people with SEND. The goal is to ensure that services are commissioned in a way that meets their needs effectively. This includes working with various health service providers to enhance service delivery and address any gaps or challenges in the current system.

There is a significant focus on preparing young people for adulthood, which includes transitions to adult services, fostering independence, and supporting employment opportunities. This area is crucial for ensuring that young people with SEND have the necessary support and resources to transition smoothly into adulthood. By creating a separate workstream dedicated to preparing for adulthood, the programme aims to provide more targeted support and address the unique challenges faced by young people during this transition.

A programme lead will be appointed for the new workstream on preparing for adulthood. This role will involve coordinating with various stakeholders, including adult social care, to ensure a comprehensive and integrated approach to supporting young people as they transition to adulthood. The involvement of stakeholders is essential for aligning efforts and resources, and for addressing the diverse needs of young people with SEND.

The preparing for adulthood workstream will assess current progress and identify areas for further improvement. This will involve a thorough review of the workstream's activities, outcomes and impact. The goal is to ensure that the workstream is effectively addressing the needs of young people transitioning to adulthood and to identify any additional support or resources that may be required. 

Overarching programme

Lisa went on to reflect on the transformation programme as a whole. 

She highlighted the areas of progress made since July 2023, noting where the  programme has made changes. However, there is still work to be done to demonstrate consistent impact across all areas. While the programme has made changes, the next step is to ensure that these changes are consistently translating into tangible benefits for children and young people with SEND.

Workforce development is an ongoing focus, but it does not require a separate workstream. Instead, it will be addressed through other existing mechanisms. 

Efforts related to economic partnership and inclusion will continue to be addressed through existing structures, ensuring that these areas receive the necessary attention and resources. 

The next steps involve finalising the adjustments to the workstreams (as described above) and continuing to focus on demonstrating the impact of the programme's activities. This includes ensuring that the changes made are effectively benefiting families.

Next and back on the agenda, Kate Reynolds provided an update on key performance indicators (KPIs) with Karen Fern updating on those relating to health.

Key performance indicators

Kate highlighted the increasing number of children and young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and the rising number of requests for needs assessments. 

The impact of the work done by the SEND team is starting to show, with an improvement in the percentage of EHCPs completed within 20 weeks. This percentage has increased by roughly two per cent from November to December 2024. Despite the improvement in timeliness, the cumulative figure for EHCP completion within 20 weeks is still lower than desired due to previous performance issues. 

Karen updated that there were positive trends in health data and engagement with initiatives.

She noted that the percentage of timely responses to education, health and care needs assessment (EHCNA) requests from health is generally good. However, there have been some delays specifically in the physiotherapy area. Karen also discussed work is in train to ensure that all relevant health services, including specialist services like diabetes, are consistently contributing to requests for health information. 

Karen highlighted the positive engagement with Oxford Health and Autism Oxford’s ‘living well with neurodiversity’ offer, which has reached around 2,000 individuals. This initiative is designed to support children and young people with neurodivergent conditions, providing resources and assistance to help them live well. Karen updated that work was underway to see how the offer can be accessed by everyone not just the children and young people who have been referred into CAMHS. 

The Community Wisdom Project launched in February. This initiative is delivered by the Community Paediatrician and Health Visitor Team with support from OxPCF. The initiative aims to support families who are waiting for input from community paediatricians. The project is currently being piloted in a specific area, and feedback is expected in a few months. This project is intended to provide interim support and guidance to families during the waiting period. 

Kate highlighted that there are significant concerns about the attendance of children with EHCPs, particularly in special schools. This issue requires further investigation to encourage better attendance among these young people. 

Finally, Kate shared information from the County Councils Network, which analysed national SEND2 data from 2024. Oxfordshire's EHCP rate per 100,000 is lower than other county councils, and the percentage of initial requests refused is also lower compared to other areas. 

SEND vision and strategy

Deborah Smit provided an overview of the workshop that took place in November 2024 where key stakeholders from across the partnership were invited to develop the SEND vision. Representatives from OxPCF, the voluntary sector and local area partnership were present at the workshop. There were co-design activities that took place that led to the development of vision statements that were then voted on. The SEND Youth Forum also responded to a poll on the key words that they wanted to be included as part of the statement. 

The SEND vision outlines our collective aim to better support children and young people with SEND. 

The vision emphasises the importance of engaging with children and young people to understand their lived experiences, both positive and negative. This engagement is intended to ensure that the support provided is relevant and effective. 

The working group and OxPCF felt strongly that the term "partnership" should be included in the wording of the SEND vision. The vision highlights the need for partnership and collaboration between various stakeholders, including young people, parents, schools and health services. This collaborative approach is essential for creating a supportive and inclusive environment for young people with SEND. 

The vision includes a commitment to continuously review and improve processes based on feedback from young people and their families. This iterative approach aims to ensure that the support provided remains effective and responsive to their needs. 

The vision will be updated following the discussion at the SEND Improvement and Assurance Board (SIAB). Following this, work needs to be done to connect this into the development of a revised SEND strategy. SIAB agreed that an initial separate delivery group will be needed but I requested that SIAB is included in the development of the strategy with a view that the delivery group will eventually merge with SIAB.

Board members suggested that alternative education provision and workforce training are included in the SEND strategy.

Stocktake and deep dive update

To sum us up, dates of the stocktake and deep dive activity were shared by Kate Reynolds. Mark McCurrie, Independent SEND Advisor, provided an explanation of both the stocktake and deep dive activity as well as shared what was expected to be shared by OxPCF as part of the stocktake. 

If you are a parent or carer and have any thoughts or comments, please share with OxPCF by emailing info@oxpcf.org.uk. If you are a partner, please do feedback through your organisation. You can find a list of the LAP member representatives on the board on the SEND improvement webpage. Also don’t forget to sign-up to receive the SEND e-newsletter if you’re not already receiving it. 

Until next time. 

Steve Crocker