Reflections from Steve Crocker - 13 February 2025

Hello and welcome to my 13th blog as independent chair of the Oxfordshire SEND Strategic Improvement and Assurance Board (SIAB).

The board met once more on 13 February. 

Chair’s remarks

I usually start every meeting with a bit of reflection, looking back at discussions we had at the last SIAB and in between. One standout is the importance of communication and engagement across the partnership and with parents, carers, children and young people. In particular, we need to review some of our commitments around co-production, acknowledging where it adds real value and reviewing any next steps. 

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

OxPCF feedback

Jules shared that she had recently attended the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) conference in Northampton. The conference provided valuable insights into the national landscape of SEND services and parent carer participation, as well as opportunities to connect with other forums across the country. Discussions focused on shared challenges, effective management strategies and the importance of amplifying parent carer voices at both local and national levels.

OxPCF confirmed how LAP funding was helping to support key activities that position parent carer voices at the heart of shaping local services. This includes community events; recruitment of both volunteers and paid staff; the delivery of its SEND Connect newsletter; and the SEND Network – a forum for those supporting children and young people with SEND and their families.

The school survey, conducted in early 2024 to gather parent carers’ views on their experiences with mainstream schools, is now ready to be shared with Oxfordshire County Council. The report will then be shared more widely with families and other stakeholders.

Jules outlined that OxPCF had provided feedback to the Department for Education regarding the recent stocktake (a review of progress). The feedback acknowledged that while significant challenges remain, there is evidence of positive work within the LAP, with some partners and individuals demonstrating a strong willingness to engage with OxPCF, address concerns and work collaboratively to improve outcomes for children with SEND. This has resulted in positive experiences for some families, particularly through the support of individual staff members, including those in specialist school settings and in situations where crisis support has been effectively provided.

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, the county council's deputy director of education, and Nathan Thomas, CEO of Acer Trust. 

Kate and Nathan presented updates on several key areas:

• Enhanced pathways: There are positive signs of sustainability in funding and there are plans to increase the number of enhanced pathways across Oxfordshire.
• SEND provision: Schools are receiving positive feedback on the quality of SEND provision, with early intervention support being well-received and impactful.
• Schools relational work: There has been positive feedback on the relational work being conducted across the county.
• Banding framework: Nathan and Kate discussed the progress on the banding framework, highlighting its relaunch in January and the challenges involved. They emphasised the importance of ensuring the provision is right (not focus only on the funding) and that the banding is attached to the child and their needs, not just the provision. Concerns were raised about the need for significant additional funds and the inequity of the current offer. There is a growing deficit which requires transparency and equity in distribution. There are plans to consult on the framework later in the year. Kate emphasized the importance of the Schools Forum in understanding the direction of the banding work.
• School engagement: We have strong buy-in from schools for various initiatives, indicating good partnership work. 

Detailed feedback on the impact of projects and areas needing work will be provided in the next meeting. 

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:

• Timeliness improvement: The backlog of 250 education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNAs) from September has been cleared, and new cases are being allocated within the six-week statutory timeframe.
• Quality of EHCNA requests: A new guidance tool for settings to improve the quality of EHCNA requests will be launched after half-term. Feedback from heads has been positive.
• Multi-agency quality assurance forum: Service managers across education, health and care teams are now auditing a minimum of 10 per cent of professional advice that is written for the EHCNA. Learning from these audits informs continued improvement activity.  
• Liquid Logic portal: Enhancements are being made to the portal for parents to submit EHCNA requests and access issued plans.
• Multi-agency panel transparency: A document outlining panel processes will be published on the local offer after consultation with parent carers. We also need to ensure consistent social care engagement in the multi-agency panel and will be appointing a designated social care officer (DISCO) to support this.
• Training: Training has been provided to ensure consistency of decision making by ensuring all professionals attending multi-professional panels (MAP) are clear on their role and responsibility on MAP; are aware of relevant legislation; and are aware of the functions of the panel.
• Challenges: We need to improve data on annual reviews to meet statutory duties.

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

Chris Wright, Assistant Director, Partnership Development at BOB ICB provided an update:

• Contracting and engagement: Progress on contracting is on track, with significant engagement from professionals inside and outside of the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) to understand challenges and improve services. A CAMHS showcase event was also held, highlighting good work in early intervention and support available to families.
• Needs analysis: A needs analysis draft has been created by integrating data from various sources, including the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, feedback from children, families, and carers, and equality data. This comprehensive approach aimed to provide a clear understanding of current needs and challenges.
• Community Wisdom project: The Community Wisdom project is underway, delivered by community paediatrics and children's community services. This project, supported by OxPCF, aims to provide interim support to families who are waiting for input from community paediatricians. It is currently being piloted in south Oxfordshire and may be expanded based on feedback and evidence.
• Waiting times: Median waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessments have increased, with over 3,600 children waiting. Efforts are ongoing to manage referrals and capacity. The need for better triage and signposting to appropriate services was emphasised to reduce inappropriate referrals and improve service efficiency. This will be achieved with the support of new technologies, specifically AI. 

Theme four: Preparation for adulthood

Kate Reynolds updated SIAB outlining that the initial setup for theme four is underway. The focus of this workstream will be on the transition of young people with SEND into adulthood, ensuring they have the necessary support for education, employment, training, social skills, and independent living. A lead from adult social care has been identified to spearhead this theme. 

The first meeting to establish terms of reference and membership is scheduled for 8 March. The goal is to bring together various aspects such as post-16 education, employment, training, social skills and independent living into a coherent pathway. Kate felt optimistic about quickly demonstrating outcomes and impacts for young people transitioning from education to adulthood. 

Overarching programme

Lisa Lyons, Director of Children’s Services from the county council, updated on the transformation programme as a whole. 

Lisa proposed pausing programme delivery group meetings until May so teams can focus on delivering actions from the stocktake starting with a planned workshop to address cultural partnership, relationships, and a memorandum of understanding to ensure clarity among all parties involved. 

Lisa discussed resetting the approach to communications and engagement, including further development of the local offer as a central information hub. 

Lisa also updated that we are transitioning from the current priority action plan to a broader improvement plan that includes all aspects of the system, not just the areas highlighted in the inspection letter. 

There is a small project to consolidate evidence on workforce development, including recruitment pipelines, training and continuous professional development (CPD). Lisa mentioned the need to quantify and evaluate the amount of CPD and training provided to the workforce. This includes understanding the levels of qualification and turnover rates. 

Next and back on the agenda, Kate Reynolds supported by Deborah Smit provided an update on key performance indicators with Karen Fern updating on those relating to health.

Key performance indicators

• Education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNAs) timeliness: There was a decrease in the percentage of EHCNAs completed within 20 weeks, attributed to the backlog and ongoing efforts to improve timeliness. As mentioned above, the backlog of 250 cases has now been cleared and new cases are being allocated within the six-week statutory timeframe.
• Tribunals: An increase in the number of tribunals was noted.
• Phased transfers: The deadline for phased transfers for children entering statutory school age and those transferring to Year 6 and 7 is 19 February, with a current completion rate of 99 per cent.
• Academic attainment: We have positive attainment results in Early Years Foundation Stage, Year 1 phonics, and Key Stage 5, with Oxfordshire performing above national averages.
• Special schools attendance: Special schools in Oxfordshire have attendance rates above the south-east regional average.
• Dynamic support register: As of the end of January, there were 53 young people under 18 on the dynamic support register, all of whom had an education, health and care plan. There was one person on the dynamic support register who was an inpatient as of 31 January with others at high risk of admission.
• CAMHS neurodevelopmental pathway: The median waiting time for assessment increased from 67 weeks in November to 71 weeks in December. There are over 3,600 children and young people waiting for an assessment. Approximately 100 referrals per month were received in the last six months, with over 600 appointments taking place in December to support these individuals. 

Kate highlighted the importance of understanding the data and its implications for strategic planning and governance. 

Cross-cutting workstreams

Communications and engagement

First up was an update on communications and engagement by Kerry Middleton, Head of Communications, Marketing and Engagement at the county council and Jules Francis-Sinclair (OxPCF) on co-production.

Kerry reminded SIAB that the infographic (to be published every six months) detailing key progress is available to share on the SEND improvement webpage on the county council’s website. Steve's blogs for December and January are also published, with the December blog including highlights from the SEND parent carer survey. There are regular updates to the webpage – the transformation team is planning on updating the roadmap and improvement sections. 

The county council’s SEND parent carer newsletter was distributed on 20 January, with the next one scheduled for 3 March. SENCO newsletters continue every fortnight. OxPCF’s SEND Connect partnership newsletter is due to be released ahead of the February half-term.

We are working on strengthening the LAP SEND improvement communications and engagement strategy, focusing on storytelling and building the improvement narrative. 

Kerry highlighted the upcoming SEND Oxfordshire conversations scheduled for 18 and 25 March, with promotion starting on 18 February.

Kerry emphasised the importance of partners promoting and sharing events, newsletters and news across their channels, particularly ensuring leads are cascading key information to colleagues who have direct relationships with families. They are a crucial channel of communication. 

On co-production, Jules emphasised the need for continuous engagement, feedback and collaboration to enhance co-production efforts and ensure that the voices of parent carers and other stakeholders are heard and integrated into decision-making processes. Jules highlighted the importance of expanding and embedding co-production more broadly across services to ensure meaningful participation.

Data and dashboards

Gary McKelvey, ICT Programme Manager for the county council outlined that significant progress has been made on operational dashboards, including SEND, educational psychology, and attendance data.

The SEND dashboard provides high-level breakdowns of EHCPs, review dates, and finalised plans, with functionality to drill down into historical data, current workloads, and timeliness. 

Analysis of appeals and tribunals data shows trends and highlights the need for better mediation processes. 

There is ongoing work with Oxford Health and Oxford University Hospitals to enhance data offerings, including anonymised data and population health analytics. Operational teams in the county council currently have access to the data, and there is the potential for external partners to access and contribute to the data too.

School places/sufficiency

Kate Reynolds updated that there has been an increase in the number of school places by 52 from 2024 to 2025, with further increases planned for 2025 and beyond. Work is ongoing to improve the funding model for resource bases, which will enable the rollout of more resource bases. 

The allocation of £740 million for special and mainstream capital funding is expected by the end of March, with principles already developed for its use. Challenges exist with some national trusts regarding land access and consultation responsibilities, impacting the progress of new special school locations. 

Commissioning

Caroline Kelly, Head of Commissioning, Oxfordshire Health, Education and Social Care (HESC), for the county council and BOB ICB reported that efforts are underway to include children's joint contracts in the Section 75 agreement between the county council and BOB ICB, aiming for a streamlined governance and reporting function similar to adult services. This is expected to be signed off in the spring. 

She is collaborating with quality improvement colleagues to set up a dashboard for all commissioned providers, including health provision, to ensure comprehensive quality assurance across the system. In addition, she is working with BOB ICB colleagues to ensure health aspects of out of area placements are quality assured, particularly for residential, independent, and non-maintained special school placements. 

Stocktake

Department for Education and NHS England colleagues joined the meeting and provided initial feedback on the recent stocktake and deep dive. Formal feedback will be provided as soon as possible. This initial feedback shows there has been significant improvement work across the partnership and continued progress but there is a need to better evidence the impact we are having for children, young people with SEND and their families. 

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. Parents and carers can also read OxPCF’s SEND Connect newsletters, which include news and information from across the local area partnership.

Until next time. 

Steve Crocker