Agenda and minutes

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

No declaration of interest was received.

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Special Educational Needs Joint-Committee held on 23 September, 2016.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Special Educational Needs Joint-Committee held on 23 September, 2016, were presented and confirmed as correct.

To present the report of the Principal Educational Psychologist on the work of the SEN Provider Unit.

The report of the Principal Educational Psychologist setting out the work of the services within the Provider Unit during the period since June, 2016 was presented for the Joint-Committee’s consideration.

The Principal Educational Psychologist highlighted the following matters:

•           That due to the absence of the Service Manager and also the extended absence of an experienced administrative officer, some pressures have been experienced by the Administration Services Team which is responsible for administering the assessment and review processes. The remaining staff members have taken on some of the additional responsibilities and the service has continued to meet the demands placed upon it. Members of the team have taken part in training in Person Centred Planning Techniques (PCP) in preparation for the implementation of the new legislation that will expect Welsh Education Authorities to utilise these techniques when they consider the additional learning needs of children. PCP techniques seek to ensure that the individual child with additional learning needs is the focus of review meetings and fully participates in them. It is anticipated that this new way of conducting review meetings will also ensure more detail and consistency in the nature and amount of additional help that children receive.

•           Members of the specialist teaching service have also attended the PCP Techniques training and together with the Education Psychologists they will be working with schools to promote this approach and to ensure consistency in the way review meetings are held. One specialist teacher for hearing impairment has left the service for a post in another county.

•           That following the secondment of a member of the service to work on the joint ALN and Inclusion Strategy, the Educational Psychology Service has an additional member of staff. The service has continued to provide support for the two authorities’ schools including working with individual children, consulting on matters involving additional learning needs and providing training within schools at their request.

•           Statistical data for the past 10 years from 2006 to 2016 shows that the number of statements of special educational needs issued in both counties has not reduced to such an extent as to indicate a permanent downward trend. The ratio between Anglesey and Gwynedd varies, and whilst Anglesey has experienced a sustained period when the percentage of statements issued in the county was below 40%, the percentage level for both 2014/15 and 2015/16 was lower in Gwynedd at 49% and 39% respectively compared to 51% and 61% for Anglesey. Most statements are completed within the statutory 26 weeks when the delays caused by the late receipt of information from personnel from outside the Education Authorities are discounted. The percentage of statements completed within the 26 weeks statutory timescale without exceptions is on average 95% for Gwynedd and 94% for Anglesey. When exceptions are taken into account, the average percentage for Gwynedd is 71% and 67% for Anglesey.

The Joint-Committee considered the information presented and raised the following issues:

•           The Joint-Committee noted that due to sickness absence, the Administrative Service has  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider arrangements for the day to day management of the Joint-Committee.

The Senior Inclusion Manager of Gwynedd Council reported that due to the absence of the Administrative Services Manager, the SEN Joint-Committee since last September has been jointly managed on an informal basis by the Senior Inclusion Manager, Anglesey’s ALN Officer and the Principal Educational Psychologist. The Joint-Committee’s support is requested to put this arrangement on a formal footing in order to provide stability for the staff. To facilitate the arrangement it is intended to re-locate the office to the Gwynedd Education Department.

The Senior Education Accountant confirmed that the proposed arrangement would not entail additional cost to the Joint-Committee.

It was resolved to endorse the arrangement for the management of the Joint-Committee’s Administrative Office as proposed.

NO FURTHER ACTION ENSUING

To present the report of Gwynedd Council’s Head of Finance.

(Report to follow)

The Senior Education Accountant confirmed that the indications are that the Joint-Committee financially will break even by the end of the year. However, the cost of scanning files for Cloud storage has amounted to £30k in excess of the budget and this will be charged to the authorities on the basis of £20k for Gwynedd and £10k for Anglesey over and above their contributions as was agreed in the event of any overspend occurring on the budget. However, there may be underspending elsewhere in the budget that will help reduce the amount of overspend.

The Senior Inclusion Manager said that moving to a digital file storage system makes accessing the information far easier and also means that the information is more easily retrievable and far more secure than it otherwise would have been had it remained on paper files in one location. Additionally, the relocation of the Administrative Office to Gwynedd Council’s Education Department means that the space to host the volume of paperwork involved is not available.

It was resolved to note the information.

NO FURTHER ACTION ENSUING

To receive a verbal update on the position with regard to implementing the Gwynedd and Anglesey ALN and Inclusion Strategy.

The Project Manager reported on the issues arising from the previous meeting of the Joint-Committee in September with regard to implementing the new Joint ALN and Inclusion Strategy as follows:

•           That the Governance Model will be part of the formal agreement between the Joint-Committee and the Heads of Education of the two authorities. A memorandum of understanding which is a legal document is being drafted to accompany the changes taking place and the governance model will be reviewed.

•           Discussions with schools and governing bodies are ongoing and they are being kept up to date on developments via the co-ordinators. Further work will be undertaken with Head Teachers and Governors.

•           The transition to the new model will be facilitated by the Memorandum of Understanding.

•           The production of an Annual Report on the services encompassed by the new ALN and Inclusion Strategy can be incorporated within the final formal agreement.

•           Safeguarding Welsh medium training has been discussed and measures are planned by the Welsh Government to address this issue and to fund Welsh medium training courses for educational psychologist and specialist teachers.

•           Provision for 16 to 25 year olds has been recognised in the new ALN and Inclusion Strategy as a second phase. Greater clarity from Welsh Government around who is financially responsible for the provision for this age group is awaited.

•           Consultation on the restructuring process has been ongoing since 5 October and all affected staff members within the Joint-Committee and within the two authorities have been given an opportunity to present their views in one to one meetings with Personnel representatives. Additionally, every service has had an opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have and to give feedback on the proposed structure which is now being fine-tuned. A meeting for all staff members is to be held on 6 December, 2016 at which the Heads of Education of both Gwynedd and Anglesey Councils will present the final staffing structure. 

The Joint-Committee noted the information and sought clarification of the implementation timeline and consequently, the schedule for the discontinuation of the Joint-Committee both as an entity and as a forum given that the Joint-Committee’s next and possibly final meeting is scheduled for 17 March, 2017.

The Joint-Committee was informed that the Joint-Committee will cease to be the employer on 31 August, 2017; it is intended that the staff changes to be implemented as part of the Strategy will take effect on 1 September, 2017 at which point Gwynedd Council will become the employer as the lead authority for the Joint ALN and Inclusion Strategy. It is planned that the partnership agreement between the two authorities will be in place by the 31 March, 2017 and every effort will be made to formalise the governance arrangements by March, so that the governance model can be presented to the Joint-Committee at its March meeting. However, it is possible that a meeting(s) of the Joint-Committee will be required after March, 2017 in order to formally close  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

10:30 a.m. on Friday, 17 March, 2017 in Llangefni.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Joint-Committee is to be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, 17 March, 2017 in Llangefni.