Agenda item

To present a report on the work of the SEN Provider Unit during the Spring term, 2015.

The report of the Principal Educational Psychologist on the work of the SEN Provider Unit during the spring term, 2015 was presented for the Joint-Committee's consideration.

The Principal Educational Psychologist reported on the following aspects -

•           The administration of assessment and review processes.

The Officer referred to the staffing situation and to the departure of the Senior Administration Officer following the end of her period of secondment. The Officer also made reference to the conclusion of the Job Evaluation process in Anglesey as regards its implications for the Unit’s administration and support staff. 

•           The Specialist Teachers’ Service

The Principal Educational Psychologist reported that the Provider Unit has currently a strong team of specialist teachers covering all specialisms including experienced teachers; teachers who have been appointed to take over the duties of staff nearing retirement and specialist assistants who are able to undertake specific aspects of the work thereby releasing teachers to carry out other duties. The Joint-Committee is having to contend with a reduced budget as a result of a cut in Anglesey’s allocation to the Joint-Committee for the 2015/16 financial year and the likely ramifications thereof.  The Joint-Committee needs to be aware of potential effects on the delivery of services due to factors beyond its control.

•           The Educational Psychology Service

The Principal Educational Psychologist said that the service is working with fewer staff than normal because two part-time psychologists have left the service and two trainee psychologists are being supported on the professional course in Cardiff. One of the senior psychologists is also on secondment to Gwynedd Council to assist with the development of the Council’s systems for arranging and providing special educational needs. The service continues to operate a system whereby each school has its allocated psychologist and an assistant psychologist has been taking part in training and working with schools with individual children.

•           Performance Data

The Principal Educational Psychologist referred to the tables as at section 4 of the report which show the number of final statements produced within the statutory timetable of 26 weeks during the 2013/14 academic year. The figures show that the administration team produced considerable more statements in 2013/14 than it did in 2012/13 with a 75% increase for Gwynedd and a 64% increase for Anglesey.

The Joint-Committee considered the report and raised the following issues –

•           The Joint-Committee noted that it would be helpful for it in understanding the staff situation to be provided with information in a tabular form showing the staffing requirements against the actual staff position. Anglesey’s Head of Learning said that it is difficult to recruit suitably qualified bilingual staff so in order to overcome that hurdle and bridge any gaps in provision the Joint-Committee has appointed trainees on the basis of a planned and agreed use of the Joint-Committee’s reserves. The Principal Educational Psychologist said that whilst the staffing position is currently satisfactory, sustaining that position means exceeding the Joint-

Committee’s budget particularly as Anglesey has reduced its contribution to the Joint-Committee with the result that cutbacks will have to be made.

•           The Joint-Committee noted the loss of the service of a Senior Psychologist to Gwynedd because of a secondment.

•           The Joint-Committee was concerned by the reduction in the Joint-Committee’s budget and by the risk this might create in terms of not being able to meet the needs of a vulnerable cohort of children. Anglesey’s Head of Learning said that the Joint-Committee had been informed at its meeting in September, 2014 that services across  Anglesey Council had been asked to identify savings of 10% in preparation for consultation on the 2015/16 budget and that a reduction in the Joint-Committee’s budget was one of the options being considered. The implementation of that option was confirmed at the last meeting in January, 2015 and came into effect on 1 April, 2015. Nevertheless every effort has been made to ensure that it does not interfere with the provision made for children with additional learning needs.

•           The Joint-Committee noted the implementation of job evaluation by Anglesey Council as a potential risk in terms of the retention of staff  negatively affected by the process.  Anglesey’s Head of Learning said that the Council in Anglesey in the same way as other local authorities in Wales has moved to implement the Single Status Agreement.

•           The Joint-Committee noted that performance against the statutory performance indicators with regard to the percentage of cases completed within 26 weeks had declined noticeably for both Gwynedd and Anglesey. Anglesey’s Head of learning suggested that this was reflective of the lack of paediatricians leading to a delay in Health input to cases within the Joint-Committee meaning that assessments are not completed to timescales. She said that the inability to work in a timely way is a matter for concern.

•           The Joint-Committee noted that it would be helpful for it to know how many children the percentage represents so that it is better able to determine whether the decrease in performance levels is attributable to stricter criteria or to an increase in the number of children requiring assessment. Gwynedd Council’s Inclusion Officer said that BCUHB has now offered the services of a paediatrician for the moderation panels to enable a more prompt input by the health service which should address the immediate concerns. However, the review of ALN and Inclusion carried out by Gwynedd Council as part of the development of a new strategy has sought to reassess the effectiveness of the whole system in its entirety including the number of statements generated rather than looking at specific issues within it such as the reasons why statements are not completed within timescales.

It was resolved to accept the report and to note its contents.

ACTION ARISING: Principal Educational Psychologist to provide information in relation to the number of children/cases which the performance percentage under PI 15a and PI 15b represents.