Cash-strapped council proposes trial where court takes account of local plans and safety valve agreements in SEND disputes

Norfolk County Council has called for a trial period where decisions in the SEND tribunal “must take account of” Local Inclusion Plans and safety-valve agreements.

The council is one of 38 councils in a “safety-valve” agreement with the Department for Education (DfE), which brings additional investment on the condition that the council works to balance the overspend on the schools' budget.

However, its agreement was suspended this year due to missing targets, and is currently subject to review.

The council has now sent a revised plan to the Department for Education, which includes six recommendations “designed to prompt discussion with the DfE and lead to sustainable changes within the SEND system.”

Recommendations include:

• A trial period where Tribunal decisions must take account of safety-valve agreements and Local Inclusion Plans - such as any additional capacity the council is building or extra support it’s putting around mainstream.
• A trial period using ‘reasonable endeavours’ to secure Educational Psychology specialism within advice and information for EHCP assessments and reviews.
• To increase the quantum of High Needs Block funding to reflect the level of high SEND both in Norfolk and across the country, alongside the identification of changes to the SEND system to prevent further deficits from being created.

In a paper to its Scrutiny Committee, the council said: “Currently parents can make appeals to the SEND Tribunal regarding a range of decisions related to individual EHCP’s and the Tribunal will consider the issues related to the individual case only and will not be required to consider this in the context of LA strategic planning for SEND & Alternative Provision (AP).

“However, the DfE do require all LA’s to have a published SEND & AP Strategy and for those LA’s within the ‘safety-valve’ scheme there are also conditions related to the financial investment. Therefore, we are seeking changes that would lead to Tribunal’s needing to have regard to local strategic plans.”

Cllr Penny Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at Norfolk County Council, said: “There is rightly significant national debate on reforming the education system for children with special educational needs. We want to work alongside the government to ensure any changes focus on improving inclusion in mainstream schools, really understanding children’s needs and using resources in the very best way to improve outcomes for children with SEND.

“The areas highlighted are ones which we would like to discuss with government and are informed by some of the recent national reviews which have been published which suggest similar proposals. They are just initial areas to explore at the moment and not fully formed proposals. Any changes would require national policy change and coproduction with parents and carers. We are keen to work alongside the government to explore these areas as part of any national reform and have meetings planned with the DfE as part of our offer to work in partnership on any changes needed locally and nationally.”

Lottie Winson