Bath & North East Somerset Council |
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MEETING: |
Education Committee |
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER |
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MEETING DATE: |
29 January 2001 |
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REPORT AUTHOR: |
Fran Newport |
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RESPONSIBLE OFFICER: |
David Williams |
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TITLE: |
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WARD: |
All |
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BACKGROUND PAPERS: SEN Programme of Action, 1999-2002 |
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AN OPEN PUBLIC ITEM |
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1. SUMMARY
1.1. This report updates the Education Committee on progress made on the SEN Programme of Action 1992-2002 which was agreed in July 1999. It also sets out revised or additional actions, taking into account proposed new legislation, the new SEN Code of Practice and the Ofsted Action Plan. Copies of the original SEN Programme of Action are available in members' rooms.
2. RECOMMENDATION
2.1. Members are asked to note progress on the original action points and to approve the revised SEN Programme of Action, 2000-2002.
3. RESOURCE AND CORPORATE POLICY IMPLICATIONS
3.1. Financial:
None arising from this report.
3.2. Staffing:
None arising from this report.
3.3. Equalities:
None arising from this report.
3.4. Economic:
None arising from this report.
3.5. Environment:
None arising from this report.
3.6. Council Wide Impacts:
None arising from this report.
4. BACKGROUND AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK
4.1. The SEN Programme of Action was the B&NES response to the Government's own SEN Action Programme, published in November 1998. It was the subject of wide consultation before adoption by the Education Committee in July 1999.
4.2. A number of the individual actions listed are incorporated in the Education Development Plan or the Behaviour Support Plan.
4.3. There is a commitment to review the Programme each year.
4.4. Since the Programme was first adopted a number of government initiatives have been announced which require further actions in relation to SEN over the next year. These initiatives are:
· the SEN and Disability Rights in Education Bill
· the proposal to amend the Education (Special Educational Needs) Regulations, 1994
· the proposed revision of the SEN Code of Practice, with an implementation date of September 2001
4.5 The proposed changes have significant implications for the work of the SEN Team and
schools and implementation is covered in the Education Service Plan 2001/2002.
4.6 In addition, the Ofsted inspection of the LEA has led to a number of actions in relation to SEN. These are:
· to ensure that the inclusion strategy and any reorganisation of special education provision are effectively managed and implemented.
· to improve communication and consultation with parents of children who have special educational needs.
· monitor the use of funds delegated to schools through the local management of schools (LMS) funding formula to meet pupils' special educational needs.
5. REPORT ON PROGRESS
5.1. Appendix A lists the actions which were listed as needing to be completed by July 2000 and shows those which have been completed and those which remain outstanding.
5.2. The Committee will note significant progress has been made against most of the planned actions. Some have been deferred because of government proposals to revise the SEN Code of Practice in Spring 2001. In a few cases progress has been limited because of general workload pressures. Members will be aware that the service carried a key staff vacancy throughout 2000/1 which did slow progress in some areas of work.
6. REVISED PROGRAMME OF ACTION 2001/2
6.1 Those actions which were targeted for completion by July 2000, but which remain incomplete, have been incorporated into the list of actions to be completed by July 2002. In some cases they have been amended to take account of recent developments. Actions arising from 4.5 and 4.6 above, have been added. Those now form the part of the revised SEN Action Programme, 2001-2002, attached as Appendix B.
7. IMPACT ON SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT/SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS
7.1 The SEN Action Programme impacts on school improvement by supporting schools in
providing high quality provision for SEN pupils. It takes on board both the government agenda for SEN, including the promotion of inclusion, and Ofsted recommendations.
7. CONSULTATION
8.1 The original SEN Action Programme was the subject of full consultation in 1999. The amendments made have not been consulted upon widely since they arise either from changes to legislation/regulations/Codes of Practice or from other action plans, such as Ofsted or Service Development, which have been the subject of consultation in themselves.
8.2 This report was sent to the Trades Unions for comment on 14.12.00. Any comments received will be reported to the meeting.
ref: fran/committeereports/0424/
