Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Cole, Mrs Dean, Ms Ainslie-Malik, Christine McInnes and Craig Chapman. There were no substitutes.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record.

1)    Mr Love introduced the report.

2)    Sarah Hammond explained that, following the submission of the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) on 29 June 2023, there were further requests – predominantly from NHS England – to make further amendments to the APP. KCC officers recently met with DfE and NHS colleagues, and agreed on the amendments, which were submitted at the end of last week. The Government had given an assurance that in the next few days it would provide the final, approved version of Kent’s APP. This would be shared to the Sub-Committee as soon as it was received.

3)    A Member asked clarification about the information that the Sub-Committee requested at its meeting on 6 June 2023.

a)    Sarah Hammond explained that the information was expected to be provided as a written response to the Sub-Committee.

b)    Gaetano Romagnuolo confirmed that the information was circulated to the Sub-Committee. 

4)    A Member referred to a number of actions that were mentioned in KCC’s Representation to the DfE to be undertaken in April-May 2023 (p28-29 of the agenda pack). The Member asked whether the Sub-Committee would be provided with an updated report, or whether this information would be provided in the final, approved version of the APP.

a)    Mr Love explained that some of the actions – such as CYPE leadership changes ratified by County Council, and the new CYPE leadership model - were completed.

5)    Sarah Hammond confirmed that many of those actions had been completed. She also referred another set of actions (on p36) and confirmed that most of these were also completed. She explained that the areas that were not completed yet and that would require further attention would be included in the APP.

6)    A Member asked for further details about NHS England’s amendments to the APP.

a)    Sarah Hammond explained that, although she could not provide specific details until the APP was approved, there were concerns around timescales and waiting lists.

7)    A Member referred to the 9 areas of significant weakness that were highlighted by the DfE. In particular, about the first one – the concern of parents that the local area was not able to meet their children’s needs. The Member referred to an action that was planned to be completed in April 2023 – dedicated session on voice and lived experience at the Kent SEND Strategic Improvement and Assurance Board (see agenda pack p24) and asked for confirmation on whether the action had been undertaken. 

8)     Sarah Hammond confirmed that the dedicated session took place.

9)     In reply to a question about the most up-to-date Written Statement of Actions, Measures and Indicators, Sara Hammond explained that over the past 3-4 months a new set of key indicators that had been developed for the Kent SEND Strategic Improvement and Assurance Board, and that she would share with the Sub-Committee.

10)  A Member referred to the document Engagement in and Evaluation of Whole School Approaches to Nurture Inclusive Leadership. There was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

All the meetings will be held in the Council Chamber, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ.

Thursday 28 September 2023, 2pm

Tuesday 31 October 2023, 2pm

Thursday 7 December 2023, 2pm

Wednesday 7 February 2024, 2pm

Thursday 21 March 2024, 2pm