Proposed decision

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to approve the adoption and implementation of the Locality Model for Special Educational Needs Inclusion in Kent

Reason for the decision

-     Adopting the Locality Model for Special Education Needs (SEN) Inclusion would be a step forwards in Kent County Council’s (KCC) commitment to delivering the priorities of the Countywide Approach to Inclusive Education (CATIE) Strategy. The CATIE Strategy is one of KCC’s responsibilities to implement the Designated Schools Grant management plan, as outlined in the Department for Education’s (DfE) Safety Valve Agreement with Kent.

-      Implementing the Locality Model will support increased inclusion in mainstream schools for children and young people with SEN. The Locality Model will be the framework that ensures KCC can deliver the most effective and appropriate High Needs Funding (HNF) allocations to local areas in Kent. The Locality Model will align with a new Kent SEN continuum being developed to span mainstream, specialist resource, and special school provisions, ensuring system-wide cohesion.

Background

-      In May 2023, at KCC’s Children Young People and Education (CYPE) Cabinet Committee, the CATIE was set out as KCC’s strategy for 2023-28. The CATIE established KCC’s collective ambitions for children, young people, and their families in Kent. Professionals working together in a collaborative, sustainable system to ensure equity of education, meaning children feel they belong, are respected, and valued as individuals, and are fully supported to achieve their best.    

-      The CATIE, signposted within the DfE’s Safety Valve Agreement with Kent, states it will “develop a school/area-led approach to […] SEN support services (Locality Based Resources), to better respond to the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)”.

-       CATIE’s Priority Two aims to develop community working and implement structures that support children and young people with SEND in Kent to have their needs met within their own locality, wherever possible.

-      As part of KCC’s work towards delivering on CATIE priorities a Locality Model has been developed, with the aim of improving the outcomes for children and young people with SEND in Kent. This proposal went out to public consultation between November 2023 and January 2024.

Options (other options considered but discounted)

-      The process for developing the Locality Model was iterative and alternative options were considered within the development process, to ensure the direction proposed is the right one for Kent. The group involved in developing and defining our options consisted of KCC staff from education, finance, and SEN, alongside leaders of education from KCC mainstream primary and secondary schools (selective and non-selective), single and multi-Academy Trusts, special schools, and free schools.

-      Three main options were considered:

1)    to maintain the current system

2)    to implement a Tariff system

3)    to implement a Locality Model

-       Option one was discounted as an impracticable solution; it is not currently performing well in Kent, there iscurrent inconsistency in mainstream SEN inclusion and provision, along with a lack of effective monitoring systems and accountability. Ofsted have stated, poor standards are achieved, and progress made, by too many pupils with SEN under the current system.

-       Option two could have been viable but was discounted due to its identified limitations. A tariff system^[1] for mainstream would provide clear and transparent arrangements with a prescriptive allocation of resources but tends to be used in conjunction with individual funding allocations for children with EHCPs, rather than for wider operations and funding of SEN Support Services. The elements of inflexibility it would bring were also considered too restrictive for SEN support services, and unsupportive of innovative use of resources for mainstream if used on its own.

-       Option three was viewed as the best path for KCC to explore and define further with partners. Research finds that more consistent and effective support in mainstream schools lead to positive outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities who make substantial use of peer moderation and mainstream collaboration have found that doing so improves consistency and is a useful source of advice and support. The Locality Model is designed to improve the quality of the mainstream education offer in Kent, through early and accurate identification of need, high quality teaching of a knowledge-rich curriculum, and timely access to specialist health and care support, and via alternative provision placements where they are needed.

-      Proposals for the Locality Model were agreed following intensive collaboration with schools, settings, and other key stakeholders, and then put out to consultation with parent/carers, young people, all professional stakeholders, and all members of the public.

-  Following consultation, subsequent analysis of feedback, and defining KCC’s response to consultation feedback, the Locality Model will be   presented to the CYPE Cabinet Committee.

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future andFraming Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

-      The Locality Model directly aligns with KCC’s strategic vison for children, young people, and families, as set out in ‘Framing Kent’s Future’. Priority 1: Levelling up Kent explains that: ‘We will maintain improvement support services for all Kent schools, including maintained schools and academies, to maintain Kent’s high-quality education system’. The Locality Model will implement structures that will increase the inclusion of children and young people with SEN in mainstream schools, so they can be educated with, and are able to access the same opportunities to education as their peers wherever possible. The aim is children and young people with SEN in Kent receive early and timely support. That greater numbers of children and young people are able to have their needs met within mainstream settings, or should they need specialist provision, that wherever possible they can access this locally, close to where they live.

-      Under the Locality Model structure, available resources will be discussed by groups of schools and other SEN, education, or healthcare professionals in the local area, to determine where resource and HNF allocations would be best directed. The final decision to allocate HNF will remain with KCC, but by discussions occurring locally KCC aim to make better use of resources. This activity is expected to support KCC with its Safety Valve aims to achieve financial sustainability in the longer term. This would align with priorities set out in Securing Kent’s Future, the next step on from Framing Kent’s Future, agreed at Cabinet in October 2023.

Financial Implications

-      Kent currently spends approximately £45m on specific high needs allocations to schools per annum. Approximately 40% of this are for SEN support services for individual children and the remainder to children with an EHCP. This is funded from the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), a specific ring-fenced education grant from the Department of Education. The council is one of a number of local authorities which are part of the DfE Safety Valve Programme to support those councils with the highest overspends on SEN services to achieve a financially sustainable longer term position. The Kent’s Safety Valve agreement with the DfE states:

“The authority agrees to implement the DSG^[2] management plan that it has set out. This includes action to:

3.1. Implement a countywide approach to ‘Inclusion Education’, to further build capacity in mainstream schools to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), thus increasing the proportion of children successfully supported in mainstream education and reducing dependence on specialist provision

3.7. Ensure there is sufficient and consistent capacity across the county to support children with severe and complex needs in their local area where possible

3.8. Develop a school/area-led approach to commissioning of SEN support services (Locality Based Resources), to better respond to the needs of children and young people with SEND”

(page 2 and 3  DfE DSG ‘Safety Valve’ Agreement: Kent)

-      Kent must implement a sustainable approach to HNF to meet the DfE Safety Valve agreement and to ensure financial sustainability in this area moving forwards; the Locality Model will build the robust governance and monitoring processes required to implement the necessary new approach.

Proposed decision

That the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services  approve the commencement of a formal procurement for a new Direct Payment Support Service commencing 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028, with the option to extend up to a further 24-months.

Reason for the decision

To commit the budget for a commissioned Direct Payment Support Service in place of the current service that is due to end on 31 March 2025 and to formally authorise the commencement of a procurement.

Background

As part of the support planning process, Direct Payments (DPs) are offered to individuals to provide a greater choice and control over their care and support arrangements. They are monetary payments that can be made to individuals to meet some or all of their eligible support needs. Direct Payments for parents or carers of disabled children are a statutory duty under the Children Act 1989 as amended by Sections 17A (inserted by the Health and Social Care Act 2001) and 17B (inserted by the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000).

Currently, the Direct Payment Support Service is delivered by a not-for-profit provider of Children’s and Young People Services. The service is open to:

• Parents and carers of disabled children

• Parents and carers of children with special educational needs

• Young people aged 16-25 with special educational needs

• Young disabled people aged 16-25

The current Direct Payment Support Service ends on 31 March 2025 with all available extensions enacted. The current provider has performed well against Key Performance Indicators and there is a need to procure this service from 1 April 2025.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

1)        Do nothing. The contract will end on the 31 March 2025 and alternative arrangements for the ongoing administration, and support, for Children Young People and Education Direct Payments. Currently there is no internal team that undertake this work for Children and Young People Direct Payments and there is a substantial risk that the Authority will not meet its statutory obligations.

2)        Commission an enhanced service which includes the recruitment and retention of Personal Assistants in addition to the set up and monitoring of Direct Payments. Engagement with DP recipients and users of the service identified a key reason for poor recruitment and retention of PAs is the low wage rate. The contract is not able to review wage rates for PA’s as wage rates are set by the DP recipient within the available budget, set by the Local Authority. The appetite for additional spend with no guarantee of a clear cost benefit is low given the councils current financial situation. This option is discounted.

The proposed Decision is in line with Kent’s Strategy for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities 2021-2024

Priority One: Improve the way we work with children and young people, parents and carers. Qualitative feedback from parents, carers and young people using the service remains extremely high. The survey indicates that as of March 2022 100% of service users rate the support they receive as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, and a similar number stated that the knowledge of the worker provided tosupport them was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’

Framing Kent’s Future Council Strategy 2022-2026:

Priority 4: New models of care and support: Our commitment is to reshape our commissioning practice to ensure we build strategic partnerships with our providers, through earlier engagement, more consistent and proactive commissioning practice, and a stronger focus on co-designing services.

Our commitment is to support the most vulnerable children and families in our county, ensuring our social work practice supports manageable caseloads, reflective learning, joined up safeguarding and effective corporate parenting arrangements.

In addition to Framing Kent’s Future, the Council has recently published ‘Securing Kent’s Future – The Budget Recovery Strategy’ which underpins any spending decisions and makes clear that the Council must adhere to its ‘Best Value’ statutory responsibility.  The proposal for this service adheres to the principles of the strategy

The statutory Best Value duty must frame all financial, service and policy decisions from this point forward, and services must pro-actively evidence the best value considerations in all decisions. Without ensuring best value, we will not be capable of meeting our wider statutory duties, and the services which flow from them, upon which our residents rely.

As outlined in Objective 2 of the strategy, Commissioners are ensuring any future opportunity for Adult Social Care to jointly commission a Direct Payment Support Service in the near future by ensuring a break clause is written into the contract and the initial term comes to an end after three years.

The Direct Payment Support Service seeks to maximise the number of Direct Payments in the county in line with; Securing Kent’s Future’ by optimising support for people between the ages of 14-25 as they transition from children to adult services, promoting independence in adult life.

Proposed decision:

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to:

1. APPROVE the expansion of Northfleet Technology College from a PAN of 165 to a PAN of 189.

2. AGREE to allocate the funding from the CYPE Capital Budget that will be required to complete the project.

3. DELEGATE authority to the Director of Infrastructure to, in consultation with the Director of Education, enter into any necessary contracts or other legal agreements, as required to implement this decision; and

4. AGREE for the Director of Infrastructure to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements, with authority to enter variations as envisaged under the contracts.

Reason for the decision

This proposal to expand Northfleet Technology College has been developed because the Kent Commissioning Plan 2024/28 indicates that there will be a shortfall in year 7 places in the Gravesham and Longfield Non-Selective planning group.

Northfleet Technology College, a member of the Northfleet Schools Co-Operative Trust, is a boys secondary school.  Following an inspection that took place in October 2022, Ofsted deems Northfleet Technology College to be a ‘GOOD’ school, in all areas.

Following initial discussions, Northfleet Technology College agreed to offer 189 places on a temporary basis in 2023. This agreement has been repeated for September 2024. This proposal seeks to make the expansion permanent and so the senior management and governors of Northfleet Technology College have agreed to consult on this proposal to permanently expand the school and enlarge the secondary provision within the school by the addition of 25 places per school year.

If no further action is taken in the longer term, Kent County Council will find it extremely difficult to provide sufficient secondary school places in the Gravesham and Longfield Non-Selective planning group.

Background

Gravesham Borough’s population is increasing with more families moving into the area and as a result, Kent County Council needs to add additional secondary school places to manage the increase in demand. One strategy for providing additional school places is to expand existing successful and popular schools.

The Northfleet Technology College does not have sufficient accommodation to offer the requisite additional places, so as a temporary measure, four mobile teaching rooms will be placed on the site.  This will be a revenue expense.

KCC will design and construct a new standalone block to be ready for the September 2026 intake.  This will need to be funded from the CYPE Capital Budget.

Securing Kent’s Future

The 'Securing Kent's Future' strategy outlines the measures that KCC intend to take to ensure that Kent remains financially stable, now and long into the future.  It describes the statutory priorities, one of which being the statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places are available to any child or young person who requires one.  This duty applies to Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision, as well as mainstream settings.

This proposal is necessary for KCC to continue to deliver the statutory duty, in a cost-effective way, in line with the guidelines described in the Securing Kent's Future strategy. It will help to maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for all families.

The County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2024-28 is a five-year rolling plan which is updated annually.  It sets out KCC’s future plans as Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision across all types and phases of education in Kent. A copy of the latest plan can be viewed from this link:

https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/education-provision/education-provision-plan

Financial Implications

Capital

Progression of the scheme will be dependent on the outcome of detailed feasibility and design work – these will inform the full overall cost of the project.

The cost of the new standalone block will be borne by the CYPE Capital Budget.  Currently the estimated cost for the whole scheme is £8.3m.  This sum has been included within the Basic Need Capital Programme that was recently agreed by Council. KCC Project Managers will be undertaking continuous checks to keep build costs as close as possible to this estimate.

Northfleet Technology College is a Public Finance Initiative (PFI) school. The PFI Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) have been on board from the start of the project and a change notice is in place for the Deed of Variation (DoV). The works will result in part of the land being removed from the PFI red line. Forecast legal costs for the DoV will be included within the total project cost for the main capital works.

An allowance of up to £2,500 may be payable to the school, to outfit each new teaching room with appropriate ICT equipment, such as touch screens or projection equipment.  This will be met from the overall Capital allocation for this project.

Should the scheme not proceed through to completion, any costs incurred at the time of cessation would become abortive costs and are likely to be recharged to Revenue. This would be reported through the regular financial monitoring reports to Cabinet.

Revenue

The initial phase involves the installation of four mobile teaching rooms at a cost of £311,168.  This will be a Revenue expense, funded from the Mobiles and Temporary Accommodation Budget included within the Education Revenue Budget.

As the scheme progresses, £6,000 per newly created learning space, would be provided towards the cost of furniture and equipment, such as tables, desks, chairs, cabinets and learning resources.

The school would also receive funding for the additional pupils that it admits in line with the funding allocated to schools through KCC’s Schools Funding Formula.

Both the £6,000 per classroom, and the additional pupil funding will be met from the Growth Funding provision held within the dedicated school's grant.

Human

The school will appoint additional staff as required; utilising revenue funding allocated through the Schools Funding Formula for these additional pupils.

Proposed decision:

A) Retrospectively contract with the East Kent Hospitals Trust and the Kent Community Health Foundation Trust for 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 for the provision of SEN Therapies

B) Contract with the East Kent Hospitals Trust and the Kent Community Health Foundation Trust for 1 April 2024 to 31 August 2025 for the provision of SEN Therapies

C) Agree to the review of the Kent and Medway Communication and Assistive Technology service and to incorporate into the wider recommissioning of SEN Therapies

D) Agree for the exploration of joint commissioning with the NHS for the wider provision of SEN Therapies to include in the re-procurement of NHS Community Services

E) Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and the Corporate Director of Finance, to take relevant actions, including but not limited to, entering into and finalising the terms of relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary, to implement the decision

Reason for the decision

To continue with annual contracts, issued by NHS Providers, for the current Special Educational Needs (SEN) Therapy services. The future commissioning intentions are to align with the NHS Kent and Medway timeline to re-procure their Community Services, and specifically jointly commission an Integrated Therapy Contract for 1 September 2025.

The current annual contract values are £752,905 with East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) and £1,526,586 with Kent Community Health Foundation Trust (KCHFT).

This requires agreeing a retrospective contract for the financial year 2023/2024 and a future contract for 17 months from1 April 2024 to 31 August 2025.

Decision is also sought to review and bring the Kent and Medway Communication and Assistive Technology service into the new jointly commissioned Integrated Therapy Contract, under the NHS Kent and Medway Community Services re-procurement. 

Background

The 2015 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice, sets out that Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Assistive Technology should be jointly commissioned.

KCC is working towards a jointly commissioned Integrated Therapy Service, which will include the Kent and Medway Communication and Assistive Technology Service (KMCAT), to maximise the use of finite resources from local authorities, schools, colleges and the NHS improving outcomes for 0–25-year-olds with SEND and their parents/carers.

The joint aim is to establish a new jointly commissioned service by September 2025, to fall in line with NHS Kent and Medway’s broader recommissioning of a unified Community Service Offer.

Significant transformational activity is underway with the NHS providers who are working in partnership with KCC and NHS Kent and Meway to develop new ways of working.   Implementing a more proactive and preventative tiered approach to the provision of therapy support, that will maximise use of finite resources and ensure a more coherent county-wide offer.

Securing Kent’s Future – Budget Recovery Strategy

KCC has agreed with the Providers that there will be no increase to the contract price for 2023/2024, however, the Providers have stated that this position will not be sustainable for 2024/2025, and therefore negotiations continue. 

The contract values for 2024/2025 will be agreed alongside Finance colleagues and the Director for Education.

The longer-term joint commissioning project will meet the ambitions of Framing Kent’s Future as follows:

Priority 4: New models of care and support demand for our social care services has out stripped funding year on year. Our commitment is to seize the opportunity of integrating our planning, commissioning and decision making in adult, children’s and public health services through being a partner in the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System at place and system level.

It meets the aims of Securing Kent’s Future by holding Best Value at the centre of all joint commissioning opportunities.

Financial Implications

These contracts are for the provision of Therapy staff and are only a proportion of the overall Therapy services purchased by the Council. A high-level reconciliation has been undertaken to be able to justify the level of spend in commensurate with the level of service provided, given that vacancies have been held to compensate for the lack of inflationary uplift. 

KCC has been in negotiation with the Providers for this year’s fee increase and have agreed in 2023/2024 there will be no fee increase, this has meant the providers have held frozen vacancies.

Both Providers have stated that continuing without a fee increase into the new financial year 2024/2025 will not be sustainable, and therefore negotiations continue. 

The current contract values are £725,905 for EKHUFT and £1,526,586 for KCHFT, contract values for 2024/2025 will be agreed alongside Finance colleagues and the Director for Education.

This contract is funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant: High Needs Block, an annual grant provided by the Department of Education.

Legal Implications  

The procurement strategy is to align existing Therapy services required by KCC, with the service commissioned by the NHS Kent and Medway and to jointly commission the service, with the NHS Kent and Medway as the Lead Commissioner and KCC as a Joint Commissioner. 

As a Joint Commissioner, it is expected that KCC will be a full partner of the contract with the provider(s) and will have the ability to participate in performance contract management and monitoring, with NHS Kent and Medway.  This will strengthen existing contract performance monitoring and management, given the scale and value of the proposed contract.

The Provider Selection Regime (PRS) came in to force on 1 January 2024. PSR is a set of rules for procuring health care services, by NHS England, Integrated Care Board, NHS Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and Local Authorities.

There are three Provider Selection processes:

For the 2023/2024 contract, the Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 would have applied, however as PSR is now in force, this is the regulation that covers the provision of Therapy services, and it is therefore recommended that the route followed to sign these contracts is under Direct Award (C).

For any other meaningful commissioning using this Regime would require developing specifications, detailed outcome frameworks and key performance indicators, quality assurance mechanisms and contract management schedule.  This would also not allow for the necessary coproduction with Children, Young People, and their Families/Carers, as required by the SEND Code of Practice and our commitment to the SEND Co-production Charter.

Equalities implications

A full Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) will be completed as part of the Joint Commissioning Strategy, to help us to consider the potential impact of a proposal, and how to make things as fair as possible for anyone who is likely to be affected. The level of detail required for an EqIA depends on how complex the proposal is, and to what extent people are likely to be affected by it.  We believe this will have far reaching implications and therefore full EqIA will be required.

DPIA (if relevant)

A DPIA checklist will be completed in due course as part of the commissioning plan to ensure KCC and partners ability identify and minimise the data protection risks within this commissioned activity. As this is a major project which requires the processing of personal data, the DPIA Assessment will therefore:

• describe the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing;
• assess necessity, proportionality and compliance measures;
• identify and assess risks to individuals; and
• identify any additional measures to mitigate those risks.

Proposed decision:

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services to agree to the implementation of a new Independent Consultancy Services Framework to support the delivery of the Capital Works Programmes over a 6-year (4-year+1+1) contract period to include the following disciplines:

•              Lot 1 – Multi-discipline (client delegated duties)

•              Lot 2 – Project Manager (including client delegated Quantity Surveying duties)

•              Lot 3 – Supervisor

•              Lot 4 – Technical Advisor

•              Lot 5 – Construction Design and Management Advisor

Reason for the decision

The Kent County Council had previously appointed consultants on a project-by-project basis via the Property Services Consultancy Framework, to provide professional consultancy services to support construction projects. However, the Framework expired in June 2020 and procurement of such services has since been conducted on a project-by-project basis, tendered or direct award procurements in-line with Spending the Council’s Money Policy and Public Contract Regulations.

The current method of procuring consultancy services is time consuming and resource intensive and requires a more efficient approach. In addition, a new professional consultancy services framework that aligns to the new construction partnership framework (already in place) and proposed minor work construction partnership framework (subject to procurement).

Options

There are 3 options to consider for the ongoing procurement of consultancy services:

•              Insource of consultancy provision.

•              Continuing with current arrangement of tendering/direct award for each requirement

•              Establishing a new Construction Consultancy Framework.

Option 3, to establishing a new Construction Consultancy Framework is the preferred option, as this would provide a pre-qualified framework of consultants to efficiently support the projects procured via the new Construction and proposed Minor Works Partnership Frameworks on behalf of Kent County Council. It is likely that the Frameworks will work on a rotational basis so that all suppliers get equal allocation of works (performance and project dependant).  In addition to this the facility to undertake mini tenders will be included.

It is envisaged that the new Independent Construction Consultancy Services Frameworks will commence by October 2023.

How the proposed decision supports the Interim Strategic Plan

The proposed decision will support the objectives of Strategic Delivery Plan 2020 – 2023 by:

•              Supporting the delivery of the Council’s Infrastructure Capital Delivery Programme

•              Supporting the delivery of the Kent Commissioning Plan for Education Provision 2020-2024, including the Basic Need programme

•              Supporting the KCC Corporate Estate maintenance programme.

•              Supporting the KCC Education Estate maintenance programme.

Proposed decision –

Contracts to be awarded to successful providers for the provision of Community Support Services (Care and Support in the Home) for Disabled Children and Young People following a recent procurement exercise linked to the Adults Care and Support in the Home contract.

Delegate decisions on the implementation to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, or other Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health as appropriate.

Further information –

Decision 20/00102 - Community Support Services for Disabled Children & Young People was taken on 19 March 2020 and allowed officers to follow a competitive procurement process for children’s community support services within the Adults ‘Care and Support in the Home’ contract. 

Following the competitive procurement process a further decision is required to award the contracts to the successful providers. 

Approval to the Director of Infrastructure to progress with and enter into the necessary documentation to complete the disposal of the aforementioned property in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services. The Decision will seek legal agreements to be actioned to complete the sale of the relevant properties.