Newsletters
Our Regional Improvement Plan can be found here
Our Impact Report published in March 2023 can be found here
If you would like to apply to be a SESLIP consultant, please follow this link to Kent Business Portal – KentBusinessPortal and after registering on the portal, search for Ref – SC240046 – SESLIP – DPS
Updates
Artificial intelligence use cases
LGA has published a report on its survey of the whole local government sector and a series of AI use cases including children’s services in
If your council is adopting or implementing AI and would like to be featured on our use case bank, please contact Tom Hindmarch.
AI and Early Years: Transforming Children’s Services with Intelligent Automation
LGA has organised a series of three seminars presented by Adam Hindhaugh, strategic early help transformation lead at Halton Council explored innovative AI and digital solutions in order to enhance service delivery, streamline processes, and improve outcomes for children and families within Halton Council.
28 September (recording available, to arrange access please contact elizabeth.hodgman@local.gov.uk
7 November 14:00 – 15:30 Using AI to benefit your citizens and impact your early intervention strategies
28 November 14:00 – 15:30 Using AI and Intelligent Automation to support your waiting well strategy
IWiL Cohort 2 Manchester
The Staff College is happy to announce that applications for IWiL Cohort 2 Manchester are now open!
Key details:
Date: Tuesday 18th March 2025
Location: etc.venues Manchester, 11 Portland Street, Manchester M1 3HU
Price: £375 + VAT
Additional Information: This is a full day workshop (9am to 5pm) with light breakfast, lunch and refreshments included.
Law Commission opens consultation on Disabled Children’s Social Care
On 8 October the Law Commission published a consultation on Disabled Children’s Social Care.
The consultation is open until 20 January 2025
The consultation paper is available here. A summary can be accessed here.
Headlines
The Law Commission is reviewing the legal framework governing social care for disabled children in England to ensure that the law is fair, modern and accessible, allowing children with disabilities to access the support they need.
See Law Commissioner Professor Alison Young introduce the consultation here (You Tube)
The Law Commission invites responses from anyone with experience of, or interest in, social care for disabled children. It particularly encourages responses from children and young people, parents and carers, and social workers and local authorities. Responses can be provided using the online form that is available here. If you need the response form in an alternative format please email dcsc@lawcommission.gov.uk
Children in need: 2023 to 2024
On 31 October DfE published Children in need: 2023 to 2024
Headlines
- nearly 400,000 children were classed as in need (around 1 in every 30 children) and nearly 50,000 children were on protection plans (around 1 in every 240 children).
- all of the headline measures decreased compared with a year earlier, continuing the fall seen in 2023 (except for completed assessments which increased).
- all of the headline measures were also down compared with 2020, except for the number and associated rate of children in need.
Protecting children from domestic abuse
NSPCC have organised a online seminar Protecting Children from Domestic Abuse 10am-12noon Tuesday 26 November
- Keynote: Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner
- What NSPCC are doing to protect children from Domestic Abuse: NSPCC Policy Team
- How DART fits and compliments local services :Amy Patterson from DASU
- Introduction to Domestic Abuse Recovering Together programme (DART)
- Supporting healthy relationships with young people: Niamh Kennedy, Talk Relationships
Headlines
NSPCC’s Development and Implementation Team are hosting a free online event on 26th November during the 16 Days of Activism. The event will explore some of the ways the NSPCC is working to protect children from domestic abuse and how professionals can play their part in doing the same. The event will feature:
- A Welcome from Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner
- What NSPCC are doing to protect children from Domestic Abuse: NSPCC Policy Team
- An introduction to Domestic Abuse Recovering Together programme (DART)
- Supporting healthy relationships with young people: Niamh Kennedy, Talk Relationships
And much more! Click here to reserve your FREE space Together we can make a difference and ensure children’s voices are heard.
SE19 SEND Workforce Summit
On 8 November, 9:30-3:00, SE19 SEND Network is hosting a workforce summit at Quadrant Court35 Guildford Road Woking GU22 7QQ
This event is for SEND leaders in the SE19 region and will look at the results and implications of the recent SEND workforce survey
This is an opportunity to understand and potentially resolve the SEND workforce issues in the South East (SE) region. We hope to share learning from successful initiatives around recruitment, training and retention coupled with as much information as we can access about any government plans/intentions that may impact the future of this work.
This is an in-person event with built in opportunity for networking, reflection and discussion. However, we have also kept things relatively small to ensure best outcomes. Every LA in the South-East has an initial offer of one place. Please book here Look forward to seeing you there….
More from: sheelagh.sullivan@outlook.com
Mark Evans (SESLIP) will be our chair and will take us through the findings of the SE SEND workforce survey as well as learning from other workforce initiatives in the region and nationally. This will include information from London colleagues around workforce projects and an update on the SEND Caseworker Apprenticeship championed by Jo McSherrie (Surrey).
Hertfordshire CC will present and share their learning from the SEND Academy – an ongoing initiative to recruit train and retain EHCP coordinators. We also hope to consider emerging possibilities around the role of AI in producing EHCPs, as well as latest offers from other organisations (NASEN/CDC).
Reminders From Previous Weeks
Support for children and
young people with special
educational needs
On 24 October NAO published Support for children and young people with special educational needs
The summary report (pdf) is here
Headlines
Since 2015, demand for EHC plans has increased 140%, leading to 576,000 children with plans in 2024. There has also been a 14% increase in the number of those with SEN support, to 1.14 million pupils in school. These changes have increased the cost of the SEN system.
Although DfE has increased high-needs funding, with a 58% real-terms increase between 2014-15 and 2024-25 to £10.7 billion, the system is still not delivering better outcomes for children and young people or preventing local authorities from facing significant financial risks.
DfE estimates that some 43% of local authorities will have deficits exceeding or close to their reserves in March 2026. This contributes to a cumulative deficit of between £4.3 billion and £4.9 billion when accounting arrangements that stop these deficits impacting local authority reserves are due to end. As such, the current system is not achieving value for money and is unsustainable.
DfE has been implementing its 2023 plan for system improvement, but there remain significant doubts that current actions will resolve the challenges facing the system. None of the stakeholders we spoke to believed current plans would be effective.
Explore Perinatal and Early Years Risks of Parental Conflict
On 3 December, 9:30-4:00, The Staff College, LGA and Foundations are hosting a symposium focused on perinatal and early years risks of parental conflict
This is an exclusive opportunity for Safeguarding Children Partnerships across England to be part of a groundbreaking initiative. Be sure to nominate your partnership’s most appropriate representative to attend and secure your spot at this must-attend event!
We would be grateful if you could share this opportunity with your local Safeguarding Children Partnership link and invite them to think about who might be most appropriate to join us, and to keep a look out for the invitation when it arrives.
Your nominated safeguarding representative should use this form to register their attendance.
Venue: Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham B15 2RS
Cost: free to delegates
We are working on an exciting piece of DWP Funded work with ‘Foundations’ and the ‘LGA’ to explore perinatal and early years risks of parental conflict.
We have invited each Safeguarding Children Partnerships to identify who their most appropriate representative should be, to join us on December 3rd 2024 at Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham, for a learning and development symposium where we will engage in conversations about how a systems leadership approach can benefit this area. There will also be opportunities for sharing and developing strategies and approaches for progressing this nationally, regionally and locally.
We will follow this symposium in the new year with two facilitated Community Of Practice Events that will hopefully develop into systems led communities.
Possible amendments to the Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules 2008
On 12 September MoJ published a consultation on possible changes to the Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules regarding whether Special Educational Needs appeals can be dealt with on the papers without the consent of both parties.
Consultation closes 5 December 2024
The tribunals want to deal with their backlog by changing the process for responding to requests for assessment on paper without a hearing. Furthermore, they are seeking to remove the LAs ability to challenge this or specifically request an in-person hearing.
The consultation document is here
The response questionnaire is here
Ways to respond ; Email to: tpcsecretariat@justice.gov.uk Write to: Tribunal Procedure Committee, Access to Justice Directorate
Policy, Communications and Analysis Group, Ministry of Justice, Post Point: Area 5.20, 102 Petty France. London, SW1H 9AJ
Delivering digital transformation
On Thursday 7 November 2024 MLL Telecom (MLL) and our colleagues at the South East Grid consortium (SEG) will be hosting the IT Strategy Summit South at the Amex Stadium, Brighton.
10-4, FREE to public sector delegates
This will be a one-day IT & Telecoms strategy event for senior public sector IT leaders and decision makers from across the South of England
Agenda
SEG’s aim is to provide a collaborative approach to delivering IT network services and are keen to build on the experience of existing contracts across East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and Surrey.
More information from Krista Pickering (contact details below).
Tools & Templates
We have produced a Regional Improvement Plan (June 2024)
On 31 October DfE published Children in need: 2023 to 2024
On 24 October NAO published Support for children and young people with special educational needs
On 9 October the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse launched its Data Insights Hub
On 8 October the Law Commission published a consultation on Disabled Children’s Social Care. The consultation is open until 20 January 2025
On 7 October Coram Voice published Disability, disparity and demand
On 4 October LGA published its school attendance support survey 2024
On 2 October, LGA published Listening and engaging with care experienced individuals: A good practice guide. Includes case studies from: Medway and West Sussex
On 18 September The Fostering Network published Out of Pocket: Fairer Fees for Foster Carers
On 16 September Ofsted published revised school inspection handbooks
On 12 September, Ofsted (and other inspection agencies) published Joint targeted area inspection of the multi-agency response to children who are victims of domestic abuse – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
On 12 September MoJ published a consultation on possible changes to the Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules
On 10 September The Children’s Commissioner published Children Missing Education: The Unrolled Story
On 10 September DfE published Key stage 2 attainment for academic year 2023/24
On 4 September The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium published a briefing on age disputes
On 3 September Ofsted published a detailed response to its ‘Big Listen’ consultation,
On 3 September Children at the Table published Struggling against the tide: children’s services spending 2022-2023
On 23 August Become published Still Too Far – Children in Care being moved miles from the people and places that matter to them
On 23 August Kinship published Forgotten, a report on support for kinship children’s education and mental health.
On 21 August Action for Children published Four things you need to know about the UK care system
On 15 August NCB published A call for change – tackling inequalities in access to mental health support for children with social work involvement and those living in poverty
In August Skills for Care published Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) child and family Annual report to the Department for Education April 2023 – March 2024
On 31 July the Centre for Homelessness Impact published Staying put: leaving care and the risk of homelessness.
On Thursday 25 July LGA and County Councils Network published Towards an effective and financially sustainable approach to SEND in England
On 16 July MSHR published Internal trafficking and exploitation of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) within England and Wales
On 11 July NFJO published This is what we think – Perspectives on being cared for from older children and young people – including those on deprivation of liberty orders
On 10 July CSA Centre and Barnardo’s SEEN published the first overview of research in relation to the sexual abuse of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children.
On 26 June the BBC radio programme Money Box Live broadcast a 30-minute programme on Care leavers and how they manage their money