UPDATE NO 475 15 October 2021

Political leadership of effective Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) systems. 10 Nov 2021 1.30pm to 4.00pm.

LGA online workshop for Lead Members of Children’s Services, Scrutiny Chairs and other political influencers who shape the leadership of SEND.

This session will build on and complement the Leadership Essentials course for Children’s Services and provides an opportunity to focus in more depth on political leadership of the SEND agenda.

The event will explore a range of challenges in relation to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND and their families including strategic leadership, effective partnerships and understanding what makes a SEND system effective. There will be opportunities to hear from councils that have demonstrated good practice, and a chance for delegates to network and share their own experiences.

This workshop is free to members and will be delivered via Zoom, book a place on Eventbrite. If you have any queries please contact Sangeeta.Bowman-York@local.gov.uk.

Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme

Anna Racher of Research in Practice writes:

We have a series of open access online learning events focused on child exploitation and extra-familial harm. Here is the link to the full programme and registration which is specifically designed for strategic leaders and senior managers across the multi-agency partnership who are interested in ideas to support systems improvement. 

Next events are:

October 13: I am facilitating a session with Annie Hudson (former DCS and now Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel) as we look at Joining the dots: bridging boundaries to strengthen partnerships.

October 21: Rebecca Godar (Senior RiP Associate and a TCE Delivery Partner) will be in discussion with colleagues from Greater Manchester’s Complex Safeguarding Hub about Asking better questions: data for intelligence.

Recent DfE announcements

1. Planned LA expenditure for schools, high needs, early years and children’s services for 2021-22 (s251).

2. East Sussex, Reading and Surrey included in post-16 pupil premium pilot areas. 

3. Free school meals guidance, including extension to NRPF families and some information about being able to access Household Support Fund. 

4. East Kent, Portsmouth and Buckinghamshire included in FE College professional development grants pilot areas

5. Amount and payment schedule for recovery premium payments during 2021-22. 

Data to Insight – National Project – October 2021 Briefing

The DfE has announced its support for the next phase of development of the Data to Insight national project, hosted by East Sussex. 

It has approved a £10,000 contribution for each of nine english regions as part of the Regional Recovery Fund settlement.

You can read the latest news from the project here.

Future dates for network meetings

Lead Members Group: Friday 3 December – Joint meeting with DCSs. More information from Alison Michalska (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: Thursday 9 December 2021. More information from Alastair Lee (contact details below)

Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board: More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

AD Education: Friday 12 November – 10.00am. More information from Chris Owen (contact details below)

AD Safeguarding: Friday 10 December 2021. More information from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: Friday 10 December 2021. 2pm – 5pm. More information from Amanda Meadows (contact details below)

Fostering Network: More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

SEND SE19: LA SEND Conversation 19 October 2021 More information from Tracey Maytas (contact details below)

Levelling up: Five questions about what the government means by the phrase

On 22 September, The Institute for Government published Levelling up: Five questions about what the government means by the phrase.

The government’s flagship levelling up agenda lacks clear objectives, with policies often contradicting ministerial rhetoric about decentralising power.

This report analyses ministerial statements on levelling up and how money has been allocated, including the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund, the £2.5bn National Skills Fund and plans to move 22,000 civil service jobs out of London by 2030. It says the government must address the gaps and tensions in its statements about levelling up, and it identifies three main areas where the government’s objectives remain unclear.

1. Is government prioritising the most deprived people or the lowest economic output areas?
2. What is the role of regional cities in the levelling up agenda?
3. Does levelling up mean decentralising power or not?

The report is here

Implementing Family Hubs – free online conference 2 November 2021 9:30-15:00

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families is hosting a virtual conference on Implementing Family Hubs on 2 November 2021. 

The event will launch the pilot of the Family Hubs Implementation Toolkit: a collection of coproduced resources aimed to support Local Authorities, Health, Education and VCS teams to implement Family Hubs in their local area. 

The event is suitable for Leaders, commissioners, or managers from Local Authorities, Health/CCGs, Education, or Voluntary and Community Sector.

Tutors will be Dr Camilla Rosan; Kate Dalzell; Professor Peter Fonagy; Donna Molloy; Ben Lewing

You can register here