(a)

minutes from the Plymouth Autism Partnership Board would be provided to Members;

(b)

information included in the report was generated from the school census data for Plymouth schools; there were currently 23 young people, aged 15-18,  placed out of the city that were receiving an education, and 21 young people, aged 15-18, who had an identified special educational need that were home educated. Of the 23 young people placed out of the city, this was for a variety of reasons including parental choice, because of a complex learning requirement that was met within a specialist provision or because of a specialist health need including visually impaired or hearing impaired young people who were better supported at a specialist provision; children placed out of the city for educational need was not simply because of lack of capacity in Plymouth schools;

(c)

of the 1196 young people in Plymouth identified with SEND, 434 young people also had an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Members were informed that all young people would be provided with help regarding transitioning into adulthood regardless of a EHCP however schools were obliged to support young people with SEND; the Council had a contract with Careers South West to work with young people who were most at risk of falling out of the system;

(d)

Members would be provided with a breakdown of data detailing how many of the city’s looked after children had special educational needs and were impacted by the transition to adulthood, as well as those with an EHCP;

(e)

care plans for young adults with severe complex needs who were transitioning to adult services were discussed with multi agencies, the individual and their family at the earliest opportunity; support was also provided to parents with respect to the mental capacity act, power of attorney and guardianship however this was not provided whilst the individual was supported in Children’s Services;

(f)

further information regarding the transition to adulthood regarding mental health services would be provided to Members;

(g)

currently the local authority worked with Parent Carer Forum and the Young Send Group in order to ascertain the satisfaction of the young people identified with SEND; officers were assessing this to see if an integrated approach affected the speed or success of outcomes;

(h)

Members would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

(a)

the performance of children in schools was affected by the workforce and the skills and resources available to teachers; it was considered that Plymouth’s funding for children was approximately £300 less per child than in other parts of the country;

(b)

Members would be provided with a briefing upon the role of the Regional School’s Council and an offer would be extended to the Regional School’s Commissioner to attend a future meeting of the Education and Children’s Social Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee;

(c)

local authorities had a statutory duty as a champion for all children regardless of if they were taught in a maintained school or multi academy trust. The Council had the responsibility of challenging  academies on standards that were required in special needs and disability, inclusion, safeguarding and access of children to a balanced curriculum; this was done via an integrated approach with the Plymouth Teaching School’s Alliance;

(d)

the escalation of concern into action relating to failing schools under a multi academy trust was complicated by the overall responsibility of the Government, other than the local authority;

(e)

literacy standards was one of the key areas in Plymouth where children were below the national average with regards to the early years and foundation stage;

(f)

Members would be provided with benchmarking with like authorities in future reports;

(g)

recruitment challenges were deemed to be greater than the challenge posed by the retention of teachers/ head teachers in Plymouth;

(h)

Members would be provided with benchmarking data with similar authorities in relation to the different types of school, including Grammar and Studio;

(i)

Plymouth City Council was looking to create an early years centre of excellence in order to provide a strong base for support and advice for parents and teachers; it was acknowledged that the use of digital devices by parents at home may be having a detrimental effect upon a child’s performance at school however it was considered that some parents may not be aware of this. It was highlighted by a Member that it was not the use of the technology by parents, but the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

(a)

the Children’s Improvement Board, a multi-agency forum, was in place to address issues and monitor performance; going forward this would be chaired by Alison Botham;

(b)

with regards to the recruitment of social workers and their being retained, Plymouth was rated better than the national average; this was not affected by the link with Torbay Council;

(c)

there was continued confidence that there was no detrimental impact upon Plymouth in linking with Torbay to support their children’s services.