The following question was submitted by Grace Strickland and answered by Councillor Charlotte Carlyle (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People):

Question:

Seven Special Educational Needs schools exist in Plymouth, also serving parts of South Hams and Cornwall. Economic growth means the numbers of places are at crisis point. Acute shortages from foundation year upward means pupils are offered residential places further afield. What are the council intentions to resolve this issue? 

Answer:

Overall there are 2668 pupils with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) in Plymouth. The majority of these pupils are educated in Plymouth mainstream schools who receive additional funding per pupil.  A number of pupils are also educated in early years settings and the post-16 providers such as Plymouth City College. 

There are seven special educational needs schools in Plymouth. The schools currently provide places for 748 pupils.  

The seven special schools are very largely at capacity and we foresee that we will need to expand this provision. We have commissioned an external evaluation and forecast of what provision will be needed for the coming ten years. We expect this report in late March and will then set out a strategy as to how to shape current and future provision to meet the forecast need. 

In the shorter term one of the special schools is due to increase its capacity by 16 places through the addition of two modular classrooms which are due to be installed towards the end of 2023. The funding for this has been allocated by Plymouth City Council from our national allocation for increasing the number of places for pupils with high needs.

The following question was submitted by Mr Mike Sheaff and answered by Councillor Chris Penberthy (Chair of Performance, Finance and Customer Focus Overview and Scrutiny Committee):

Question:

City council data show £1,377,429.56 spent using Government Procurement Cards in 2019. In 2020 the council revised its GPC policy, but in 2021 Internal Audit found “significant gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance”. 2022 GPC spending was £2,595,783.53. How has Overview & Scrutiny ensured there is sound justification for this 88.45% increase?   

Answer:

The Performance, Finance and Customer Focus Overview and Scrutiny Panel, which I Chair is responsible for scrutinising the finances of the Council.  

The use of Purchasing Cards are just one of the ways Council Officers pay for goods and services and generally are limited to minor expense and where the supplier requires payment at the point of purchase. The reason for the increase in expenditure in 2022 is due to the huge increase in needing to place families into Emergency Accommodation approximately around £1M. 

The Annual Audit Report 2020-21 was considered by the Audit and Governance Committee in July 2021 and provided an overall opinion of “Reasonable Assurance”.  

Page 10 of that report highlights that an internal audit survey of cardholders found there had been – 

·         some non-compliance with policies and procedures: 

·         that a few cardholders continued to split purchases to circumvent their transaction limit; 

·         valid VAT receipts were not always obtained or attached to the BSM system: 

·         and that more than one member of a team used the Purchasing card.   

Because of these findings, an Internal Audit opinion of Limited Assurance was issued.  

In response it was reported to the Audit and Governance Committee that -  

Management has taken decisive action in response to our findings and the Purchasing Card policy updated, clearly stating the consequences of failure to comply. The policy and has been communicated to staff via Staff Room.  The audit also identified that transactions are not always approved on a weekly basis, this will be monitored with cards being suspended if transactions remain outstanding. 

Whilst it has not been necessary to undertake scrutiny of this issue in the 2022/23 municipal year, I will ensure that the matter is put forward for consideration as part of the planning for the 2023/2024 scrutiny work programme.