To consider any questions which may have been received from Elected Members and which are asked pursuant to Standing Order No. 11.
Minutes:
The Chief Executive reported that she had received the following question from Councillor G Carr in accordance with Standing Order No. 11.
‘How many children with Special Educational Needs in the Barnsley area are not receiving any education because of the lack of an appropriate setting?
Is there a legal time scale that should be complied with to ensure that some provision is being provided?
How many children are achieving education out of area/district and is there a limit on mileage that a child is expected to travel?’
Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for People (Achieving Potential) responded by thanking Councillor Carr for the question. He stated that children not receiving an education was a short term issue whilst alternative appropriate settings were sought. Currently there were 10 pupils who were not in full time education. More specifically, 6 of the 10 children were in receipt of EOTAS (Education other than at School) whilst an alternative school placement was sought, some were on the roll of a school but not attending, some had been offered a place at a school but the offer had not been accepted by the family or the pupil and some were in need of bespoke individualised programmes due to their need. Some of these pupils had only just been issued with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and, therefore, the Local Authority had not determined the most appropriate provision. Some pupils were also awaiting the outcome of further assessment. All of the pupils were closely monitored by the Local Authority in order to determine how best to meet their needs and secure the appropriate provision.
In the event of a pupil being out of school the Local Authority was required to provide alternative provision until full time appropriate arrangements could be made. This could be via EOTAS, alternative placements, or other arrangements where pupils were too ill to access education in a setting. The Local Authority had 15 days to provide suitable education although it had to be acknowledged that this was not always achievable due to the complexity of the cases involved and the level of need required.
There were currently 88 pupils placed outside the Borough in Independent and non-maintained schools. There was not a limit on mileage, but the guidance stated that travel up to an hour for a secondary aged pupil should be applied. The Local Authority also had to consider that where pupils had a further distance to travel, this may be due to the most suitable and appropriate provision for the pupils needs being met at a school that was further away. It would be inappropriate to have a ‘black and white’ approach to this as educational provision had to be the best fit for the individual child’s needs. Parents were always consulted regarding school places and had to be in agreement to their children and young people travelling.
It was part of the Special Educational Needs Strategy to develop local provision and reduce the use of out of borough placements, however, for children with highly complex needs, there would always be some need to source specialist provision out of Borough.
Councillor G Carr declined to ask a supplementary question.