Agenda item

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Members asked information as to whether it would be right to assume that, in strategic terms, the key drivers of the recommendations are projected future growth in need, the sufficiency of places to meet need, the location of those places across the city and efficiency savings, that’s to say the potential to offset the additional costs from the growth in provision by reducing the spend on Out of County Places and in independent schools? Officers advised that as a result of the provision mapping exercise that has been carried out the indication is that the cost per pupil, both in and out of county and transport is likely to decrease.  There is certainly an increase in need.

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Members asked for some insight into how the financial evaluations will be progressed and the timescale for that, and whether any modelling has taken place on the extent to which Out of County savings can be achieved and the implications if they do not materialise.  Officers advised that an assessment has been carried out against the Out of County places that do exist; ultimately there are not places out there if we do not provide the provision being put in.  All of the proposals brought forward will sit in the Education Asset Programme which covers condition, suitability and sufficiency.  When bringing these proposals forward the most appropriate procurement route is considered. 

It is difficult to provide an exact figure as to what might happen if we were heavily reliant in future on provision in the independent sector.  The reality of it is that they are practically at capacity at this point; we can benchmark against the figures they charge the Local Authority at this point.  If we relied on the independent sector the costs would be roughly a £50,000 per year per pupil increase.

Officers advised we would expect per pupil costs to decrease, but most likely there will be a reduction in escalated costs.

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Members asked for an update about the calibre of the available staff bearing in mind that there are a number of SRB’s due to open in September and that whilst HR policy states that staff can be relocated and redeployed, surely that will not happen as it is such a specialist area?  Members were advised that the question relates also the Emotional Health and Wellbeing report; work has been going on for the best part of 9 months, there are a number of teams working with each of the schools individually.  It has been necessary to look at it on a case-by-case basis when looking at each of the provisions that have been brought forward.  A number of the proposals are already in place temporarily and the increases are being formalised now.  Officers acknowledged that the ALN provision and the pressure on schools is across the board and in the future, there will be further expansions in due course.  Whilst there are no difficulties envisaged for September, workforce development needs to continue to ensure that there is sufficient staffing going forward from there, that relates not only to teaching staff but also to support staff.  There has to be support structures in place also.

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Members enquired about the work done with teacher training institutions to examine the scope for teachers of the future. Officers advised that the Council works very closely with institutions on ITT and WESP.

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Members asked about the number of ALN teachers needed and whether there was a requirement for ALN teachers to have Welsh language skills. Officers advised that the Council works with schools on a case-by-case basis. The Council is already looking to the future around how it can phase provision around Band B etc, and will continue to consider this as it works through the process. Regarding Welsh medium education, working groups and action plans will be set up in the next 6 months around the WESP. Workforce development outcomes are critical to ensure the success of WESP. There will be clear action plans to support schools and achieve the targets laid out in the strategy.

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Members asked why the cost of transport was projected to rise significantly more than the proportion of pupils. Officers advised that there were significant increases in the cost of fuel that were driving pressures on the system. There are also additional numbers of pupils that are also increasing pressure on costs.

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Members asked what car to pupil ratio the Council is aiming for taking into account Active Travel plans, or whether space would be made available for one car park space per pupil in all the schools considered. Officers advised that some pupils are brought into special schools by taxis and supported transport. This is factored into modelling. Staff and schools are expected to have Active Travel plans. Work is being done on improving awareness of One Planet Cardiff objectives and factoring them into the curriculum. A lot of work is needed on the One Planet Cardiff objectives but the Council is starting to put together the workstreams to improve behaviours, which helps reduce reliance on non-Active Travel means of transport. It is something that will continue to evolve over coming years.

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Members asked whether work had been done in relation to travel issues for pupils of Ty Gwyn, and how much impact the additional 40 places are expected to have. Officers advised that the additional pupils would be phased over a number of years with the first intake in September. Work is progressing on car parking and drop-off and pick-up times, and improving routes in and out.

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Members pointed out that the cost of independent placements was in part due to their in-house multi-disciplinary teams and asked how confident the Council was that the existing Learning Disability teams could meet the needs, as they are already at capacity. Officers advised that the places are flagged in the system very early, and there are regular strategic meetings with Health to ensure support is factored in.

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Members asked whether the programme would be manageable given the number of schemes. Officers advised that the larger schemes were underway. Schemes have been designed and procured in parallel to papers going through because of the urgency of the proposals. Contingency measures are in place with each of the schools. A number of expansions have already happened.

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Members asked how the requirement for schools to devise their own Active Travel plans would correlate with children with Additional Learning Needs, and what schools would be expected to do to facilitate Active Travel for such pupils, recognising that for many of these pupils Active Travel is not a viable option. Would this be reflected in plans for infrastructure such as parking spaces? Officers advised that there is a higher ratio of parking spaces to pupils at special schools than mainstream schools. Officers work closely with Highways colleagues and are looking at addressing highways issues through the asset programme. The current proposals supplement work that is already ongoing. For a number of pupils it is not appropriate to consider Active Travel, and ways are being considered to reduce transport across the city by increasing local provision.