The Wandsworth Schools Forum met to discuss the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), therapy provisions, and emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA). Gareth Evans, Assistant Director Children’s Finance, was scheduled to present reports on the DSG outturn and recovery, while Zarah Lowe, Lead Commissioner for Education, SEND and Health, was set to provide an update on therapy provision. Andy Fish, Inclusion Service Manager, was expected to present a proposal for an EBSA outreach pilot project.

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Recovery

The forum was scheduled to receive an update on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) recovery and management actions. The report pack noted that Wandsworth Council entered an overall deficit in financial year 2021-22, and that the deficit had grown to circa -£21.205m following an in-year loss of -£7.341m in FY 2024-25.

The report pack stated that the local authority was considering further action to reduce the rate of growth in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and reduce reliance on higher cost non-maintained and independent provision.

The report pack stated that the number of EHCP requests has been increasing monthly, and that the highest proportion of plans (31.7%) have been issued to children and young people (CYP) who have been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a primary need.

The report pack listed a number of management actions that were underway:

• Increasing the number of places in existing maintained special schools, SEMH provision, and resource bases in mainstream schools
• Developing new resource base provision
• Mainstream Schools training and development
• SEND Play and Family team
• Nursery Inclusion Project for all (NIPA)
• Enhanced transition support to pre-Reception aged pupils to reduce need for EHCP
• SEMH review
• Support for pupils with ADHD
• Increased mental health support for pupils in schools
• Support to secondary schools to reduce exclusions and suspensions
• Establish MLD Outreach Officer
• Place an EBSNA Advisor at HHTS to provide strategic oversight and work with a cohort of CYP to re-engage them with education
• Create an in-house tuition resource
• Creation of a rapid response team to target support at crisis point

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Outturn

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn for the financial year 2024-25. According to the report pack, the DSG had an overspend of £7.341m in FY 2024-25, which was attributed to an overspend in the High Needs Block (HNB) of £10.767m, offset by underspends in the Early Years Block (EYB) and Schools Block (SB). The cumulative reserve balance was reported as a deficit of -£21.205m.

The report pack included a breakdown of HNB expenditure, comparing the spend in FY 2024-25 to that of FY 2023-24. It noted that the overspends were all within the High Needs Block of the DSG, driven by increased demand for High Needs placements and services via growing numbers of Education, Health and Care Plans, an increase in the cost of high needs placements and services, and a funding envelope that hasn’t always kept up with these factors.

The table showed that Special School Funding had increased by £1,333,105, Resource Base Funding had increased by £843,909, and Independent School Placements had increased by £1,239,073.

The report pack stated that the Early Years Block (EYB) had an underspend of £3.243m due to lower hours paid out compared to budget. The Schools Block (SB) had an underspend of £0.183m due to the closure of Christchurch C of E Primary School in August 2024.

Therapies Review

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on therapy provision and next steps for reviewing commissioning arrangements with NHS South West London ICB¹. The report pack noted that over 10% of children and young people have long-term speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), and that in Wandsworth, speech, language and communication needs is the second most prevalent need (after autism) with 26.3% of children and young people with Education, Health and Care plans (EHCP) listed with SLCN as their primary need.

The report pack stated that the council funds c.£1.4m for therapy provision from the High Needs Block, and that in total, it is estimated that the Council and NHS South West ICB spend circa. £5 million on therapy provision for children and young people in the local area.

The report pack stated that the Council commissions the following therapy services to be delivered:

• SNAS Salt And OT Service
• Paddock School Salt
• Early Help Speech And Language Therapy Service
• SEN Support Level Salt For Mainstream Schools
• Children’s Social Care Occupational Therapy Service
• OT EQUIPMENT REQUESTS SERVICE
• Primary And Secondary PRU Salt Service

The report pack stated that in FY 2024-25 the Council provided additional funding to SGFT to move therapy packages across from higher cost independent therapy providers, achieving cost-avoidance for both SLT and OT.

The report pack stated that there is not a commissioned service for young people aged 19-25 years with Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs), as well as for children and young people with social communication needs and those at secondary school age.

The report pack outlined the following next steps:

• Review current offer and funding arrangements
• Meet with key contacts for feedback
• Identify strengths, gaps, risks and areas for improvement
• Joint Area workshop to agree: Current situation, Shared principles and outcomes, Development of strategic plan
• Co-produce strategic ‘plan on a page’
• Single model of delivery
• Shared KPIs
• Inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Review of existing service specifications
• Implement an integrated offer for therapies to children and young people aged 0-18 (25 years with an EHCP) living in Wandsworth

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) Outreach

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss a proposal for a pilot project providing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) support. The report pack stated that the percentage of all Wandsworth school pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) has continued to increase year-on-year to 6.2% in 2024, and that there has been a rising number of pupils presenting with Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties.

The report pack stated that tracking of EHCNA requests between November 2022-April 2023 for pupils presenting with EBSNA related issues show that there were 29 requests during this 6-month period, and that 79% of EHCNA requests made during this 6-month period received a yes to assess.

The report pack stated that the overall EBSNA strategy is to provide a multi-strand response:

• Publication and sharing of EBSNA guidance and resources
• Universal training for all schools and partners and bespoke consultancy advice
• Strategic oversight/ Advisory support and coordination of services including direct support to children and young people
• Intensive support for the most complex cases through expanded medical PRU/ Compass provision

The proposal was to run a pilot project for 1+1 year with an EBSNA Advisor who will provide a combination of strategic oversight and direct work with a cohort of CYP to re-engage them in education, prevent needs escalating and avoid EHCP being required.

The report pack stated that the post holder will draw upon the local network to ensure an effective multi-disciplinary team approach, and that the following services will be involved on a needs-led basis:

• Mental health
• Education Welfare Service
• Victoria Drive Pupil Referral Unit
• Francis Barber Pupil Referral Unit
• Virtual school
• Education Wellbeing Service (MHST)
• Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service
• Social Worker in Schools
• School nursing team
• Direct family support
• Early Help
• Social care
• Family hubs
• Family guidance
• WIASS
• SENDinMind
• Parent/ Carer champions

The report pack listed the following Key Performance Indicators:

• Qualitative data derived from pre and post support questionnaires will show improved school engagement for children receiving targeted support including measures of increased positive emotional and wellbeing through 65% of children supported through a targeted EBNSA support model will have improved attendance above the severe absence threshold following targeted EBSNA support.
• Qualitative data derived from parents and carers interviews and focus groups will show increased reporting of positive school engagement for their children.
• There will be a 20% annual reduction in EHCNA requests for EBSNA related needs within the first academic year.
• There will be a 50% reduction in children placed within specialist setting with EBSNA related needs within the first academic year.