Purpose

Our implementation plan for the DBV project has been approved by the Department for Education (DfE) and partners. This means that we been awarded a grant of £1m to spend on improving the local SEND system.
Having analysed local evidence and listened to the experiences of children, families and practitioners, we are now in a position to expedite this plan.
A report considered by Cabinet on the 29th March agreed to accept the grant award of £1m subject to the terms and conditions of the grant and delegated further decision making regarding spend, in line with the agreed implementation plan and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the grant, to the Director of Children, Young People and Families, in consultation with Portfolio Holder for Education, Skills and Young People. It is also proposed that the
Assistant Director of Finance (Section 151 officer) is included in signing off this spending plan.
Since the introduction of the 2014 SEND code of Practice, local authorities have seen significant challenges in sustaining high needs funding, as the level of need has risen over the last decade.
This has been significantly exacerbated by the impacts of the pandemic as we have seen an increase in those children and young people whose levels of need have been affected by isolation and a lack of continuity in education. The national funding gap for high needs budget is already likely to now be above £3billion.
In Doncaster we have seen significant challenges in our high needs system. Our number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) have increased from 1898 in 2019 to 2489, a 31% increase. We have particularly seen a step rise in those young people with social, emotional or communication needs, and this has in turn, led to increasing number of placements for young people with these complex needs. The High Needs Block funding in Doncaster is predicted to overspend in 2022-2023 by £8.1m.
The DfE have continued to work with local authorities to try and identify ways of managing or controlling local deficits. Doncaster are one of 55 local areas who volunteered to be part of a project - ‘Delivering Better Value in SEND’, which ran from October 2022 to March 2023. The council and partners were supported by DfE to create a clear analysis of the underlying drivers in the local system and to identify a set of actions which will allow us to develop a more
sustainable SEND system.
Following on from this analysis, an implementation plan was created aimed at making changes to the local system. This plan formed the basis of an application for grant funding form the DfE to support this work. Following scrutiny from DFE SEND advisors and key partners such as the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability, a full maximum grant of £1m has been awarded to Doncaster. This will enable the local partners to begin work on delivering the changes that we will all wish to make to the local system, so that children and young people can benefit from the best possible support and services as soon as possible.

See attached Officer Decision Record which provides details of the areas in the Council the grant is intended to be spent.

Decision

Approve the Delivering Better Value (DBV) spending plan, detailed with in the body of the report and create the temporary posts within the HR establishment as detailed within the main body of the report. Also noting the terms and conditions of the grant award now received in accepting the grant

Alternative options considered

Not delivering the plan that we have agreed with DfE would mean potential reputational damage and would compromise the pace of change in the local system.