Purpose

To
seek approval for the transfer of £462k from the Technical
and Countywide budgets to Education for Educational Psychology
locum workforce investment who will work to reduce the backlog of
statutory advice and improve timeliness in the issuing of statutory
Education, Health and Care Plans.
 

Decision

In coming to this decision I have given due and full regard to the
requirements of the public sector equality duty contained in
section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) by
reference to the law itself and also the relevant Equality Impact
Assessment, which was prepared in accordance with the requirements
of the Act.  
 
Having fully considered all the available
information, I have decided to reject the alternative options and
take the recommended decision to: 
 
Approve the transfer of £462k from the
council’s Technical and Countywide budgets for 2024/2025 to
the council’s budget for Education for the purpose of
increasing funding for the Educational Psychology Locum Workforce
in order to reduce the backlog of
statutory advice and improve timeliness in the issuing of statutory
Education, Health and Care Plans. 
 
For the reasons set out in the
report.