Decision

The Children and Education Scrutiny Committee RESOLVED to convey to the Executive the following recommendations:

1. That Executive supports the proposed deployment of the High Needs Provision Capital Allocation and the continued expansion of local specialist SEND provision across Somerset.
2. That Executive ensures ongoing SEND sufficiency reporting, including information on forecast demand, locality-based need, pressure on placements and the extent to which new provision contributes to reducing reliance on independent non-maintained placements.
3. That Executive requires a workforce strategy to accompany the expansion programme, setting out recruitment, retention and training arrangements for specialist teachers, teaching assistants and other key staff, together with mitigations for workforce capacity risks.
4. That Executive establishes clear outcome measures and reporting arrangements for the programme, including attendance, exclusions, tribunal activity, transport costs, independent placement demand and other relevant performance indicators, enabling Scrutiny to assess the effectiveness of the investment.
5. That Executive provides six-monthly progress reports to the Scrutiny Committee detailing delivery against programme milestones, expenditure, realised benefits, risks and mitigations, recognising the importance of ongoing member oversight of a programme of this scale.
6. That Executive ensures lessons learned from Wave One provision developments, including transition arrangements, workforce support, implementation planning and Department for Education approval processes, are formally embedded within future phases of delivery.
7. That Executive ensures a clear and sustainable revenue funding model is identified for Inclusion Support Bases before wider roll-out and implementation.
8. That Executive keeps under review the relationship between capital investment, cost avoidance and longer-term Dedicated Schools Grant sustainability, providing greater clarity regarding anticipated return on investment and financial benefits arising from increased local provision.