RESOLVED:

1.    That the report and recommendations arising from the scrutiny review of Transitions from Children’s to Adult Services for children with special educational needs and disability, as set out in the Cabinet report, be considered and noted.

2.    That the recommendations be implemented through an action plan, to be drawn up by officers in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Members.

3.    That the action plan be reported to a future meeting of the Healthier Communities and Older People Scrutiny Panel for consideration.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor Rebecca Lanning, Chair of the Task Group introduced the report, outlining the work of the task group and the recommendations contained in the report.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services welcomed the report and acknowledged the challenges for those with special educational needs to transition from children to adult services and the Council was committed to working with its partners to ensure that this transition was as smooth as possible.  It was acknowledged that the service had some areas for improvement and therefore this review was timely.  She suggested that any future task groups of this nature would benefit from involving more young people and user voices in formulating recommendations.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Health and the Environment thanked the Chair and Members of the Task Group.  He had met with colleagues and discussed the proposals and was happy to recommend to the Cabinet that they be adopted.

The Director of Children Schools and Families advised the Cabinet that the report referred to an independent SEND inspection and that inspection had now taken place.  Although the results of the inspection had not been made public, the Director was confident the Council would be able to address all the recommendations made by the Task Group.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report and recommendations arising from the scrutiny review of Transitions from Children’s to Adult Services for children with special educational needs and disability, as set out in the Cabinet report, be considered and noted.

2.    That the recommendations be implemented through an action plan, to be drawn up by officers in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Members.

3.    That the action plan be reported to a future meeting of the Healthier Communities and Older People Scrutiny Panel for consideration.