Writtten Statement - Task and Finish Group on future arrangements for funding post-16 additional learning needs in schools and further education

In March this year, in response to increasing and unsustainable funding pressures and related concerns expressed by post-16 providers, learners and parents, I announced the establishment of a Task and Finish Group to consider and make recommendations on options in the following areas:

• Establishing an improved and unified system of transition to education provision in school or FE for young people with additional learning needs (ALN) over the age of 16;
• Achieving better value for money in expenditure on post-16 education for young people with ALN, specifically against the context of financial challenge over the next 3 years;
• Sharing more widely expertise that is currently in special schools and further education colleges in providing for ALN post-16;
• Use of out of county and out of country placements; and
• Investment in post-16 school and further education provision for young people with ALN.

 The Task and Finish Group comprised representatives from mainstream and special schools, local and specialist colleges, the Welsh Local Government Association, local authority education and social services departments, NHS Confederation, Careers Wales and Estyn.  SNAP Cymru (a voluntary organisation) represented the voice of learners and parents/carers. 

I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the Task and Finish Group for their work.

A copy of their report is attached at Annex 1. I have agreed all of the group’s 15 recommendations, which are consistent with the direction of change to existing statutory systems and processes impacting on learners with ALN up to the age of 25. They also complement the work of the Front Line Resources Review.

The thrust of the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations are towards greater consistency of approach across Wales; regional collaboration and more attention to value for money in the commissioning process.  Improved planning is essential to ensuring more local choices for young people whose post-school options may currently be limited to a residential college facility far from home.

My officials will be working with stakeholders to take forward the following Task and Finish Group recommendations:

• Establishment of a joint protocol between all partners involved in transition planning;
• Take steps to ensure transition planning, together with assessments and decisions relating to post-school placements at specialist colleges, take place earlier;
• Propose and consult on legislative changes involving:
  -  replacing the statement of SEN with an individual development plan for all learners up to the age of 25;
  - transferring responsibilities to local authorities for funding placements at specialist colleges of further education and for exceptional funding in local colleges;
  -  transferring responsibility to local authorities for arranging outcome focused assessments under Section 140 of the Learning and Skills Act, whilst retaining Careers Wales’ responsibility to use these assessments to draw up coherent and realistic individual learning and skills plans;
  -  transferring funding and responsibility to local authorities for post-16 SEN provision in special schools and SEN out of county provision, and additional support for post-16 SEN in mainstream schools.  In preparation for this I have proposed a significant increase to this funding in the draft Budget
• Development by local authorities of a consortium approach to contracting which takes an ‘invest to save’ approach
• Closer working between local authorities to analyse increased incidence of SEN, its distribution and management
• Development and issue of guidance on consortium working and planning/ commissioning of ALN provision
• Development by further education colleges, special schools and specialist colleges of consortia on a ‘hub and spoke’ basis with a view to sharing expertise
• Establishment of alternative means of distributing supplementary funding to further education colleges via mainstream funding allocations
• Engagement by local authorities with existing Community Equipment Scheme partnerships alongside schools, further education institutions and specialist schools and colleges.

A copy of the full report is in the Library and attached below.