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Executive Summary
NASS and its member schools
would like to
put on record its caution that in embracing a more decentralised model for public service delivery the Government does not forg
e
t the needs of those children and young people who require
low-incidence special educational needs support, services and provision.
Background to NASS
The National Association of Independent Schools and
Non-Maintained
Special
Schools
(NASS) is a membership organisation catering for approximately 6000 very vulnerable children and young people. It provides information, support and training to its members in order to benefit and advance the education of children and young people with SEN. NASS is delighted to contribute to this inquiry into
localism.
NASS is the only national organisation representing special schools in the voluntary and private sectors. NASS works in partnership with key national and regional organisations and acts as the voice for Non Maintained and Independent Special Schools (NMISS).
NASS currently represents almost 190 schools across
England
and
Wales
.
NASS believes fundamentally in the crucial role that is played by NMISS and the support that they provide for children with SEN and non-maintained and independent schools in their area. NMISS are funded by Local Authorities who pay to place pupils for whom they have been unable to meet needs.
General points about the impact of localism agenda
NASS schools play an important part in meeting the objectives set out by the government for SEN as well as supporting children achieve and develop. It should be noted, however, that schools rely on clear policy frameworks at the national level along with consistency around funding and planning at the local level. NASS would, therefore, like to make the point that in embracing a more decentralised model for public service delivery the Government does not forgot the needs of those children and young people who require
low-incidence special educational needs support, services and provision.
NASS schools cater for children with special needs and disabilities classified as "low incidence". This includes children with sensory impairments, autism spectrum conditions and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Within an individual Local Authority it is generally the case that these needs occur at such a low incidence, one or two children per authority in some cases, that it is not an effective use of resources to create a specialist resource in house. It is at this point that Local Authorities look to the Independent and Non-maintained special school sector.
Although NASS member schools have an important role to play in their local communities, they generally accept placements from a large number of Local Authorities. For some schools, this may be as few as 5 or 6 different Authorities but for some schools, especially those catering for very low incidence needs, this number can be as high as 45. In the past, co-operation between Local Authorities through regional arrangements such as the Department for Education and Skills SEN Regional Partnerships and Regional Commissioning programmes has supported a number of efficiencies including:
·
Strategic planning of low-incidence provision
·
Shared monitoring of out of authority placements
·
Use of a National Contract for placements in NMISS
·
Shared negotiations around fees
In 2007, savings from these actions implemented by a group of 4 regions, comprising 43 authorities were estimated to have saved in excess of £8 million.
NASS schools are already seeing an impact from the move towards localism:
·
Less co-ordinated planning of the need for placements resulting in a decrease in referrals to specialist provision and an increase in emergency placements following mainstream placement breakdown
·
A proliferation in the number of local and regional contracts being introduced
·
A lack of capacity within Local Authorities to effectively monitor out of authority placements of very vulnerable children
The bureaucratic costs of this to schools are high. A school dealing with 45 Local Authorities and being asked to operate 45 different contracts needs to spend a considerable amount of staff time in administration. When placements come on an emergency basis across the school year it becomes increasingly difficult for schools to plan budgets and to sustain and develop high quality services.
NASS believes that low-incidence SEN and Disabilities require a sub-regional, regional and even national approach, in some cases. We are concerned that the localism agenda does not encourage Authorities to work together, even though there is evidence that this is the most efficient way of addressing some areas of service provision. In a time of financial constraint, we believe that the Government needs to maintain and develop incentives for Local Authorities to work co-operatively on regional level to most efficiently meet the needs of children and young people with complex, low-incidence SEN and disabilities.
Conclusion
In conclusion NASS, while welcoming the localism agenda, is concerned that the decentralisation of public service delivery may have a detrimental impact on the services provided to children with low incidence SEN.
As low incidence SEN is not prevalent in any single local authority, NMISS frequently cater for vulnerable children from across a large number of local authorities. This requires cooperation at a sub regional and regional level to ensure efficient and effective planning.
However, from our experience the move towards localism is hindering the effective planning of, and referral, to specialist provision for these vulnerable children, as well as placing addition bureaucratic burdens on NMISS.
NASS therefore proposes that the Government ensure mechanisms and incentives are in place for local authorities to work collaboratively, enabling a coherent sub regional level of planning for supporting children with low incidence SEN. From our experience these measures would result in significant cost savings, making SEN provision more efficient and targeted to need.
September 2010
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