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Answer:

The overall funding for SEND, the High Needs Funding Block (HNFB), will continue being spent on SEND, but we need to make some changes.

There is a big overspend that needs to be reduced, but also we want to spend more on early intervention and post-16. We can’t do that without reducing or changing some of the current spending. We want to hear from people and to consider their views, as there may be factors we have not thought of.

Answer:

No.

In addition to the funding schools already get for all pupils, there is an annual grant from the Government, called the High Needs Funding Block (HNFB). This is funding is for children and young people with Special needs and children and young people in alternative education provision.

 

Last year the council received about £49 million in the HNFB.

Children’s social care and health services also have funds for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

All of these strands of funding will continue each year. However, School budgets as a whole are reducing annually as a consequence of overall fall in government funding.

Answer:

We have been talking with Head teachers about what work we can do to help all mainstream schools be equally inclusive, resulting in a more even spread of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) attending these schools.

The Local Authority will be developing guidance on our expectation of all schools with regard to SEND inclusion and giving help to schools to develop in this way. There are options in the consultation about the size of the reduction. A bigger reduction in funding (5% or 7%) would enable us to give schools that have a large number of children with EHCPS some extra funding.

Answer:

All the funding in the High Needs Funding Block (HNFB) will continue going to schools and into services.

Reductions to school SEND budgets, alongside the other cuts to schools, will have an impact on activities and may result in less staffing. However, children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will still have the support outlined in their plan.

With regard to changes to services, the council will continue providing at the very least a statutory range of services. Services would become more focused and targeted on working with school staff to help mainstream schools become more inclusive.  For services that have funding that the council holds, we want to have a clear basis so schools know what they are entitled to access and there is greater equity in support across the range of SEND and age range than is at the moment.

Answer:
Yes, the council is actively campaigning to increase funding for SEND.
Answer:

The High Needs Funding Block (HNFB) is increasing each year.

However, the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) is also increasing. The number of children with EHCPs is increasing much faster than the funding.

In addition to this, a change in the law in 2014 resulted in young people with SEND being eligible for support up to the age of 25. So this meant that councils had a new duty to provide support for up to an additional 6 years without additional funding.

We know the average amount spent on each child with an EHCP has remained steady over the last few years.

This means there is a growing funding gap and last year the budget was £7m overspent.

In previous years, there has been enough money in schools budgets to off-set any overspend, but this is no longer the case. This means we need to make changes to how we spend the budget going forward or the overspend will grow every year.

 

Answer:

The public consultation asks three sets of questions about:

  •  Reducing funding to schools
  • Reducing the difference in funding between different types of schools
  • Making changes to some council services.

 

The first set of questions is about the top-up funding to schools. This is because the majority of funding goes to schools, so making a change here would make the biggest difference. 

The questions ask for views about reducing the amount of funding. We have provided some information about the level of funding schools in other similar Local Authorities get.

The consultation asks about making a 2% cut, a 5% cut or a 7% cut.

A 2% cut means a reduction of £2 in every £100

A 5% cut means a reduction of £5 in every £100.

A 7% cut means a reduction of £7 in every £100.

 

If the council makes a 5% or 7% cut, then a part of that money can be used to spend more on intervention in early years. For example providing more children with Speech and Language Therapy before they start school. 

The second set of questions is about differences in funding to special schools and resource bases.

The third set of questions is about some of the services the council provides paid for by the High Needs Funding Block(HNFB). The council is seeking views on whether we should just provide a statutory service, more than a statutory service, or carry on spending at the current level and off-set some of the costs from other budgets.

Answer:

The way the council spends the money is regulated by law.

The requirements that have to be met are described in the SEND Code of Practice, statutory guidance published in January 2015.

The majority of the funding goes directly to schools, which is about £45m of the total fund.

The rest is spent by the council on services which include the Support for Learning Service and a Speech and Language Therapy contract.

Head Teachers have asked the council to reduce the amount of money that is retained. To do this we need to change and reduce the services that this money pays for.

Answer:

Some children and young people with particularly complex needs have specific support from Children’s Social Care and or Health identified in their Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). In the past all, or the majority of these costs have been paid through the High Needs Funding Block (HNFB).

Children’s Social Care and Health are also under funding pressure, but we have been working with them to identify what the right contributions from the right budgets should be.

Contributions to costs have been agreed in principle from Children’s Social Care and Health and we are working towards these being fully paid from the financial year 2020-21.

Answer:

Period covered: 

1 April 2012 to 31 March 2020  
1. Providers are required to report activity data to Pathway Analytics (where applicable) and GUMCAD within agreed timescales

2. GUM invoices remunerated at the host borough rate

3. First to follow up attendance ratios need to be monitored and reported with accompanying explanatory narrative

4. Requests for payment must follow payment mechanism as detailed on the supplier’s information website and fully supply requested backing data - failure to do so will lead to a rejection of invoices.

5. Any correspondence relating to invoices must confirm the following:

a. provider is registered on the council’s payment system
b. supporting backing data has been sent to Reshma.Patel@Newham.gov.uk
c. prices are in accordance with prevailing terms for the relevant year ie 2014/15 or 2015/16, 2016/17,2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20
d. PO number was quoted on the invoice
e. invoices should be sent electronically via the council’s payment system, posted to London Borough of Tower Hamlets Payments Section, PO Box 501, Telford, TF2 2HN or emailed to THCouncil.Invoices@proactiscapture.com.

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