Issue - meetings

Following scrutiny, the report was noted.

The Head of Early Years, Inclusion and Partnerships provided a brief overview of the report.

Members commented that the number of children with additional learning needs (ALN) was increasing but there was insufficient funding to address this.

The Head of Early Years, Inclusion and Partnerships agreed that it was a difficult situation with increasing numbers of children with ALN. It is difficult to predict numbers; there are children with complex needs moving into the borough. Additional grants from Welsh Government for ALN have been used to support schools. There is wider support available from training, with support services visiting schools to help with provision and assessment.

Officers advised members that provisions are regularly reviewed. Work is ongoing to consider all the specialist provision across the authority and the projected need, working closely with other service areas to ensure there is sufficient provision to meet need. It is acknowledged that some pupils may require over and above provision. To address this within mainstream schools, additional outreach support is offered to these pupils. Work is undertaken with Ysgol Maes Y Coed to ensure that staff supporting young people receive support, training and advice.

The Director of Education, Leisure and Lifelong Learning acknowledged the pressure on school budgets. There is less financial pressure in Learning Support Centres (LSC’s) and Specialist Schools, but this cannot be considered in isolation. Most pupils with additional learning needs attend mainstream schools and the needs of young people need to be met in the entirety of the education budget not only within LSC’s. It was noted that if the needs of young people are not being met, this may result in out of county placements and increased budget pressures. The Director commented on a recently published WLGA paper which outlined pressures in local government public services and highlighted over £100m of unfunded pressures in education in Wales; this was mainly due to increased incidence of ALN in schools. Within Neath Port Talbot the increase in ALN has been particularly within Early Years.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Early Years agreed the timelines for the ALN reform are tight, but complimented the team on what has been achieved to date. ALN reform is not fully funded from Welsh Government and is putting pressure on local authorities; all members were encouraged to lobby UK and Welsh Government for full funding.

The Director of Finance advised members that when Welsh Government introduced the legislation, the impact assessment concluded that there would be no additional cost to local authorities and therefore no funding was provided through the Revenue Support Grant. Some one-off grant funding was available but no core funding, it was suggested that the Welsh Government impact assessment should be reviewed.

Following scrutiny, the report was noted.