Agenda item

Report of Councillor Clifford, Chair of the Task and Finish Group

Members of the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item along with  Councillors P Seaman and B Gittins, Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and Councillor K Sandhu, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills

The Board considered a report back of the Autism Task and Finish Group informing the Board of their recommendations arising from their consideration of the issues around the assessment process and support for children and young people who were referred for an autism assessment, and their families. As the task and finish group had progressed, their remit had expanded to include transition into adult services, inclusion and other aspects of neurodiversity. As the Task and Finish Group comprised members of this Board along with Members of the Education and Childrens’ Services Scrutiny Board (2), Scrutiny Board (2) were invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item. Councillor P Seaman, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and Councillor Heaven, a Member of the Task and Finish Group, also attended.

The report set out the background to the establishment of the Task and Finish Group which had their had their first meeting on 11th October 2021 and met 5 times. The membership comprised Councillor Clifford (Chair), Councillors Innes and Heaven and the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) Co-opted Members, Sybil Hanson and Kellie Jones. Councillor Brown and Sarah McGarry also attended the meetings as Experts by Experience. Officers from a range of Council Services, officers from Warwickshire County Council and representatives from Coventry and Warwickshire CCG Joint Commissioning Team and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust also attended meetings.

The Task and Finish Group members also attended a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) Briefing. There were representatives of around 80 schools present who shared their views from an educational perspective about the support to autistic children and young people and their families including those awaiting assessment.

The report provided a definition of Autism and Neurodiversity and included a link to a video from the National Autistic Society which provided further information about Autism.

Reference was made to the Coventry and Warwickshire All Age Autism Strategy that was being developed and finalised during the period that the task and finish group met. The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board had scrutinised the draft strategy at their meeting on 2nd December, 2021 which was approved at Cabinet on 15th February, 2022. The aims of this strategy were detailed. Members appreciated that the strategy would help to address some of the issues raised throughout the task and finish group but were concerned that funding had only been identified for the first year of the delivery plan.

The report also referred to the National Autism Strategy for 2021-2026 with the six national priorities being set out. The local strategy was designed to complement this national strategy.

Information was provided on the Coventry context which included that there was no register of autistic people nationally or locally and so the true level of occurrence of autism in Coventry was unknown. Evidence suggested that the city had a higher proportion of Special Educational Needs (SEN) support for autism across all state-funded school settings compared to England, the West Midlands, Warwickshire and Derby. Potential reasons for this were highlighted. A lack of an accurate register meant it was difficult to plan services effectively to meet the needs of all people affected.

The report provided statistical information on the referrals and assessments for children and young people between April 2017 and August 2021, along with the current referral demand and assessment delivery. The Task and Finish Group had heard about the work being done to reduce waiting times as well as the challenges which included difficulties in recruiting specialist staff. Whilst this work was acknowledged, Members had stressed that the waiting times were still unacceptable.

Reference was made to the early intervention in Education and Statutory Support included Support including Education, Health and Care Plans. There was transition support from Nursery to Reception, then the core offer for school age children and young people was highlighted in the following four key blocks:

i) Quality First Teaching

ii) Universal Provision Guidance

iii) SENCo Network

iv) Autism in Schools Project.

The report set out recommendations arising from their consideration of the issues set out above, along with the reasons behind their recommendations arising from feedback from the Special Education Needs Co-ordinators; and from consideration of the Pathways and Support Services; the impact of diagnosis; preparing for adulthood; the Employ Autism Higher Education Network project; and the Autism Friendly City.

The recommendations of the Autism Task and Finish Group were as follows:

1) The Council to work with partners to identify sustainable, long-term funding as there is currently only funding available for the first year of the All Age Autism Strategy delivery plan.

2) Ensure tackling health inequalities for autistic people is prioritised for delivery as part of the All Age Autism Strategy implementation plan to improve physical health, mental health and emotional wellbeing.

3) Partners to accelerate and build on existing workstreams, to reduce the unacceptably long waiting times for diagnostic assessment

4) The Council and health partners to work with schools, colleges and universities to ensure that all educational professionals (teachers, senior leaders, early career teachers, support staff) have a good understanding of the needs which may present for autistic and neurodiverse pupils and provide appropriate Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to ensure high quality provision at both whole class and individual intervention level.

5) All partners work to strengthen data sharing between organisations to enable evidence gathered through assessments to be used by other professionals as part of the autism assessment process, to assist and expedite diagnosis with the necessary data protection safeguards put in place.

6) That the Education and Childrens’ Service Scrutiny Board undertake a task and finish group during the 2022/23 municipal year to look at the in-depth challenges facing schools in providing support to children, young people and their families who are on the autism assessment pathway.

7) Health partners review the referral process for diagnosis to simplify it and enable electronic submission of referral forms.

8) Health partners to include schools in correspondence about appointments where schools were involved in the referral process. This will enable schools to support pupils and families through the diagnostic process.

9) Partners to ensure information on referral and support pathways is accessible to parents, carers, young people and professionals.

10) Community support services should be offered in the wider context of neurodiversity rather than limited to those with an autism diagnosis. Services should be titled and described to reflect that not all services require a diagnosis to access them.

11) Partners to develop a holistic approach to support for families post diagnosis which includes emotional as well as clinical support and access to training.

12) To continue the Council’s participation in the Employ Autism scheme, or the development of an inhouse equivalent and ensure there is appropriate resource for it to be delivered.

13) For the Council to lead by example and become an inclusive employer including for autism and neurodiversity. 

14) That Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee include a future item on skills resilience pathways into employment for those with disabilities, including neurodiversity 

15) The Council works towards Coventry becoming a city which celebrates, supports and accepts autism and neurodiversity. This would include:

a) the introduction of more inclusive spaces and autism friendly environments throughout the City including in the City Centre, Parks and Open Spaces

b) safe spaces/low sensory stimulus areas to enable autistic people to decompression throughout the City.

c) public realm designs should include inclusive spaces including Autism friendly environments.

16) The Council resource and pursue digital opportunities including the development and rollout of a Neurodiversity Support App for Coventry.

It was proposed that following the Board’s consideration of these recommendations, a report would be submitted to Cabinet on 12th April, 2022 to allow for consideration of the recommendations. It was the intention that progress on the implementation of the recommendations would be undertaken by this Board.

The Board were informed about the highly successful jam board exercise that had taken place at the SENCo Briefing.

Members expressed their unanimous support for the excellent report and the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group. They placed on record their thanks to Vicky Castree and Gennie Holmes, Scrutiny Co-ordinators, for all their work in support of the work of the Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The recommendations of the Autism Task and Finish Group as set out above be supported, noting that a report will now be submitted to Cabinet at their meeting on 12th April, 2022.

(2) An update report be submitted to the Board in six months time on progress towards the recommendations, particularly the impact of measures to reduce waiting times for diagnostic assessments with regular briefing being given to Chair in between.