Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors: Wendy Brackenbury and Lee Wilkes.

RESOLVED that: The minutes of the meeting held on the 18th July be approved as an accurate record.

The Panel considered a report by the Executive Director of Adults, Health Partnerships and Housing, which provided an update regarding the local authority’s SEND Priority Action Plan.

During discussion, the principal points were noted:

·         Members queried whether the resources referenced within the report, to enable delivery of the Action Plan, were internal or external.

·         Members queried whether the local authority continued to engage with stakeholders via Parent Carer Forums in formulating the Action Plan.

In response, the Executive Director of Adults, Health Partnerships and Housing clarified that:

·         The resources referenced within the report were internally held and recognised that increasing the recruitment of educational psychologists was a key priority.

·         In December 2023 the Northamptonshire Parent Carer Forum was disaggregated, which allowed for a dedicated element for North Northamptonshire. The relationship with this Forum had been constructive and the local authority continued to engage with stakeholders through it.

RESOLVED that: The report be noted.

The Panel considered a report by the Children’s Commissioning Lead, which provided an update regarding the local authority’s establishment of a framework agreement to support the future purchasing of education support services.

During discussion, the principal points were noted:

·         Members queried whether other local authorities had established such frameworks, to support education support services, and what the benefits of allowing other authorities to join the agreement would be.

In response, the Children’s Commissioning Lead clarified that:

·         North Northamptonshire Council enabled other local authorities to join the framework in order to increase its single spend through procurement, which officers maintained would be beneficial to attract service suppliers and decrease costs.

RESOLVED that: The report be noted.

The forward list of items for the EAP was considered and members were asked to consider any subject areas within the Executive Advisory Panel that members felt should be considered at future meetings. The following items were noted for discussion at the next meeting on the 31st October 2024.

Item 1: School Allocations and Admissions

Item 2: Homeschooling

Item 3: Disabled Children’s Team (Northamptonshire Children’s Trust)

Item 4: Youth Offending Service

There being no further business, the Chair thanked members and Officers for their attendance and closed the meeting.

The meeting closed at 5:37pm.