Consultancy for the redesign of the EHCP service in Children Services SEND

Description

The consultant shall undertake the implementation of the signed-off EHCP proposal and recommendations for a redesign of the service and the pathway development in line with requirements set out below. Governance • Adhere to the governance arrangements of the programme to ensure sign off at each stage of the service redesign. • Attend the Spend Redesign project boards every 6-8 weeks, and present to the programme board and leadership teams as required. • Provide status reports and briefings to inform the project/programme highlight reports. Stakeholder management • Engage with the SROs of the JAN & High Needs Transformation Programme, the programme team and workstream leads to develop an understanding of the local context of work and in particular the JHNTP objectives. • Engage and drive change by gaining buy-in and ownership of the EHCP team through a collaborative and coproduction approach. • Engage users of the service to ensure the pathway development of the service redesign is coproduced. • Communicate with the wider Children Services directorate throughout the contract period the developments in the service changes and utilising the existing web channels, webinar forums and boards. Interdependencies • Coordinate the interdependencies of the Banded Funding initiative and integrate the Graduated Pathway to the EHCP redesign to enable early intervention. • Thresholds for agreeing to assess and for agreeing to place into special and independent special schools. • Contributions of social care and health to plans • Volume of Tribunals/reason for these and position of the LA and quality of defensible position. Digitalisation • Optimise digitalisation of case work and the service as a whole whilst ensuring integration to the wider system and interfaces. • Integration of a compliance module to the EHCP Capita1 system for statutory requirements to be digitalised. Evaluation and outcomes framework • Benchmark other local authorities EHCP services for innovation and new approaches to inform and shape the re-design including regional and national scoping to measure GCC position against other LA’s in terms of plans, costs, approach. • Establish the baseline data and onward meaningful data dashboards for the service, including appropriate benchmarking tools against the national profile, including forecasting of emerging trends. • Establish a performance management and competencies framework for the service that aligns to PDRs and training requirements and engenders a child centred approach. • Identify knowledge and skills gaps and arrange the delivery of any relevant training. • Establish an evaluation, quality assurance, and continuous improvement cycle and approach for the EHCP service. 2. Detailed deliverables EHCP Pathway Redesign • Redesign the EHCP pathway from assessment through to planning and review, removing unnecessary steps, improving communication flow, and ensuring that the voice of the child, young person and the family is at its heart. • Identify opportunities to incorporate technological solutions to simplify processes, including considering how some LAs are using EHC Hubs to digitalise parts of the process and leading to an Options Appraisal, and both outline and full business cases, and supporting the development of the specification • Review approach to decision making thresholds to assess and issue plans, and where required implement agreed changes Review approach to decision making on type of provision, and where required implement agreed changes • Undertake a capacity modelling exercise which identifies the time taken to manage the different elements of a case, and therefore the average number of case workers required to manage differing volume scenarios based on the number of projected cases Coproduction with Children and Young People and their Parents / Carers • Develop a toolkit for Practitioners to support them in embedding the voice of children and young people in their plans. • Coproduce both a Children and Young People’s Pledge and Parent / Carers’ Pledge which agrees a set of principles that all professionals working with them will sign up to, hence increasing parental satisfaction with the process and reducing tribunals. • Agree a programme of engagement with the Children and Young People’s Forum and the Parent and Carer Forum. • Agree content of and process for an annual survey with children and young people and their parents / carers. Quality of Planning and Review • Collectively reduce the number of statutory EHCPs through coproducing a toolkit to support practitioners to make early identification and right solution. • Develop a Gloucestershire Specificity Model which supports the individualisation of EHCPs and helps embed the child and young person at the heart of planning, and allows flexibility for broad and imaginative range of solutions. • Develop an EHCP Case Audit Toolkit and Process, oversee the delivery of this, and feed results back to both this group and the Workforce Development Task Group • Develop an Annual Review Toolkit, oversee the delivery of it, feed results back to both this group and the Workforce • Launch first annual survey of children, young people and their parents / carers, feeding back findings into each of the relevant Task Groups. • Develop a Transitions protocol which identifies the transitions pathway and the roles and responsibilities within it to ensure effective transitions planning, using it to inform the EHCP Pathway and Workforce Development Strategy. • Develop a Children and Young People’s and Parent / Carers’ version of the Transitions protocol. • Develop a Skills and Knowledge Matrix for the EHCP Service and undertake a skills audit against this to identify both individual and team training and development needs • Undertake a Change Readiness Assessment to identify any barriers to change that need addressing • Develop an EHCP Service Workforce Development Strategy which draws in the findings from the above 3. Anticipated outcomes • A robust EHCP service operating model where the principal focus has shifted from managing system processes to being responsive to the needs of the child. • The high number of tribunals is reduced. • The number of cases supported through proactive early identification and intervention has increased and the number of statutory plans have decreased or ceased where appropriate. • Users and teams feel they have been part of the development of the service redesign and there is evidence to support that the family experience has improved. • Teams have the right skills and capabilities to do their work to support the new model. 4. Expected products for handover to the client Gloucestershire County Council • Final report of deliverables and outcomes achieved including stakeholder engagement and coproduction achievements and onward recommendations. • EHCP Operating Model plan and visual map. • EHCP digital plan. • EHCP Service Workforce Development Strategy including i) EHCP Performance management and competencies framework and ii) a Skills and Knowledge Matrix. • EHCP evaluation, benchmarking and continuous improvement plan including KPIs and emerging trends and needs forecast. • EHCP and non-statutory plans quality assurance framework. • Gloucestershire Specificity Model definition and map. • Practitioners Toolkit. • EHCP Case Audit Toolkit. • Annual Review Toolkit. • Annual survey template (CYP/ families). • Children and Young People’s Pledge and Parent / Carers’ Pledge. • Transitions protocol. • Project reports: Work package, Implementation Plan, checkpoint reports, briefing notes and presentations. 5. Timescale The proposed timeframe for the consultancy contract is a 2-year timescale from appointment. 6. Budget The indicative budget over the contract period of 2-years is £100k. The price submitted (ex VAT) by the Provider must be inclusive of all expenses, consultation materials etc. Any exclusions must be clearly set out. The provider must have a flexible approach to allow for delays, in particular where key decisions are involved. In pricing the work the Provider should note that GCC may require documents and products to be revised. In these circumstances the Provider will be required to redraft as necessary and therefore should allow for up to two revisions in the pricing. The Provider will need to complete all written reports within each stage and have these agreed and signed-off by the project/ programme board prior to submitting invoices. Invoices will only be paid on completion of work including any supporting material. Any adjustments for deductions or additions over and above the requirements set out in the specification will not be paid unless previously agreed in writing by GCC. Any previously agreed additional work or expenses must be clearly set out and marked as such when invoicing. 7. Essential criteria The supplier will use their experience and knowledge set out above to demonstrate suitability as a Provider for this ITT. This includes: • Two examples of similar projects in the public sector. • Experience and knowledge that will add value to this project. • Demonstrable experience of transformational delivery across Children’s Services, with specific SEND commissioning experience preferable. • Experience in change management, quality assurance approaches, and effective stakeholder engagement and management • Evidence of delivering efficiencies and cost savings • Experience and understanding of local authority statutory requirements, particularly in relation to SEND, and the wider challenging context in which they currently operate. • Knowledge of 2014 Children and Families Act including the Code of Practice/Legislation. • Understating of education legislation, current local developments and strategic priorities. • Understanding of gaps and challenges for education on the local/national scale. • Experience of developing and designing effective services to support children with additional needs. • Experience of working with and influencing stakeholders at all levels Keywords: Consultancy, SEND