MORE children and young people in Thurrock who are out of school because of special educational needs, health problems or complex circumstances could soon get more structured tuition support reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
Cabinet members approved an open framework for statutory tuition services for children and young people, designed to increase capacity and improve integration back into mainstream education.
The service currently supports up to 116 pupils through its tuition service at an annual cost of £15,000 per pupil.
Numbers have risen by more than a third in the last year. Many pupils remain on tuition for up to two years.
Growing demand has prompted the council to seek an expanded framework of providers, increasing capacity and broadening options to help students return to education as quickly as possible.
The council expects the new arrangements to save about £325,000 while supporting faster reintegration back into school or college.
Under the decision, the Executive Director of Children’s Services will be able to award contracts under the new framework, as long as they first discuss it with the cabinet member for Education, Skills and Children’s Services.
Furthermore, if a contract is worth more than £250,000, which makes it a ‘key decision’, the Executive Director of Children’s Services must also consult the education portfolio holder and the council’s chief finance officer (Section 151 officer) before going ahead.
Reform Council Leader Richard Bingley said: “Thank you to the cabinet member and the staff for bringing this forward.
“One of the acknowledgements of putting this through is moving towards prevention of spend like this in the future and that we drive children and young children back into school and much more social environments.
“I know there is massive cost pressures on the system but be under no illusion this administration will do everything possible to go through each balance sheet and drive down cost pressures and find the root causes for what is making such enormous spends for all local authorities.”
Although public consultation was not required for the recommissioning of the services, engagement has taken place with the Thurrock Coalition, SEND Family Forum, SEND Youth Group, parents, young people and providers.
The item was dealt with under urgency after it missed the usual 28-day forward plan notice period due to the local elections held in May and the appointment of a new Cabinet on May 27. Therefore an urgent decision was made.
