Hampshire Educational Psychology Service: Best Value Review Project Brief

1. Goal

To evaluate the effectiveness of Hampshire Educational Psychology Service and to review its purposes.

2. Objectives

2.1 To establish the views of stakeholders on the effectiveness of the existing Service and to identify a range of alternative potential services that may be more appropriate to future purposes

2.2 To determine the extent to which the Service is considered to be value for money

2.3 To identify competitors to the Service: their costs and the services provided

3. Approach

Year on year the Service has been required to make efficiency savings. Turnover savings are also required (by leaving posts vacant). Demand for the Service consistently outstrips supply, so savings are unlikely but it is hoped to improve effectiveness and access.

The Review will follow the "four C's" of Best Value: challenge, consultation, comparison and competition. A broad range of stakeholders will be involved including psychologists and their support staff, children and young people, headteachers and other professionals who work in partnership with the Service.

Challenge

The Review group will

· Examine whether the Service is needed

· Ensure effectiveness measures for the Service are developed

· Recommend how access could be improved for Service users particularly in the context of e-government

· Evaluate existing external communications and recommend improvements

Consultation

The Review group will commission

· The Service Delivery Advisory Group to survey headteachers on the range and quality of existing services

· The Service Delivery Advisory Group to collate feedback from parents on the effectiveness of the existing Service

· The Parent Partnership Officer to facilitate a focus group with parents on accessing the Service

· The Youth Service to undertake a consultation with young people regarding service delivery

· The People Management Advisory Group to consult members of the Service on current management issues

· The Professional Issues Advisory Group to consult members of the Service on future services

· Commission an external consultant to evaluate the existing organisational structure with a view to improving the support and challenge provided to its members.

Comparison

The Review Group will

· Commission an external consultant to consider current service delivery and future services in partnership with members of the Service

· Examine benchmarking data from other shire counties to determine the extent to which the Service is considered to be value for money

Competition

The Review Group will

· Identify competitors to the Service and find out why they are attractive to some stakeholders

· Investigate costs of competitors

The Review Team includes :

· Councillor McNair Scott

· Councillor Cartwright

· Councillor Mrs Peskett

· Cliff Turner, Principal Educational Psychologist

· Marina Chan-Pensley (EP, Havant Local Education Office)

· Gordon Edgar (EP, Winchester Local Education Office)

· Sam Jayasuriya (EP, Fleet Local Education Office)

· Tony Oakley (Special headteacher representative)

· Eddie Izzard (Primary headteacher representative)

· Max Bullough/John Adam (Secondary headteacher representative)

· Howard Firth (Social Services Department)

· Hugh Clench (SEN Regional Co-ordinator)

· Anne Baker (Post 16 representative, King Alfred's College, Winchester)

4. Scope

The Scope of this review includes the Service purposes, effectiveness and access issues as well as financial considerations.

5. Constraints

This review is being undertaken during a period of staff shortage when managers are trying to maintain normal service delivery. The Review Group has three more scheduled meetings: September 4^th,October 2^nd and November 6^th.

6. Dependencies

Clearly, this review depends a great deal on the good will of the members of the Review Group all of whom have full time positions of responsibility.

7. Resource requirements and costs

It is likely that the overall costs will be in the region of £24,000 as indicated in the appendix.

Appendix: costs of Hampshire Educational Psychology Service Best Value Review