Contact: Jack Cawthra, Education Officer (EOTAS) ext: 6537 e-mail: [email protected]

Terry Rath, Education Officer, ext: 6457 e-mail: [email protected],

1 Summary

1.1 This paper presents the service improvement plan of the Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) service for the period September 2004 - August 2006. The plan is set out at the appendix.

1.2 This report supports Aim 1 of the County Council's Corporate strategy, `maximising life opportunities' by identifying improvements in education provision for young people who are out of school due to permanent exclusion or illness.

2 Background

2.1 The Education Policy Review Committee, at its meeting on 23 March 2004 approved the Options Report of EOTAS Best Value Review. That report (section 7) suggested possible improvements which would need to be considered in the writing of a service improvement plan and the plan has been written bearing these in mind.

2.2 The service improvement plan has also been written taking into account;

- The Green Paper, `Every Child Matters'

- The Children Bill

- The (draft) Education Strategy

- The (draft) Inclusion Policy

- The outcomes and service improvement plans from other Best Value Reviews (Particularly the Social Service's Best Value Review of Services to Children and Young People in the Community)

- The changing nature of behaviour support within and across the LEA,

all of which stress the primacy of partnership with communities in successful public service delivery.

2.3 The Best Value Review of the EOTAS Service focussed on seven areas. These were:

- Improvement in management information systems and analyses

- Greater emphasis on re-integration

- Earlier involvement to tackle behaviour problems

- Minimizing the gap between exclusion or inability to attend school due to illness and the availability of EOTAS provision.

- Clearer focus on the needs of individual children

- Seeking views of children and parents and listening to them.

- More effective monitoring of `home education'

Action points for service improvements have been listed under the most appropriate area of focus, and cross-referenced where they apply to more than one area. Overarching, cross-service improvements have been listed under a separate heading.

2.4 EOTAS provision is demand led and will often be difficult to predict. It is anticipated, however, that with the exception of establishing a new database and a Virtual Learning Environment, the implementation of the service improvement plan will be cost neutral.

The service improvement plan seeks, therefore, to identify what the service will do to seek improvement within current budget levels.

2.5 The improvement plan will be implemented over the next two years and will be regularly reviewed, monitored and updated, as appropriate.

3 Legal Implications

3.1 None.

4 Financial Implications

4.1 The report makes reference to establishing an EOTAS database and a Virtual Learning Environment both of which have yet to be costed.

5 Personnel Implications

5.1 None.

6 Impact Assessment

6.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

7 Crime Prevention Issues:

7.1 The EOTAS Best Value Review Service Improvement Plan seeks to improve support and provision for children and young persons who are out of school. Given, for example, the established links between exclusion and youth offending it is anticipated that the improvements identified within the Service Improvement Plan will have a positive impact on crime and disorder issues.

8 Views of the Local County Councillor

8.1 The EOTAS Best Value Review Service Improvement Plan is an over-arching plan which seeks to improve the effectiveness of the EOTAS service on a county-wide basis. The views of individual or local County Councillors have not, therefore, been sought.

Recommendations:

1. It is recommended that:

- Members of the Education Policy Review Committee approve the EOTAS Best Value Review Service Improvement Plan and recommend its implementation to the Executive Member for Education, subject to availability of resources.

- Officers report to Education PRC on the progress of the improvement plan.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: The list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents with disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE FILE

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