A 19 Year Old Heading Children and Family Services?

Leicestershire County Council has a huge agenda for change in SEND, which includes speeding up the EHCP assessment process and building more special schools. It's difficult to see how that can be done without more funding. I'm not sure Reform HQ will be happy to support one of their councillors asking for more SEND funding, given their previous statements on the matter.

I don't think we can ignore the impact of covid and a lockdown on vulnerable children either. That should be taken into account.
I've known many wise and sensible 19 year olds, however I've also known many unwise and not sensible ones too. I hope he has good advisors and listens to them.

I suspect that in Primary Schools years of government cuts have impacted on the number of teaching assistants specially trained to work with teachers to provide support to individual children, groups and classes. The last Labour government provided money and resources for this. I was involved in the training and evaluation and saw how well it worked in our Local Authority and elsewhere over a number of years.

nanna8

My first thought was how dreadful and that a 19 year old would have no clue about families and children. On mature consideration, I think I was being ageist because some 19 year olds have wisdom beyond their years and this person may possibly ( hopefully ) be one of them. I was married at 19 looking after a home and studying hard and I don’t think I was particularly immature.

Do you honestly think you could have made decisions about other people's children? By definition, most of these children have complex needs. Some have multiple learning needs, while others come from families where they are not being given the support they need. In some cases, there will be abuse and tough decisions will be needed. Did you really have experience to deal with that? This 19 year old is a university student (studying computer science) and attended a selective, independent school. Where has he gained experience to deal with people and sensitive issues, never mind oversee a multi-million pound budget?

My first thought was how dreadful and that a 19 year old would have no clue about families and children. On mature consideration, I think I was being ageist because some 19 year olds have wisdom beyond their years and this person may possibly ( hopefully ) be one of them. I was married at 19 looking after a home and studying hard and I don’t think I was particularly immature.

windmill1

TerriBull

Oh well William Pitt the Younger was PM in his early 20s. Anyway shouldn't they all be Labour supporters at their age

Hmm, but I wonder if Hooray Henry's identify with Labour? When I saw the photo of these two in The Guardian something about them gave the impression that said "entitled and opinionated", but as I'm only going on appearances I could be very wrong, maybe.

It's a superficial judgment, but I thought they looked as though they should be on "The Apprentice".

TerriBull

Oh well William Pitt the Younger was PM in his early 20s. Anyway shouldn't they all be Labour supporters at their age

Hmm, but I wonder if Hooray Henry's identify with Labour? When I saw the photo of these two in The Guardian something about them gave the impression that said "entitled and opinionated", but as I'm only going on appearances I could be very wrong, maybe.

growstuff

The same council also has a 22 year old Reform councillor as Deputy Council Leader and holder of the adult social care portfolio. He allegedly expressed the view that depression isn't real.

He's also alledged to have discreetly deleted mysoginistic comments on social media. So, Social Care in Leicestershire will be nice and safe with him.........

I agree, what is going on

There has been a nearly 50% increase in the number of children with EHCPs from 2020 to 2024. Nationally, nearly 20% of all pupils have some kind of SEND plan. Those are incredible figures.

I spent my entire teaching career in secondary comprehensives with inclusive policies (we didn't refuse SEND pupils by "back door" means) and I can honestly say that I don't ever remember more than two or three pupils in a mixed-ability class of 30 (10%) having needs I couldn't cope with using normal teaching strategies. I don't know why the numbers have increased so dramatically, but I'm not going to accept the easy answer that there's over-diagnosis. My gut feeling is that the obsession with exam results is more likely to be a cause. It could also be that there is too little guidance from mental health/support services at an early stage.

A councillor in charge of policies (and the finances to deliver change) needs to understand the issues and be sensitive to the needs of everybody involved. It could be that money needs to be spent on a thorough review.

Is going on

Well yes but the actual numbers are rising, we have an entire team now dedicated to it, that didn't happen for no reason. We are failing these children if we don't look at what us going kn.

Semh etc is to do with lack of funding too though

Yes I agree entirely growstuff, anecdotally I am wondering if there something about SEMH, which is also through the roof, the presentation is often similar, I am not suggesting wrong diagnosis, but I do think we need to look at what is going on.

Chocolatelovinggran

Further to my comments on Reform's vetting drawbacks, a local councillor in Cliftonville, Kent, has stood down as he is under investigation by the police.
The allegations include threatening and lewd communications, and plotting to kill his wife.

He's actually been charged and has appeared in court.

Galaxy

They are trying and failing to get funding partly because of the numbers. Ignoring this is exactly the same as ignoring the rise in young people claiming PIP. There are probably links from some of the figures I have seen. I don't care what Farage thinks about it but I would like someone to think about it.

I'd like somebody to think about it too because I confess that I don't really understand what's going on.

I was reading a report by the Health Foundation which claims that pupils eligible for free school meals are twice as likely to have SEND than those who don't. On the other hand, there has been a faster growth in those actually receiving support amongst those who don't receive school meals. Something isn't right. There needs to be a thorough investigation because the whole system is in danger of collapse and nobody will get any support, unless parents can pay for it.

I just hope this 19 year old understands the issues.

Further to my comments on Reform's vetting drawbacks, a local councillor in Cliftonville, Kent, has stood down as he is under investigation by the police.
The allegations include threatening and lewd communications, and plotting to kill his wife.

Growstuff sensible well thought out comments
What a shit show

They are trying and failing to get funding partly because of the numbers. Ignoring this is exactly the same as ignoring the rise in young people claiming PIP. There are probably links from some of the figures I have seen. I don't care what Farage thinks about it but I would like someone to think about it.

The 19 year old attended a selective independent school, so I doubt if he has has much experience of pupils with SEND or has spoken to many parents with SEND children. I wonder what kind of understanding he has of the issues.

He will also have core responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children within Leicestershire. That's not a role for somebody with little experience of life.

M0nica

Well. let us see how he does, along with the one running a local council. They could surprise us. It really depends on whose pulling their strings.

That's what concerns me! The 19 year old is ultimately responsible for SEND. Nigel Farage has claimed that doctors are “massively over-diagnosing” children with mental health conditions, and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This contradicts the evidence I have from parents I know who are trying to get SEND funding for their children.

Well. let us see how he does, along with the one running a local council. They could surprise us. It really depends on whose pulling their strings.

This sounds eerily familiar.

Sincerely,

The United States

Adult social care and children’s services account for approximately 75 per cent of Leicestershire County Council’s £616 million budget.

A lot of the money they spend will be on statutory services and there is no alternative. However, there will still be some discretionary spending and the councillors make the decisions.

Children's services includes SEND and child safeguarding, which are important issues. I honestly feel that the person making the decisions needs to have more experience than a 19 year old without any work experience could possibly have.

I have no problems with a 19 year old being on a council and having a voice. In fact, I welcome it, but I have serious reservations about anybody so young having so much responsibility.

Allira

I meant Charlie Pugsley.

Ah! Apologies for the misunderstanding.