PAPER B2
Committee: SOCIAL SERVICES HOUSING AND BENEFITS
SELECT COMMITTEE
Date: 3 APRIL 2002
Title: BEST VALUE JOINT REVIEW OF
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS, CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES AND
SIGNIFICANT HEALTH NEEDS
JOINT REPORT
OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND HOUSING AND THE STRATEGIC
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY/PURPOSE
This final
draft report seeks to inform and consult members on this Best Value Review and
identify the key issues and further work to be undertaken through the
improvement plan. A copy of the report
is enclosed as an Appendix for members of the Select Committee only. Further copies can be obtained from the web
site or from Committee Services.
BACKGROUND
As part of
the work undertaken to date a Review Scoping document was produced, consulted
upon and approved by the Children=s Committee
on 22 March 2001. This identified six
review areas of the services for which Working Groups were established:-
Management Steering Group
Policy and Strategy Group
Direct Services Group
Indirect Services Group
Administration and
Resources Group
Residential Short Term
Support Group
These groups considered
wide-ranging consultations held between May 2001 and February 2002 and
identified a number of key issues and areas for action. Bench marking and comparative data has also
been collected. The report includes an
improvement plan for the services with six key objectives.
To create a more
streamlined and simplified service by improving joint working and exploring
future integration.
To develop fair and
equitable services through improvements to eligibility criteria.
To enable service users
to have access to transport services which help meet assessed need.
To make services more
inclusive by:
Developing good working
practices.
Improving the access to
and availability of high quality and inclusive services provided by a range of
organisations.
To make services more
accessible by improving information services for users and other stakeholders.
To develop services that
better reflect needs by improving service user involvement in all aspects of
services.