Agenda item

(To receive a report from Sara Gregory, Commissioning Manager - Children's Strategic Commissioning, which invites the Committee to consider and comment on a report whichrecommends the re-commissioning of the Behaviour Outreach Support Service (BOSS) from 1 September 2022, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive on 1 February 2022)

The Committee considered a report which set out the business case of the Behaviour Outreach Support Service (BOSS) from 1 September 2022, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive on 8 February 2022. The Chairman invited the Head of Service - Children's Strategic Commissioning to present the report. Members were advised that BOSS was currently delivered by Family Action via a contract for services following a tender process. The contract, valued at £1.292m, commenced 5 September 2016 and was due to cease 31 August 2022, and was funded through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). The Council’s Pupil Reintegration Team (PRT) help manage referrals to BOSS with a robust screening process and low numbers of CYP were excluded whilst BOSS was supporting. While the Council had no explicit duty to provide a BOSS Service, it supported a number of the Council’s statutory duties. Lincolnshire was now performing better than the vast majority of its statistical neighbours and better than England and East Midlands averages for permanent exclusion and suspension rates. Modelling of the service would continue to deliver training and workshops in person, online and virtually as appropriate, wider non-core training and workshops, a stronger outreach support focus on further reducing permanent exclusions and encouraging education settings to ensure more CYP remain in their mainstream setting.

Members of the Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present, their responses are included below:-

• There was a connection between BOSS and alternative provision. Some pupils may be referred for an intervention place at an alternative provision setting such as the Springwell Academy Trust for a period of time while work was undertaken with the child’s mainstream school and the alternative provision to enable that child to return back to the mainstream school. BOSS would support this. If a pupil was permanently excluded, then work would be undertaken to try to set up a managed move to another mainstream school, but if that was not possible, then an alternative provision would be somewhere where pupils permanently excluded would go to. However, the aim was always to try to make alternative provision a temporary arrangement and to have pupils back in mainstream schools as far as possible.
• With regards to the gender balance in alternative provision settings, exact figures were not available but as with BOSS there was a higher prevalence of males than females. In BOSS, 77% of referrals were for male children and young people in 2020/21. This correlated with the national position. However, the ratios in terms of staffing and class sizes in alternative provision were much smaller than in mainstream settings to ensure that they were not overwhelming and were able to support pupils and all of their needs, regardless of their gender.
• In terms of success rates for BOSS, only 2% of pupils were permanently excluded while receiving support from BOSS in 2020/21 and 73% continued in mainstream education with additional support in place.
• There had been no complaints made in relation to BOSS. There had been a lot of positive feedback around the service from children and young people and also from schools.
• The Pupil Reintegration Team worked with families when a permanent exclusion had occurred, and BOSS would support the child and school with transition when reintegration back to mainstream education was possible.
• BOSS was a targeted service so the vast majority of children would not come into contact with this service as their needs would be met by their parents and by school. For most children, the way schools support children helped them to understand where their behaviour can be improved, and this was effective. Evidence showed that high numbers of children referred to BOSS have experienced home environmental factors which may impact on the children’s behaviour, such as a bereavement or divorce. Schools could usually manage this but when a school required additional support, then the child would be referred to BOSS to help de-escalate those needs and provide early intervention before any statutory intervention would be required. However, the Council did not have the resources to offer BOSS direct intervention to everyone so there was a focus on training and upskilling the professionals to help more children and young people. A lot of councils did not offer a BOSS service as it was not a statutory service.
• In relation to the 13.5% of children referred to BOSS with mental health concerns, BOSS would support their emotional wellbeing concerns as well as schools and there were other services available where more targeted support was needed, for example Healthy Minds Lincolnshire which was a non-statutory early intervention service that enabled a child to receive support earlier rather than waiting until a referral to CAMHS was required. Healthy Minds Lincolnshire also provided training to professionals in schools which was part funded through the Public Health grant.
• The Public Health prevalence data in the report was based on public health profiles in relation to the size of the area’s population and various different demographics. The figures were estimates of what percentage of children could be expected to be seen with certain characteristics.
• The Council invested well above the national average in early intervention and early help which meant there was a wide range of support services available to families which could help to address the causal factors of behavioural problems. Children and young people could also be in receipt of more than one service at a time, such as the Autism and Learning Difficulties Service and BOSS if they were at risk of exclusion. It was agreed that a diagram setting out all the different services available to families and how they were connected should be provided to the Committee to enable members to have a clearer understanding of these services.

RESOLVED

1. That the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee unanimously agreed to support the recommendations to the Executive.

2. That the comments listed above be passed on to the Executive in relation to this item.