High needs funding arrangements for Southend maintained schools and academies Consultation by the Director of Learning Introduction This document sets out proposed changes to how high needs top-up funding is passed to state maintained schools in Southend. It sets out the background to the current situation, issues with the current system, and proposes options of how these may be resolved. In addition it looks at a possible way of releasing top up funding to schools without the need for an EHC needs assessment. The consultation includes questions on the proposals set out and on the options and how to introduce them. The outcome from this consultation could be 1) Continue specifying LSA hours in EHC plans. or 2) Introduce Banding a) for new plans while continuing with LSA hours until individual EHC plans are amended. b) For all EHC plans and covert the LSA amount to an equivalent band and fund at that rate from a set date. and 3) Introduce ‘SEN Support Plus’ to fund top-up support without an EHC needs assessment. You can respond to this consultation on the survey section of the Southend Learning Network, or by email to
[email protected]. When responding to the survey you will need to confirm that you have read this document and are responding on behalf of the governing body of the school, or have permission to respond on their behalf. Therefore the first two questions of the consultation relate to this. The deadline for response is 21st December 2016. Consultation questions 1. Have you read the document ‘High needs funding arrangements for Southend maintained schools and academies’? 2.