Report on Findings from RNIB Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests 2014: Executive Summary

Local authority Vision Impairment (VI) education service provision for blind and partially sighted children and young people

Report on findings from RNIB Freedom of Information (FOI) requests 2014: Executive Summary

Sue Keil

Evidence and Service Impact

30 January 2015

1.Background

In June 2014 RNIB sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all 152 local authorities (LAs) in England asking a range of questions about current and future education provision for children and young people with vision impairment.

This was the second RNIB FOI survey of LA educational provision for children and young people with vision impairment. The key service in co-ordinating and providing specialist support is the vision impairment (VI) education advisory service. Many VI services have been adversely affected by public sector cuts and a key aim of the first FOI request, sent in May 2013, was to benchmark existing provision in each LA against future policy decisions. The aim of this second survey was to monitor changes that may have taken place over the past year, and to find out whether there were any further changes planned in the near future. More specifically, we wanted to know what changes (if any) local authorities were proposing to make in response to the Children and Families Act 2014 and the new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice.

All of the 152 local authorities in England responded to the FOI request.

2.Method

FOI questionnaires were sent by email to all 152 local authorities (LAs) in England. All 152 LAs responded to the survey.

3.Key findings

• The total number of children and young people aged 0-25 supported by VI services in 152 LAs in England in 2014 was 25,294. This is 404 fewer than identified in 2013.
• In some authorities the caseload is substantially higherthan reported in 2013 while in others it is substantially lower. Reasons for the discrepancies include different/better methods of record keeping, tightening up of criteria for support (with greater use of the NatSIP scoring levels in 2014), and policy changes leading to increases or reductions in support to some groups of children.
• 787 braillists were identified compared to 840 that were reported in 2013. Two LAs failed to provide details of the number of braillists in 2014, but if we assume they had the same number as in 2013 we still have a reduction of 40 braillists.
• It is unclear why there has been a decrease in the number of braillists reported and this is something we plan to investigate further.
• Some groups of CYP – in particular those with ‘mild’ VI who no longer meet the threshold for VI service support, and pupils with complex needs in special schools have had their VI service support reduced or withdrawn in some LAs over the past year. However, other LAs have increased support to certain groups of pupils including pupils in special schools. This indicates that a reduction in support is not inevitable and that there may be innovative ways of continuing to support groups of pupils that other local authorities can learn from.
• Some LAs are planning to increase support in the future for certain groups of CYP – in particular young people in post-16 settings. This is partly in response to the SEND reforms.
• Despite the considerable financial pressures on local authorities it appears that in mid-2014 the majority of local authority VI services remained under local authority control in terms of both their management structure and funding arrangements. However, this overlays a more complex picture that is emerging of increasing fragmentation of services as a result of service reviews and restructures that have taken place over the past four years.
• At the time of the survey several LAs were still in the process of reviewing or restructuring their VI service.The process of change appears to be ongoing, with approximately a third of LAs anticipating changes to the VI service over the next year.
• A further 38 specialist staff posts are known to have been lost since 2013. These were mostly QTVI and TA posts.
• 536teachers with a QTVI or QTMSI qualification were employed by 149 LAs in 2014, with a further 59 in training, and another 16 expected to begin training within the next two years.There were also 24 vacant QTVI posts.
• Comparing these figures with 2013, and including vacant posts and staff on the MQ (VI) course but excluding teachers not yet in training, there appear to be 27 fewer QTVIs employed (or potentially employed) in VI services in 2014 than in the previous year.
• 2,431 TAs supported pupils with VI in 148 LAs and of these, 537 were employed directly by the VI service. This compares with 3,208 TAs identified in 151 LAs in 2013, 572 of whom were employed directly by the VI service.
• There were 35 fewer TAs employed directly by VI services in 2014 compared to 2013
• There were 709 fewer TAs employed directly by schools identified in 2014 compared to 2013. This may not reflect an actual reduction in TAs as many LAs did not record the number of TAs supporting pupils with VI in schools
• 20 LAs were planning to increase the number of VI service staff posts in 2014/15 while 3 LAs were planning to reduce the number of posts
• Over a third of LAs had changes planned for support for children and young people with VI in response to the implementation of the SEND reforms in September 2014.
• The requirement to extend specialist support to young people up to the age of 25 while in education (other than HE) and training was the main focus. Other considerations were:
• The development of a Local Offer, for example by consulting with children and families and giving them a ‘voice’
• The transition to EHC Plans
• Developing new ways of multi-agency working
• The effect of the reforms on the way that VI services would work with schools in the future.

4.Summary of findings

In this summary we look at the current picture in 2014 for the management, funding and staffing of VI, to see what changes had taken place since 2013 and what future changes were planned for 2014/15. Similarly, we look at the number and characteristics of children and young people on VI service caseloads in 2014 compared to 2013, criteria for allocation of provision, and any changes to specialist provision for particular groups of children and young people that had taken place in the past year or were planned for the near future. Finally, we will look at what (if any) changes LAs were planning for support to children and young people with VI in response to the 2014 SEND reforms.

4.1 Management and funding of VI services

Despite the considerable pressures on local authorities it appears that in mid-2014 the majority of local authority VI services remained under local authority control in terms of both their management structure and funding arrangements. However, this overlays a more complex picture that is emerging of increasing fragmentation of services as a result of service reviews and restructures that have taken place over the past four years.

In the past year there had been changes to the VI service in 21 LAs (14%) . These included changes to management; changes to the VI service structure such as bringing it into a larger service structure such as a sensory or generic SEN service; externally commissioning parts of the service (such as habilitation provision); and changes to the funding arrangement with schools.

In most LAs, management of specialist education services for children was part of a VI, sensory or more generic SEND service. Most of these services (just under a half of all LAs) were managed as part of a sensory service, which is an increase of seven LAs since 2013.

Just under one in five (28 LAs) were part of a consortium or joint commissioning arrangement while around one in 12 were managed by or externally commissioned to a school or group of schools. In at least three LAs the schools ran the service as part of a Trust.

In only four LAs in England was the VI service externally commissioned to an external organisation (other than a school or group of schools). In two cases this was a private company and in the other two it was a voluntary organisation.

In two (neighbouring) LAs the whole of the children’s services were part of a social enterprise and the sensory service sat within this overall management structure.

In most (four out of five) LAs the VI service budget also continued to be held centrally, which is a similar picture to 2013. However, as we had found with the responses to our question on management arrangements, the true picture was rather more complex than the recorded responses might indicate. While most LAs had retained all or most of the VI service budget centrally, it appears that around two in five operated a traded service arrangement for some pupils, or had delegated all or part of the budget to schools in the LA.

The groups of pupils for whom provision was now funded under a traded services arrangement included those in special schools, pupils without a statement, and those in FE colleges.

The process of change appears to be ongoing, with approximately a third of LAs anticipating changes to the VI service over the next year. At least 11 LAs were undertaking a review of the service and a further nine were in the middle of a service restructure. Six LAs were considering changing an existing consortium arrangement, commissioning the service from a different LA to their current provider, or externally commissioning the service for the first time. Other proposed changes mirrored those that had already taken place in some authorities, such as merging the VI service with another SEND service. Funding changes were also anticipated in some LAs, with one respondent making explicit reference to future budget cuts.

4.2 Professional leadership

In just under two thirds of LAs (96) the person with strategic management responsibility for the VI/sensory service was a qualified teacher of children with vision impairment (QTVI). In approximately one in seven LAs (22) the strategic lead did not hold a qualification for teaching children with sensory impairment (i.e. vision, hearing or multi-sensory impairment). This is a similar picture to 2013, when we identified 94 LAs with a QTVI as head of service and 21 where the strategic lead did not have a sensory impairment specialist teaching qualification. In three LAs the head of service did not appear to hold an educational qualification at all and in a further two, they had a teaching qualification but not related to sensory impairment. While it is possible that these services had the post of VI service team leader, but if not, this raises questions about professional leadership and responsibility for tasks such as caseload allocation.

4.3 VI service staffing

A comparison with 2013, as well as responses to specific questions in the 2014 survey about staffing changes, provides a mixed picture, with evidence of further loss of specialist staff posts in some LAs while in others there appears to be a move towards recruitment of new staff. Overall, nearly a quarter of LAs (35) had lost or had frozen VI service staff posts in the year since 1 April 2013. While the number of lost posts was identified as 37.20 (or at least 38 people), as will be discussed later in this section, by comparing the 2013 with the 2014 FOI returns there are more posts that are unaccounted for.

4.3.1 QTVI posts

Looking first at QTVIs we see that there were 496 QTVIs and seven dual qualified QTVI/QTMSIs employed directly by VI/sensory services in 149 LAs. A further 59 teachers were undertaking QTVI training, bringing the total to 562.

Thirty-three QTMSIs were also identified plus a further 16 teachers who were expected to begin training for the MQ (VI) within the next two years.

This means that in total, 536 teachers with a QTVI or QTMSI qualification were employed by VI/sensory services in England in 2014, with a further 75 either in training, or expected to begin training within the next two years.

Only four teachers were identified who were neither trained nor expected to start training within the next two years. There were also 24 vacant QTVI posts, four of which had been advertised but no suitable candidates found.

Comparing these figures with 2013, and including vacant posts and staff on the MQ (VI) course but excluding teachers not yet in training, there appear to be 27 fewer QTVIs employed (or potentially employed) in VI services in 2014 than in the previous year (613 compared to 586). We know (as detailed in 3.7.2) that approximately 14 QTVIs were made redundant or their posts were frozen when they had left voluntarily. However, once the 14 have been taken into account there still appear to be 13 QTVI posts lost and unaccounted for. Further analysis will be needed to get a better understanding of these discrepancies but the evidence shows that in 2014 at least 14, and possibly as many as 27 – fewer QTVIs were employed in local authority VI services than in 2013.

4.3.2 TA posts

The picture that emerges for TAs is even more complicated because we asked about TAs employed directly by the VI service – either LA or school based – and those employed directly by schools.

Overall, the number of TAs identified in 2014 to support pupils with vision impairment in 148 LAs was 2,431 and of these, 537 (22%) were employed directly by the VI service. This compares with 3,208 TAs identified in 151 LAs in 2013, 572 of whom (18%) were employed directly by the VI service. It is important to note however, that the proportion employed directly by the LA is an over-representation as it was not possible to get an accurate figure for TAs employed directly by schools.

Looking at the TAs employed directly by the VI service, we have found 35 fewer than in 2013. We know that approximately 14 TA posts were lost through redundancy or vacant posts being frozen, which leaves 21 posts unaccounted for.

Turning next to TAs employed directly by schools, we identified 709 fewer TAs in 2014 than in 2013. However, we cannot be certain that this reflects an actual reduction in the number of TAs supporting pupils with VI in schools as it was clear that many LAs did not hold this information centrally, or held only partial information.

That such high numbers of TAs supporting blind and partially sighted pupils are now recruited and employed directly by schools raises serious questions about the training and specialist professional supervision that is provided to these individuals, and the extent to which QTVIs are able to influence the way that they are deployed. We have seen from research undertaken by the Institute of Education that TAs insufficiently trained and supervised can hinder rather than support the education of pupils with SEN (Blatchford et al, 2009; Webster and Blatchford, 2013). We suggest that research is needed to get a better understanding of the training and supervision that is provided for TAs supporting pupils with VI to ensure that they are using appropriate and effective support strategies.

4.3.3 Other staff posts

As had been the case in 2013 a range of other staff were employed directly by VI services. These included resource technicians, ICT support technicians, mobility/habilitation or mobility/rehabilitation officers, early years staff as well as family officers, counsellors, braille instructors and other more generic roles.

Very few staff posts other than QTVIs and TAs seem to have been lost in the past year although this may reflect the very low base.

4.3.4 Future staffing

From both general questions and specific questions it was evident that further staffing changes were planned in many LAs over the coming year. Several LAs were planning to increase staffing in response to the SEND reforms – for example to meet the needs of a wider age range of young people up to the age of 25. Others were doing so because of increased demand due to an increase in the numbers of children with a high level of need such as braillists. In total, 20 LAs said they were proposing to increase VI service staff. Only three LAs were definitely planning to reduce staff posts although a few were uncertain as their service was currently under review.

4.4 Pupils with vision impairment: numbers and provision

4.4.1 Numbers and characteristics of children and young people with VI

The total number of children and young people aged 0-25 supported by VI services in 152 LAs in England in 2014 was 25,294. This is 404 fewer than identified in 2013. Although we know that some LAs reduced support to some groups of children in 2013, this does not in itself explain the discrepancy as those reporting a reduction in support were not necessarily those whose caseloads had decreased. In addition, the caseload had increased in size in several LAs. Follow up calls to a sample of LAs suggests that there were a number of reasons for the discrepancies including different/better methods of record keeping (such as removing the names of CYP who were no longer supported by the service from the database), tightening up of criteria for support (with greater use of the NatSIP scoring levels in 2014), and policy changes leading to increases or reductions in support to some groups of children, most notably those with complex needs in special schools.

We also found a reduction in the number of braillists identified: 787 compared to 840 reported in 2013. Two LAs failed to provide details of the number of braillists in 2014, but if we assume they had the same number as in 2013 we still have a reduction of 40 braillists. This seems a large number as a proportion of all braillists, particularly as some LAs have reported an increase in the braillists on their caseload. We do not have an explanation for this discrepancy between the 2013 and 2014 figures although it is possible that – as with the caseload figures – better record keeping means that the later figures are more accurate. It will be interesting to see how many braillists we identify in the 2015 FOI survey.