Commissioning Review of Independent Non-Maintained Special Schools
31ten was asked to undertake a review of North Northamptonshire Council’s (NNC) use of the Independent and Non-Maintain Special School (INMSS) sector to understand where and how placements were currently being made, supported by a robust financial model to provide insight to inform future decisions and a specific focus on exits and transitions.
The Role
In order to deliver this, 31ten carried out the following steps:
- Stakeholder engagement – We met various stakeholders from the LA and partners to discuss the current situation, challenges and opportunities.
- Analysis – We reviewed data on North Northamptonshire INMSS use and expenditure alongside reviewing existing policies and strategies.
- Practice review – We completed desktop case reviews for a sample of one quarter of children and young people currently attending INMSS and also observed panels/ decision-making processes.
Key Outcomes
Our work identified opportunities for improvements and interventions around three areas of focus:
Preventing escalation of need through strengthening early identification and multi-agency support. Our recommendations included:
- Better access to early help to prevent escalation.
- Having a better understanding of health and care needs at individual and cohort level.
- Improving the ordinarily available support for neurodiversity and impact of trauma.
Commissioning effectively to achieve best value. Our recommendations included:
- Taking a proactive approach to market management and commissioning of “high-use settings”.
- Using INMSS case studies to shape the offer in new maintained provision.
Proactive planning to promote independence. This included:
- Proactive planning for all year 9 and year 10 INMSS pupils to support onto appropriate post-16 pathways.
- Strengthening oversight of INMSS pupils through improving annual review arrangements.
