For our Coffee and Chat tonight we welcomed Cllr Sam Journet who outlined the new councils wish list for the upcoming term of office.

Firstly he paid tribute to the previous Councillors who had done of their best under what he now understood were very trying circumstances often holding things back.

Funding is the key stumbling block and the new administration was in the process of releasing revenue to tackle the ever growing SEND climate. Cllr Journet had first hand experience of this during his educational years so top of the list was adequate provision for SEND delivered in excellence by hubs across the county through partnerships within the schools moving things forward.

Alongside this would be an extra 1000 specialist school places linked to local schools guided by the hubs to ensure inclusion was key to remove the stigma often attached to high needs pupils through segregation into special schools which do have their place under exceptional circumstances.

However it was noted in conversation with ESGA governors on the evening that with inclusion came greater understanding and acceptance of individual needs which often led to schools having their budgets stretched to deficit.

To that end Cllr Journet acknowledged the £ 22 million from HMG to cover the LA overspend would mean the 20 week current target of EHCP acceptance backlog should be cleared by end of 2026 allowing the target to be re-aligned to an 80% resolution within an 18 week time frame.

At the conclusion Cllr Journet welcomed the opportunity to return at least quarterly to the debate and accepted the invitation to the joint ESGA/LA/EPHA/ASHE conference March 11th 2027.