EDR08 - Financial Savings 2021-22 - Learning Community staffing
| Title | EDR08 - Financial Savings 2021-22 - Learning Community staffing |
|---|---|
| Council Resource | Education |
| Aims and Objectives | Through the ongoing consideration of the staffing model and delivery model of specialist support in schools, given the enhanced capacity building in schools, savings can be realised. This links to the establishment of the 'Framework for Inclusion and Equality' and a raft of guidance, training and support materials which have been developed to meet a range of additional support needs. This has enabled enhanced support and capacity across the teaching workforce to better meet the needs of children and young people. Extended Support Teams are based across the four localities and provide input to support children and young people with additional support needs. A named specialist support teacher is currently available for every school and early years establishment, who works with school managers to support the application of staged intervention approaches and effective individualised planning to meet additional support needs. As a result of improvements in the level of specialist support available, the service can be delivered with a smaller establishment. A saving of £0.211m will be achieved through reducing the current establishment by 6FTE, from 57FTE to 51FTE. The service have been operating successfully for a long period of time with 2FTE vacant Class Teacher posts, which will contribute towards the saving. The remaining reduction of 4FT will be realised through natural turnover of staff and through the redeployment of staff to support new externally funded programmes. The saving represents a part year effect from August 2021. The annual saving equates to £0.330m. A further saving of £0.119m is therefore achievable in 2022/2023. |
| Conclusion | There may be the potential for this proposal to negatively impact on vulnerable children and young people and those with additional support needs. However, this saving follows a period where 2 posts have been vacant for some time and it is anticipated that the realignment of services will help to mitigate any potentially negative impact of this proposal through an integrated and consistent approach to support for learning with resources directed to school level. Guidance for practitioners is also provided through the Council's Framework for Inclusion and Equality, which is intended to improve the support provided for children and young people in relation to all aspects of inclusion at all stages of their learning. |
| Completion date | 24/2/21 |
| Contact Email address | equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk |