Children’s:  Post 16 HNL Review & Negotiation 

Increasing numbers of learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN) represent a growing cost pressure for councils, and a lack of structured approach to funding HNL support has resulted in high levels of inconsistency in the charges levied by FE colleges.

To help you overcome these challenges, Valuing Care offers cost reviews of Post 16 High Needs Learner (HNL) to develop a greater understanding of HNL support costs and determine whether what you’re paying represents value for money. We can also develop pricing models to enable the purchase of packages of support on a fair and consistent basis, and help with future HNL funding decisions.

Focus on: Berkshire Authorities

The Berkshire Authorities commissioned Valuing Care to undertake a cost review of post 16 high needs learner (HNL) support to attend college. The purpose of the review was to improve the Council’s understanding of the cost of delivering HNL support, and to identify and challenge colleges with unusually high costs.

To fulfil these requirements Valuing Care undertook a survey of HNL support costs to identify the usual cost of providing services and usual rates of pay for each type of staff. The survey highlighted significant inconsistency in the reported cost of providing teaching and learning support, which has triggered audits of the high cost colleges.

Key benefits:
• Identification of usual costs and staff inputs for each staff type.
• Increased intelligence about how support costs vary to meet the needs of high needs learners.
• Development of a cost model based on the usual cost of delivering services.

Focus on: Staffordshire County Council

Valuing Care completed a cost review of Post 16 High Needs Learner (HNL); to develop greater understanding of HNL support costs and whether it represented value for money. A pricing model was also developed to purchase packages of support on a fair and consistent basis.

Valuing Care surveyed all FE colleges in Staffordshire to identify the level of staff input, and the associated cost of supporting a sample of HNL. The identification of median costs, and corroboration against our benchmark data, provided the Council with a
good indication of the usual cost of delivering support locally.

The results helped to develop and populate a cost model to inform future HNL funding decisions.

Key benefits:
• Established processes for engaging service providers and reviewing the reported cost of delivering services.
• Increased intelligence on how support costs vary to meet the needs of HNL.
• Development of a cost model based on identification of the usual cost of delivering services.