Key information about Scottish Borders

• 630 children aged 0-17 living in the Scottish Borders were in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in 2009.
• In 2009, there were 523 pupils who were had Additional Support Needs in primary and secondary schools in the Scottish Borders.
• There were 149 pupils assessed or declared as disabled in Scottish Borders' schools.  
• In 2009, there were 262 primary school pupils with Additional Support Needs and 261 secondary school pupils with Additional Support Needs.
• There are two special schools in this local authority area and in 2010 both were in "satisfactory" condition.
• In 2009, there were eight teachers in special schools in the Scottish Borders.
• There were 167 ASN auxiliaries or care assistants working in Scottish Borders' schools in 2009: 82 in primary schools, 80 in secondary schools and five in special schools. 
• The number of social work staff in the Council working within "services for children" in 2009 was 148.

Design & Structure

Plans and strategies:

Name of Plan/strategy	When due for review
NHS Borders Carers Information Strategy, 2007-2010	No information found
Scottish Borders Children and Young People's Services Plan, 2009-2012	Revised August 2010
Scottish Borders Council Accessibility Strategy 2008-2011	2011
Scottish Borders - Single Outcome Agreement - 2009 onwards	2012 but also annual review

Service structure:

The Council's Integrated Children's Services brings together Social Work services for children and Additional Support Needs. More information from the  Scottish Borders Council here.  Integrated Children's Services are members of the Children and Young People's Planning Partnership which brings together senior managers from agencies providing services for children, young people and their families. The Partnership forms part of the community planning process for Scottish Borders and works to the priorities set out in the Children and Young People's Services Plan.   

Contact:

The Integrated Children's Services local offices are detailed below:

4-6 Newtown Street, Duns TD11 3DT

Tel: 01361 886115

Rose Lane, Kelso TD5 7AP

Tel: 01573 223501

10-12 Galapark, Galashiels TD1 1EU

Tel: 01896 661880

Library Buildings, North Bridge Street, Hawick TD9 9QT

Tel: 01450 377799

Memorial Hall, Innerleithen EH44 6HX

Tel: 01896 833489

The Children and Young People's Planning Partnership

Policy, Planning and Performance Team

Scottish Borders Council

Newtown St Boswells

Melrose

TD6 0SA

Tel: 01835 824000

Information about disabled children and how many are receiving different services

	2007		2008		2009
	area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total
children aged 0 - 5 on DLA*	63	2.1	73	2.2	70	2.1
preschool children with ASN	30	1.5	90	1.5	120	1.6
preschool children with a CSP	50	3.0	20	2.6	10	1.8
children aged 5 - 17 on DLA*	560	2.1	550	2.0	560	2.0
total number of children with additional support needs	630	1.7	517	1.3	523	1.2
children with a CSP and/or IEP	630	2.1	517	1.6	523	1.4
children assessed/declared as disabled	371	3.4	229	2.1	149	1.3
percentage of children with ASN who are disabled	N/A	58.9	N/A	44.3	N/A	28.5
children with ASN attending primary school	310	1.9	297	1.7	262	1.3
children with ASN attending secondary school	320	2.4	220	1.5	261	1.5
children attending special school	-		-		-
children based at special school attending schools outwith local authority	5		4		3
number of children looked after with a disability	17	1.1	7	0.5	7	0.4

 

Sources:

*Calculated using the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) tabulation tool available at http://reearch.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool

Pupils in Scotland 2007, 2008 and 2009, Scottish Government which states that "there would appear to be inconsistency between schools and between local authorities in the reporting of special schools as separate identities, as well as changes over the past years. We therefore advise caution when comparing results with previous years and across local authorities. A few authorities do not have special schools and may fund places in neighbouring authorities for their pupils. In 2008 and 2009 the number of special schools includes 45 where there were no pupils based, but which received pupils based in other schools. In 2007 the number of special schools includes 34 where there were no pupils based, but which received pupils based in other schools."    

 

Pre-school and childcare statistics 2007, 2008 and 2009, Scottish Government  

Information about the services provided for disabled children

		2007		2008		2009*		2010
		area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total
primary schools		65	3.0	65	3.0	65	3.0	65	3.1
secondary schools		9	2.4	9	2.4	9	2.4	9	2.4
shared campuses		1	3.7	1	2.4	1	2.0	1	1.9
special schools		2	1.1	2	1.1	2	1.1	2	1.1
condition of special schools	good	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
	satisfactory	2	2.8	2	2.6	2	2.5	2	2.4
	poor	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
	bad	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
	not recorded	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
total respite care weeks provided		380	1.7	350	1.5	510	2.2	540	2.3
overnight respite care weeks provided		150	1.7	170	2.2	320	4.0	320	3.9
daytime respite care weeks provided		230	1.7	180	1.1	190	1.3	220	1.4

Sources:

*When two or more schools share the same site

School stats: Statistics Publication Notice - Education Series: School Estate Statistics 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, Scottish Government which state that Scotland-wide in 2007 the condition of 16 special schools was not returned, in 2008 the condition of 8 special schools was not returned, in 2009 the condition of 21 special schools was not returned and in 2010 the condition of 12 special schools was not returned. The Notices also state "in order to ensure consistency across local authorities - new guidance on assigning condition rating to schools - The Condition Core Fact - was published in March 2007. All local authorities are now following this guidance when assigning condition ratings to schools. Prior to 2009/10, some local authorities were not following this guidance, so some of the improvement in condition ratings over the years may reflect the condition of this guidance".  

Respite stats: Audit Scotland SPI data, 2006-08, Scottish Government 2009. All figures rounded to the nearest ten. Total may not add up to the sum of components due to rounding. 

**New methodology for respite stats was used in 2008/09 making these figures incomparable to 2007/08 but comparable with 2009/10 

Services provided by other organisations

Detailed below is a snapshot of the services available to disabled children and young people in this area including providers of short-breaks, support and assistance.

• Aberlour Options Melrose: offers residential and day care respite for children with special needs/learning disabilities.
• Access at Last Website Directory: a searchable international directory of hotel and guest house accommodation with at least 1 room with a level access shower
• Bailey Mill Holiday Cottages and Trekking Centre: accessible B&B accommodation
• Befriending Service: 1:1 befriending service for children aged 11-16 with complex learning needs and group befriending service for young people with learning disabilities aged 16-25
• Best Western Philipburn Country House Hotel: Accessible Self Catering Accommodation
• Borders Caring Services: provide trained care staff to provide care and support to the service users in their own home. We also support service users to attend local events etc.
• Borders DCS offers a support group for parents and carers of deaf children
• Caravanable: the website lists caravan sites throughout Britain that have the minimum requirements for disabled people of a shower, basin and loo with ramped access.
• Carer-Van: Accessible Self Catering Accommodation
• Clannalba Respite and Assessment Centre offers residential short breaks for children aged 5+ with learning disabilities in the Borders.
• Crailing Old School: Accessible Hotels, B&B Accommodation - Meals served in lodge (ground floor accommodation 10 metres from main house) when access to main house is difficult (or this service is requested beforehand). Good information on local visitor attractions accessible to disabled.
• Dyslexia Scotland South East branch holds open meetings for adults and young people with dyslexia
• Eildon Holiday Cottages: designed to enable families with disabled and severely disabled members to take a holiday together. Alternatively, disabled people can holiday with their carers living in the cottage to provide the necessary support. The accommodation has been designed to be homely and to have a "cottage" feel whilst incorporating the necessary equipment for the disabled in a non-clinical and unobtrusive way
• Independent Living Services: training officer will do a risk assessment to see if the service user needs mobility equipment before the carers start the care.
• The council's website also provides online information about useful organisations
• Matching Houses.Com: a holiday house exchange site created by disabled people for disabled people, where people with disabilities swap houses with other people who have the same accessibility needs.

Information about staffing, and qualifications, and funding of services

	2007		2008		2009
	area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total	area total	as % of Scottish total
primary schools teachers/staff:
learning support	15	2.5	2	0.4	21	3.7
ASN	14	4.8	4	1.5	8	2.5
ASN auxiliaries or care assistants	86	2.6	75	2.2	82	2.6
secondary schools:
learning support	40	4.5	29	3.1	33	3.3
ASN general	0	0.0	1	0.7	0	0.0
ASN behavioural support	1	0.9	4	3.4	5	4.4
ASN learning difficulties	0	0.0	3	1.8	4	2.1
ASN physical disabilities	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
hearing impairment	0	0.0	0	0.0	1	0.0
visual impairment	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
ASN auxiliaries or care assistants	60	3.6	75	4.4	80	4.4
special schools:
total number of teachers	8	0.4	8	0.4	8	0.4
general/ASN	8	0.8	8	0.7	7	0.6
subject/other	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
ASN auxiliaries or care assistants	4	0.4	0	0.0	5	0.5
pupil teacher ratio	-		-		-
percentage of teachers aged 55+	N/A		N/A		N/A
centrally employed teachers/other staff:
ASN	5	7.4	23	14.4	1	0.3
educational psychologists	8	1.9	8	1.7	7	1.7
quality improvement officer/educational advisor/support officer	16	3.0	15	3.0	13	2.3
social work staff in "services for children"	134	1.6	142	1.6	148	1.7

 

Sources:

Teachers in Schools 2007, 2008 and 2009, Scottish Government

Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2007, 2008 and 2009, Scottish Government