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Flintshire Portfolio Pupil Referral Units

Published: 16/11/2018

On 20 November, Flintshire’s Cabinet will be asked approve a proposed submission to Welsh Government which will explore an improved service model for the Portfolio Pupil Referral Units (PPRU). 

This will be discussed as a Part 2 item.

At present the PPRU service operates from a number of different locations which raises some operational challenges. The existing centres are not purpose built so do not offer access to rooms which support specific interventions for pupils or that can host multi-agency meetings, a regular need for this kind of provision.  Staff expertise is also spread thinly across the centres and not always available when needed at a certain location.

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Youth, Councillor Ian Roberts, said:

“We want to explore the possibility of improving the PPRU service and we are proposing the development of a Business Case to present to Welsh Government.  The new service would need to offer flexibility.  A key recommendation from the 2015 Estyn report was “Introduce a strategic and shared approach to managing within a single organisation.”  

“It would, therefore, be prudent to investigate whether the Council is able to develop the PPRU service with funding from Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools programme. This would provide a solution for the reported service difficulties along with the opportunity for service development and improvement and ensure that learners who have very specific needs are supported effectively to achieve their potential.”