‘GRAVELY concerned’ families of disabled children in Warwickshire say a critical report into special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in the county ‘doesn’t even skim the surface’ of the ‘trauma’ they have experienced.
The Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission report raised ‘significant concerns about the effectiveness of the local area’ – meaning Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and the Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) must produce a Written Statement of Action to Ofsted that explains how ‘significant areas of weakness’ will be tackled.
Inspectors identified long waiting times for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments and weaknesses in support for children with ASD; fractured relationships with parents and carers; incorrect placement of some children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in specialist settings; a lack of uptake of school staff training to help them meet the needs of children and young people with SEND; and poor quality of the online local offer.
A spokesperson for the lobby group SEND Crisis Warwickshire said: “The report’s findings are not reflective of the lived experiences of many Warwickshire families. The report doesn’t even skim the surface of the trauma caused and does nothing to repair the broken trust parents have in Warwickshire’s provision.
“We have supported families with suicidal children that still have no support, families whose children have been given inappropriate school placements that don’t meet their needs, and families whose children have been left without appropriate education for years. Our primary concern is the poor, and we believe often unlawful, decision-making within the local area.
“We hope this report will herald an end to WCC’s behind-closed-doors mentality and place the welfare, wellbeing and education of Warwickshire’s vulnerable children, young people and their families at the centre of all they do, by placing those with lived experience at all levels of co-production, including at board level.”
WCC Labour Group Leader Coun John Holland said: “It is clear the proper support has not been provided. Many parents have told me that the service has been inadequate.
“The council is required to produce an action plan and I hope that we can move forward from here. The action plan will require proper funding but the important thing is that the service actually meets the needs of the children.”
WCC welcomed the report’s highlighting of several aspects of good practice, including that ‘current area leaders have the expertise, drive, determination, and commitment to improving health, education and care outcomes for all children and young people with SEND,’ and ‘acknowledgement of the work already underway to implement an ambitious Change Programme in response to the outcomes of the reviews’.
WCC’s Education and Children’s Services spokesman Coun Jeff Morgan said: “We recognise there is more work to be done and we know there are several areas where we need to do better. Our action plan will be robust, and we will work with rigour and pace to ensure changes are made to help us to improve and enhance the SEND offer in Warwickshire.
“Our ambitious plans to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND – including building a new school and resource provisions, providing clear pathways of support, reforming our decision-making panels and ensuring our systems are sustainable into the future – will help us to make a real change to the way in which support children and young people with SEND in Warwickshire.”
Dr Sarah Raistrick, local GP and Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: “This report recognises that we are not where we need to be as a system, but that we have the plans in place which will help us to deliver better care, whether it is to provide additional support for those waiting for a diagnosis or those receiving support already.”
Visit https://tinyurl.com/vwphm9s to read the full report.
