SEND crisis: Report slams 'widespread failings' in West Northamptonshire services
A council has promised to make "critical changes" to its services for children with special educational needs after an inspection found "widespread and systemic failings".
Services in West Northamptonshire for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) were inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in March.
Inspectors found that children with SEND "have not been prioritised, (...) wait too long for their needs to be assessed, (...) and this limits their chance of success."
The report said: "There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, which the local area partnership must address urgently."
The partnership said it was working hard to address the failings and it was investing another £1.35million to increase the capacity of its staff members.
The report follows investigations by ITV News Anglia revealing thousands of parents and children in the East of England are being failed by the SEND crisis.
Families find themselves in "crisis"
The CQC and Ofsted inspection found a number of significant causes for concern with the West Northamptonshire SEND services.
It said some children's needs became greater while they were waiting to access support, leading families to "finding themselves in crisis."
Meanwhile parents, carers and practitioners agreed that it was "those who shout the loudest" that get help, which increases stress and anxiety who then must battle to get the right support for their child.
Local area leaders were highlighted as having not addressed waiting times in services for mental health, speech and language therapy or all aspects of the neuro-developmental pathway.
Additionally, the current implementation of education, health and care (EHC) plans was criticised, with inspectors saying they were inaccurate, not completed in a timely manner and finalised without the expertise of health professionals.
Leaders of the partnership knew there were not enough places to meet growing demand from children with SEND and were opening more specialist resources in mainstream schools, but the current shortage meant some children were left with no choice but to travel long distances from where they lived.
Strong well-being services
The inspection found a number of positives in the West Northamptonshire SEND partnership's work, including:
Parents voices are now heard more effectively through the West Northamptonshire Voices in Partnership group, which represent parents of children with SEND.
Children and young people with SEND benefit from a strong emotional health and well-being offer.
Some children and young people with SEND are valued, visible and included in their communities, through sport activities.
Where children and young people with SEND receive specialist social care support from the Children’s Disability Team, they receive timely assessment and appropriate advice to meet their needs.
"Strive to do better"
In response to the report, councillor Fiona Baker, West Northamptonshire Council, said: “The inspection outcome highlights failings within the service which we had previously identified and which we are working hard to remedy.
"We accept the findings of the OFSTED inspection and will continue to strive to do better for our SEND children, young people and families.
“We recognise the ongoing work which we need to carry out to address the concerns arising from complaints and feedback from our service users and we are incorporating this into our improvement plan which seeks to carry out continual development.
"Unfortunately, due to the scale of transformation needed these changes will take time and they must be made working closely with schools, health colleagues, our Children’s Trust and most of all with families.
“The £1.35million investment approved at Cabinet, will make a huge difference, enabling further capacity in our team to improve the quality and timeliness for ECP needs assessment. I am confident this will set a positive trajectory to make these critical changes and be a significant step forward for the service.”
"Unsurprising"
Meanwhile, the West Northamptonshire Voices in Partnership, representing parents of SEND children, said: “The result and findings of the Ofsted and CQC inspection align with the perspectives shared by our members and ourselves, which makes them unsurprising.
“As representatives of the Parent Carer community, we are deeply troubled by the findings of the recent Ofsted & CQC report highlighting widespread and systematic failings in SEND provision within our local area.
“We look forward to the return of the inspectors in 18 months, where we hope the Local Area SEND Partnership leaders and stakeholders will demonstrate the effectiveness of the implemented measures with positive outcomes for children, young people with SEND, and their families."
Have you experienced issues with SEND provision in the East of England? We would be interested in hearing your story. Send an email to anglianews@itv.com
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