Nottinghamshire County Council approves SEND services improvement plan after report of ‘widespread failings’
Investigation found “widespread failings” of Nottinghamshire’s services for children and young people with special educational needs
A plan aimed at dramatically improving services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) in Nottinghamshire has been approved.
In a report published last month, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission found “widespread and systemic failings” during an investigation into Nottinghamshire County Council’s SEND services earlier this year.
At a meeting of the authority’s cabinet on Thursday June 22, councillors unanimously approved the plan, which sets out measures to improve the county’s services.
Cllr Ben Bradley MP, leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, told the meeting: “We’re all disappointed in those outcomes and as councillors and as officers we’re all here to try and deliver the best possible services, particularly for those vulnerable people within our county.
“I think it’s been picked up with some real gusto and intensity and that work has been ongoing since Ofsted were here to try and start that work on improvement.”
He added: “We will have an additional spotlight in terms of scrutiny and accountability in making sure we’re managing that in the best possible way.”
‘Significant concerns’
The local area partnership inspection by the health and education watchdogs found “children and young people wait too long to have their needs accurately assessed”.
As a result, their needs were “not being met in a timely way”.
It said there are “significant concerns” about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND in Nottinghamshire.
The report said: “Too many children and young people with SEND wait too long to access some health services such as speech and language therapy and neuro-developmental pathways.
“In addition, there are gaps in service provision, for example in occupational therapy and some specialist equipment provision.
“This results in ongoing frustration for children, young people and families.”
Government targets say children should not wait more than 20 weeks for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) – which identifies educational, health and social needs and sets out the additional support to meet those needs.
However, in Nottinghamshire, four out of five children are waiting more than 20 weeks, and some children with “particularly complex needs” wait for more than eight months.
“Children and young people with the most complex needs, EHC plans do not identify health and social care needs, outcomes, or services well enough,” the report said.
“This means children and young people are not consistently getting the help they need at the right time.
“This is compounded by a lack of health and social care input at annual reviews for these children.”
Nottinghamshire County Council and the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which are responsible for the services, have been given two areas for priority action by the report.
- To urgently identify, assess and provide for the needs of children and young people with SEND
- To identify and address the delays and gaps in access to some health services
An independently chaired improvement board has been established and will meet for the first time on June 23.
‘Difficult finances’
Cllr Bruce Laughton, the authority’s deputy leader, said he was “confident” services will see improvement but had “to make the point” that he claims the council’s finances have reduced by £300m over the last 20 years.
He added: “We’re still asked to provide a service for the residents of Nottinghamshire in an extremely difficult financial situation.
“Yet the people of Nottinghamshire expect a delivery of service of the same level and it is increasingly difficult, but we’ve got to make sure we can deliver the best for those residents who we represent.”
The county council’s cabinet has agreed to receive a further update on progress in implementing the improvement plan in six months’ time.
A CQC and Ofsted monitoring inspection of services will be carried out within 18 months and a full area inspection of SEND will take place within three years.