Campaigners criticise county's SEND provision

Campaigners have criticised Worcestershire's failing special educational needs (SEND) provision, arguing council bosses were not equipped to fix it.

In April, a joint Ofsted and CQC inspection found there were "widespread failures" within SEND provision iwith some children waiting two years for assessments.

One mother said she had seen a decline in the provision for her daughter's education and the county's Labour MPs said they felt an action plan to fix the situation was not adequate.

The county council and NHS bosses have apologised for the failings and said regulators expected them to make improvements. It was not accurate to say the council did not have capacity for improvement, they said.

Mother and campaigner Dawn Style from Bromsgrove said her 20-year-old daughter, Shanelle, was one of those that were failed.

Shanelle currently studies art at a special needs college, she said, and has had an education, health and care plan (EHCP) or equivalent since she was three years old.

Ms Style said despite the EHCP her daughter had not had the extra tuition or assistive technology it said she needed, and it had not undergone an annual review.

“We’ve lived here since 2009,” Ms Style said. “Since 2018 we’ve definitely seen a decline.”

She added: “She’s missing out on life to be honest and an education that she deserves. She’s never had the education she should have."

Ms Style called for an independent investigation into how the situation had reached the point it has.

Redditch MP Chris Bloore said his inbox was filled with stories about families’ experiences of the authority’s SEND provision.

“We feel the action plan that is in place now is nowhere near adequate,” added Worcester MP Tom Collins.

The council’s interim head of children’s services, Adam Johnston, apologised for the authority’s failings, but said regulators expected them to make the necessary improvements.

He said bosses were also focussing on working with families to make improvements and reduce waiting times.

Worcestershire’s Conservative cabinet member for education, David Chambers, said it was not accurate to say the council did not have capacity for improvement.

"We have 6,500 children with EHCPs, and I can assure you a substantial majority are delighted with the service that they get."

He added he accepted the MPs' offer of working together.

There was a 65% increase in referrals to community paediatrics between 2020 and 2023, according to bosses at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust.

They said referrals increased from 2,600 in 2020 - of which around 1,800 needed neurodiversity assessments - to 4,500 referrals in 2023, of which 2,800 needed assessments.

Herefordshire & Worcestershire Integrated Care Board said it would transfer 250 young people aged 16-18 to an independent provider and planned to invest £800,000 this year in a bid to increase its own capacity.

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