Urgent action needed over 'systemic' SEND failings

Urgent action is needed to tackle a council's "widespread and systemic" failings in Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) services, an inspection has found.

The review of Durham County Council by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted, identified "significant concerns" and "inconsistent experiences and outcomes" for children and young people.

An action plan was presented to councillors at a meeting in response to the inspection, which included a pledge for partners across education, health and care services to work together.

The meeting also heard that the council hoped to have more specialist provision for SEND children by autumn 2025.

A report also said the authority needed to improve the quality of assessments of children who may need to access the service, however it recognised that timings for the assessments had improved.

It added that partners should work to reduce delays for people accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAHMS) and neurodevelopmental support.

Among strengths identified in the current SEND services, inspectors highlighted that persistent absenteeism was being reduced, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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