Council and partners commit to improving SEND support

Wokingham Borough Council is determined to improve SEND services for all children and young people and is calling for its partners and the Government to match this commitment with the resources to build a fairer and more inclusive education system.

Local SEND support is provided by the Wokingham Local Area Partnership, which includes health services, schools and the borough council. 

In January this year, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted inspection of the partnership took place looking at the experiences of children and young people with SEND.

Inspectors found children were being supported by dedicated and committed professionals, who are working hard to improve services for children with additional needs, but this support was not yet being consistently felt by all children and families in the borough. 

This inspection identified serious issues with some health services that were negatively impacting on children’s access to education.

The Integrated Care Board, helped by the wider partnership, the Department for Education and NHS England have been working to address these systemic issues.  Most notably: 

• Delays in receiving NHS provided wheelchairs that are leaving children and young people at risk of discomfort or pain, reduced mobility and isolation from school and everyday activities

As a result of the issues identified by the inspectors, children and young people’s Education, Health and Care Plans (which set out what support they should have) are not always being delivered.

Inspectors recognised that the council has invested over £40 million in improvements to its SEND services, to build a permanent workforce, increase the number of school places for children with SEND in the borough and improve access to Short Breaks for children and their families. 

The council is part of a wider system and is committed to working with all partners to deliver on its promise of improving services for children with additional needs. 

Working with partners 

The council is currently working with partners, parents, carers and children and young people to finalise the Local Area SEND Reform Plan, which will set out how the Local Area Partnership will provide fair and inclusive SEND support, including early intervention and high-quality, effective health and education services.

We know that we have more to do to ensure that children and young people are consistently benefiting from the changes we are making.

Cllr Prue Bray, executive member for children’s services said: “We are dedicated to helping every child and young person to thrive. 

“This report shows that the Local Area Partnership must do better together. My thoughts are with the people who are not yet getting the support they should from across the partnership and my commitment is that we’ll work tirelessly with partners to ensure that support is provided.

“The report recognises the dedication of council staff and our efforts to improve our services. The council has invested very significantly in SEND services and improvements are being made. But we are part of a much wider system and improvement is not consistent across the whole partnership. I hope other partners will be prepared to make similar investment and commitments as us because, only with health services and education service support, can we hope to see the necessary changes.

“Since the inspection in January, the council has been working to help the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (now Thames Valley) Integrated Care Board with the NHS Recovery Plan for that service so that no child or young person is left in pain or unable to get to school because they don’t have the right wheelchair.”

Areas for action

The Ofsted Area SEND inspection looks at all the support across health services, local authority, schools and education settings to review the effectiveness of support as a local area. 

The report from January’s inspection, published on Monday 18 May, had three areas for priority action:

1. For the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (now Thames Valley) Integrated Care Board to urgently improve wheelchair services for children and young people to address the significant risks to children’s health, mobility and access to education and community life. This priority is specifically for the ICB although the borough council is supporting with the necessary recovery plan
2. For the partnership to develop a robust Joint Strategic Needs Assessment that accurately the needs of children and young people with SEND in the borough. This must inform all strategic decision making.  Work had begun prior to the inspection but crucially needs the input of all partners to share in this collective endeavour and I am pleased to say that this work is progressing.
3. For the partnership to deliver a recovery plan to improve the quality and accuracy of Education, Health and Care Plans that fully aligns with health contributions.  For this we will be increasing our oversight and working with health and education settings to ensure that children have the support that they need in place.

The council will work with partners to deliver these priority actions and the further areas of improvement identified in the report so that every child has the chance to succeed and to thrive.