Ofsted raises concerns over SEND provision in Middlesbrough

A joint Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspection team uncovered a raft of concerns around the quality of SEND services for children in the North Yorkshire town.

This includes a failure of senior managers at Middlesbrough Borough Council and South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to improve life chances for the vulnerable group of children or understand how to best meet their needs.

Inspectors said they are also failing to effectively collect or analyse data, which means they had no accurate way of evaluating the support on offer.

In addition, children and families are said to be frozen out of decision-making around their support and the signposting of local help on offer is poor.

Strategic planning to support children was also found to be weak and there was no effective plan in place for how services across education, health and social care could be jointly commissioned.

Inspectors also said that the quality of education, health and care plans for young people is variable, they contain poor health advice and are not subject to effective scrutiny from senior management.

They said the lack of focus on supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities is a long-term issue, dating back to 2014.

"Children, young people and families are not involved enough in discussion and decision-making about the services and support they need," a letter outlining the findings of the inspection to the council and CCG states. 

"Importantly, too few parents know about Middlesbrough's local offer or how to get the essential help and support they need. 

"Leaders do not have an accurate understanding of how effectively children and young people's needs are identified and assessed. Equally, leaders do not have a clear view of how well children and young people's needs are met or whether they are achieving better outcomes.

"As a result, strategic planning is weak and leaders do not have a secure starting point for jointly commissioning services across education, health and social care."

But while senior management came in for strong criticism, inspectors praised the commitment of frontline professionals to support children.

Efforts to identify children with special needs and disabilities who are at risk of harm were also praised by inspectors, following their visit in March.

SEND services in Halton were also subject to a joint CQC and Ofsted inspection in March, in which inspectors praised the early identification and support in early years settings as well as efforts to prepare children for adulthood.

Particular areas of strength include support for children with visual impairment and hearing problems.