Inspectors criticise SEND failures in Bedford
Joe Lepper
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Health and council chiefs in Bedford have been criticised by Ofsted for their failure to work together to improve support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Following a visit to Bedford in February, inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission found that the relationship between Bedford Council's children's services and Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is poor, with close working hindered by a lack of understanding of each other's work.
Leaders on both sides were found to be failing to prioritise improving SEND support and were not holding each other to account. This was particularly found to be the case around duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, such as ensuring all children who are subject to statements of special educational need are converted to education, health and care (EHC) plans.
Inspectors found that EHC plans often lacked essential information needed by social care and health professionals to offer support. In addition, the council and CCG were failing to help families understand the duties and how to apply for an EHC plan.
Health and social care chiefs are also failing to agree how they should be measuring whether services are improving life chances for children and young people, according to Ofsted.
This means that commissioning lacks coherence and planning and joint commissioning across social care and health is rare.
"The ongoing weaknesses in the partnership between the local authority and Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group continue to hinder their ability to act on weaknesses robustly," states Ofsted in a letter to Bedford council's director of children's services (DCS) Colin Foster and senior officers at the CCG.
The letter adds: "Leaders' plans to tackle the significant weaknesses in the provision do not include jointly agreed health, education and social care priorities.
"Leaders equally do not yet have a mutual understanding of how they are measuring the difference that they are making to the outcomes for children and young people who have SEN and/or disabilities.
"Therefore, leaders are unable to commission joint services in a coherent and well-planned way. Joint commissioning between all three services is virtually non-existent to date."
Inspectors noted that a period of upheavel for Bedfordshire CCG had been a factor in the failings. The CCG was placed in financial special measures in January and has been subject to frequent changes in senior management.
"As a result, hardworking and skilled practitioners in front-line services have been left with a lack of strategic direction about how best to support children and young people who have SEN and/or disabilities," adds Ofsted's letter.
The inspectorate has ordered the council and CCG to submit a written statement on how they intend to improve SEND support.
Despite the concerns, Ofsted praised the appointment of Foster as DCS in summer last year and said he has been "incisive and tenacious in identifying" weaknesses.
While EHC plans lack important information, inspectors did note that almost all assessments for these plans are completed within the statutory 20-week timeframe.
Support for young people in making the transition between children and adult support services is also praised.
Henry Vann, Bedford Council's portfolio holder for education, said: "This is an important review of local area SEND services by Ofsted, covering the work of the local authority, health services, schools and all our partners. Our self-assessment was accurate, and identified a range of areas of development where improvements are needed as well as significant areas of strength."
"Collectively, we have plans in place to deliver further improvements working with all our partners to ensure that local children and their families are receiving the service they expect and deserve."
Meanwhile, Ofsted has praised SEND support in St Helens, following an inspection in February. In a letter to leaders across health and children's services, inspectors praised their "deep and accurate understanding of the local area's strengths and weaknesses".
This helps ensure that the quality and timeliness of EHC plans is improving. The majority of parents and carers of SEND children said they are pleased with the support on offer.
"Some parents described the transformational effect this has had on their children's lives," states Ofsted's letter.
Areas of improvement include making sure children's health and social care needs gain a higher profile in EHC plans, which too often focus heavily on education.