Slough Council vows to improve SEND services after damning report

A joint inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted found that council and health services were not working well together across health, education and social care, leaving children and their families without effective support.

“There has been too little focus on the reality faced by children and young people with SEND, and their families in Slough,” states a letter to service leaders in the town.

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It adds that “the majority of parents and carers do not feel understood, welcomed or helped”.

Parents told inspectors they were forced into “fighting over the years to have their child’s need identified and supported, without success”.

Due to the “difficult” communication with support services, parents, carers, and professionals are “forced to rely on people they know”.

The leadership in SEND support across council and health services in Slough is also criticised by inspectors.

They “have not maintained a consistently clear, shared understanding of the effectiveness” of support.

Other concerns are “weak” collaboration between professionals, children and families. Lack of parental representation is a key concern.

A lack of development in joint commissioning is also slammed. Instead, in the area there is the use of “habitual spot purchasing”, which “has compromised the effective use of funding”.

Long waiting times for occupational therapy, lack of consideration of the social care needs of children and high staff turnover are among other concerns cited by inspectors.

In addition, inspectors found that “not all schools are welcoming of children and young people with SEND”.

Despite the concerns the inspection team note that “there is a clear desire to improve” support services and that local leaders have begun to implement a plan of action. But this is “in its infancy and the details are not widely known” across the area.

Christine Hulme, who was named Slough council’s lead member for education and children in May, admitted “we need to improve and fast”.

She added: “We have been working since I took over the portfolio on better joining up all our services and this is noted in the report, but unfortunately the work is too new to have had any real impact before Ofsted and CQC visited.”

Tracy Faraday-Drake, managing director of NHS Frimley clinical commissioning group, which covers the Slough area, said: “This inspection has shone a light on some of our most vulnerable children and we are working together with the borough council and with our other partners to drive the transformation of these vital services.”