Leader refuses to resign over scathing report

The man leading Derbyshire’s children’s services for the past seven years has refused to resign following a damning report criticising special educational needs support.

Cllr Alex Dale, Derbyshire county council’s cabinet member for education, was asked at a full council meeting if he would now consider resigning following a critical report from Ofsted and the CQC.

The report, published in November, had found “significant concerns” about the authority’s special educational needs services, including “widespread and/or systemic failings”.

Cllr Joan Dixon, Labour Group leader, asked if he could consider resigning, having been the one consistent leader of special educational needs over the past seven years, and detailing the criticism that Ofsted and the CQC had aimed at the lack of strategic leadership and a “clear and cohesive” plan of action, including “poor” communication from leadership.

In response Cllr Dale said: “The report has been sobering really. Most of us know that there have been problems over the past couple of years and we have seen a doubling of EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans) in the past seven years and the doubling of requests for EHCPs in the past three years alone.

“I recognise that you may very well want me to resign but my focus is on continuing to deliver those improvements and working across the partnership and hopefully all members here present today will try and ensure we do improve those services.

“I think that the reality is that while I’m focused on getting on with the job, Labour has got absolutely no plans for what they do.

“The most they can do is tell us to do the things that we are already doing as part of the improvement plan and I think the reality is that the Labour Party doesn’t actually care about this issue, all you really care about is using vulnerable children as a political football to try and score points.”

In response, Cllr Ruth George (Labour) dubbed the accusation “disgusting”.

During the full council Cllr Dale made repeated “profound apologies” for the quality of the SEN service provided by the authority, which he said were clearly “not good enough at all and must improve”, with problems which cannot be resolved “overnight”, with delays which are “significant and unacceptable” and “poor” communciation.

The Ofsted and CQC report had found “significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities”.

It detailed: “For too many children and young people with SEND in Derbyshire, their needs have not been met for far too long. The system that should ensure that they receive the right help at the right time has not worked well for many years. Children and young people with SEND wait too long for their needs to be assessed and for suitable provision to be put in place to meet their needs.”

There have been numerous leadership changes among officers leading the county council’s SEN team in recent years, with the Ofsted and CQC report detailing a number of interim director roles and positions filled by consultants, with a number of entirely absent staff.

Last week saw the temporary appointment of Alison Noble as executive director and director of children’s services at a rate of £7,997.25 per month for working three days per week (around £666 per day)  – totalling £95,967 per year for 156 days of work.