Councillor insists plans for Derbyshire’s struggling special needs education will be reviewed

Derbyshire council’s education chief has offered assurances an action plan for the authority’s much-criticised special educational and disabilities’ provision will be regularly reviewed – after he explained the improvement process will be a ‘marathon and not a sprint’.

Cllr Alex Dale, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Education, also told a scrutiny meeting on December 20 it will take time ‘to turn the juggernaut’ after Labour and Liberal Democrat opposition councillors called for an Extraordinary Meeting to review the council’s actions.

The council has been finalising plans for its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities’ provision after an Ofsted and Care Quality Commission report stated the Derbyshire Local Area Partnership’s work – including the council and the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board – needs to improve after it identified ‘widespread and or systemic failings’.

Cllr Dale told the meeting: “The key thing from my perspective is that this was a partnership inspection and will require a partnership improvement plan to move forward.”

He added: “In terms of the response from the partnership we have accepted the findings and apologised profusely to young people and families who have been affected.

“We recognise the areas that need improvement and have been working on these plans for two years and there are some elements where we are demonstrating some improvement.

“But Ofsted was clear the improvement was not being felt yet and we need to go further and faster which we acknowledge and that will be right across the authority in terms of health and schools.”

The Ofsted report identified what it described as ‘widespread and or systemic failings’ in the council’s SEND provision with a significant number of families reporting being in crisis and feeling their requests for help are being ignored.

But the Derbyshire Local Area Partnership – which plans, delivers and commissions services – has been working to address criticism that youngsters have been waiting too long for education and health assessments, have been missing school and have been waiting for specialist health support amid poor communication with parents.

However, Labour councillors Ruth George and Christine Dale and Liberal Democrat Susan Burfoot submitted a formal request for a future Extraordinary Meeting to be considered by the scrutiny meeting for a closer examination of the council’s plans.

But Cllr Alex Dale explained the council has been working on ‘timeliness’ to address assessments, capacity and better reporting and tracking systems which once stood at a rate of 2.6per cent within a 20-week timeline in November, 2022, but the latest figures stand at around 45per cent – just shy of the national average of 50per cent.

He added that a lot work has gone into a digital case management system called iDOX to improve efficiency with children’s Education, Health and Care Plan assessments and communication as part of a £1m investment the council has made in its SEND service with a redesign, a new team set-up, additional staff and SEND officers.

Cllr Alex Dale also told the meeting the council has made some improvement with the quality of its plans alongside an £11m investment which aims to increase SEND school places by 300 after a 200 increase from 2020.

It has also remodelled other services within its schools and learning service to develop the inclusive capacity of mainstream schools to take more SEND youngsters.

Derbyshire County Council has identified priority actions and areas for improvement which it is finalising and Cllr Alex Dale told opposition councillors they are ‘pushing at an open door’ with their call for more scrutiny and an Extraordinary Meeting after he explained plans are already in place for regular reviews and meetings.

The council has put in place a chairperson with an Improvement Board with representation from all interested groups, and minutes from meetings will be shared and the Department for Education has been ‘sufficiently assured’ the council is addressing the situation.

Cllr Alex Dale said the Department for Education will also undertake ‘three dives’ and a ‘stocktake’ after six months with a review of the council’s progress and Ofsted will hold a further reinspection in 18 months and a full reinspection in three years, and there are plans for a separate board for young people and families.

He added that all the action plans will be shared as soon as they have been approved and that improvements will be shared every six months.

The council’s priority plan will be targeting, among other areas, communication between partners and families, health concerning waiting times, specialist wheelchair and mental health support, as well as preparing youngsters for adulthood.

Cllr Alex Dale said: “Ofsted and the Department for Education say it is a ‘marathon and not a sprint’ and many of the challenges they have highlighted are not going to be resolved overnight and it will take a concerted effort over the whole partnership.”

The council’s temporary Executive Director for Children’s Services, Alison Noble, said it is with ‘very strong assurance’ that the council is taking on board ‘very seriously’ what has been raised by the Ofsted inspection.

Ms Noble told councillors: “We are working very, very hard to resolve the systemic and cultural issues but at the same time there are these individual children and families who are raising their voice at council members and I would really appreciate if you can work with the families to say we are doing our best and we will respond as soon as possible because it is a marathon and not a sprint.”

Labour Group Deputy Leader, Cllr Ruth George, said it was good action was being taken but she questioned how long the council had known there were problems and she also questioned levels of SEND staff and the dependence on agency workers.

The council’s Cabinet member for Education said changes to staffing have been for the better because the system was getting overwhelmed and it has been right to review the situation particularly in light of the growing national demand upon SEND services.

Cllr Alex Dale has previously explained councils nationwide are facing huge demands for SEND support and the National Audit Office stated in its report that Government steps would not be enough to address many SEND challenges faced by local authorities nationwide.

He told the latest meeting: “We are aware there have been challenges but these things cannot be resolved overnight and there are challenges that make it difficult to improve overnight and at rapid pace. It takes time to turn a juggernaut but we are committed to doing it.”

Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Cllr Ed Fordham, questioned whether the council had been surprised by the Ofsted report and whether the council has apologised in relation to every single case of concern.

Cllr Alex Dale said most of the Ofsted report did not come as a surprise and he has apologised profoundly and he recognises the service needs to improve.

Ms Noble said: “It’s not a good place to be but it is with absolute commitment and effort that we will work to do what we absolutely need to do.”

She added: “We are trying very hard to get the communication right but this is again a journey and it’s not something we can resolve quickly and overnight.”

Cllr George said: “I get that these things take time but these children and families do not have time and they only have one crack at education”

Reform UK Group Leader, Cllr Philip Rose, questioned why he had not known about the state of SEND sooner and he criticised the adversarial nature of the system that can subject some families to harsh proceedings.

Ms Noble said: “There are levels of scrutiny that do place the system under the spotlight and this inspection says we have not got this right and we have got work to do.”

Scrutiny Committee Meeting Chairperson, Cllr Kewal Singh Athwal, said everyone agrees SEND is a sensitive issue and the current system is not acceptable.

But Cllr Athwal added that Cllr Alex Dale has been open, there has been an apology and measures are being put in place so it was agreed that six-month progress checks will be an acceptable way forward.