| SPOTLIGHT |
The Department for Education has issued Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council with a government direction notice due to “inadequate improvement” in its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services.
The Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, said she was satisfied that the council is “failing to perform to an adequate standard” in some or all of the functions conferred upon the council under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act, since an inspection report carried out in December 2021.
The joint report carried out by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) judged the overall effectiveness of the council's services to be inadequate.
The statutory direction, published on Monday (26 February), calls on all partners including BCP Council, NHS Dorset, schools and colleges, multi-academy trusts, early years settings, and parent and carer groups to work together at pace to improve services.
The Secretary of State has appointed John Coughlan as the Improvement Advisor for Children’s Services in the Council.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We will always take action where necessary to make sure children with special educational needs and disabilities receive the high-quality services they need.
“That’s why we have issued Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council with a statutory direction that requires it to work with our improvement advisor to make the necessary changes to its children’s services. We will be closely monitoring its progress.”
The council said that “meaningful” progress has already been made in SEND provision over the last seven months including:
A new SEND Improvement plan has been created following a review in July 2023, when all partners alongside the DfE agreed the pace of improvements across the SEND system were too slow and too many children were experiencing delays in accessing services, the council revealed.
Cathi Hadley, BCP Council Director of Children’s Services said: “We, alongside our partners in the NHS and education sector, fully accept the findings of the DfE which reflect the review carried out over seven months ago.
“The partnership did have a plan, in 2021 signed off by the DfE, monitored by the SEND Board in which parents were involved.
“On review, it was collectively agreed that this plan would not have the desired impact. We then undertook a thorough analysis of the situation and readjusted the plan which has collective agreement which we are now working to.”
The new SEND improvement plan was approved by the SEND Improvement Board this month.
Lottie Winson
See also: A zero sum game? The number of SEND tribunal cases is rising and the proportion of appeals ‘lost’ by local authorities is at a record high. Lottie Winson talks to education lawyers to understand the reasons why, and sets out the results of Local Government Lawyer’s exclusive survey.
