Damning report into SEND provision in North Northamptonshire
Care and council bosses have apologised
An inspection into North Northamptonshire’s special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) services has highlighted “widespread and systemic failings” in the partnership.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted viewed the service in January 2024. North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has said that it “fully accepts” the findings.
Services are overseen and delivered by NNC and the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board. It’s delivered across the area in conjunction with Northamptonshire Children’s Trust together with schools, nurseries and North Northamptonshire Parent Carer Voice.
The damning report called the authorities’ services “disjointed”, resulting in some children waiting too long to get the help that they need and putting some families in “crisis”.
It wrote: “Not enough is known about children and young people with SEND in North Northamptonshire. This is because they do not always have their needs accurately identified and assessed right from the start.
“Leaders have not acted effectively in order to ensure that appropriate support is available to mitigate the negative impact of these waiting times. This means some children’s and young people’s difficulties become greater while they wait to get the right support.”
Inspectors also said the quality of too many education, health and care plans (EHCPs) was “poor” which in some cases has led to inaccurate identification of children’s needs and inappropriate support being allocated.
Though children in an alternative education placement typically thrive and have their needs met, there are not enough places to meet the growing demand for these settings. Outreach provision to mainstream schools from special schools varies across facilities and there is not an agreed and shared understanding of how and when to help children and young people with SEND.
Other areas flagged for improvement include:
Leaders are currently unable to challenge themselves and each other effectively in order to improve experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and hold each other accountable.
The lack of involvement of professionals from all agencies in the creation and review of EHC plans has led to inaccurate plans being issued and existing plans being out of date.
There has been a failure to address excessive waiting times for access to services, such as speech and language therapy, mental health services, and all aspects of the neurodevelopmental pathway.
Specialist equipment is not always available to meet individual needs.
Support and help for key transitions, particularly at 16 years
old, either comes too late, or in many cases, not at all.
Areas that were positively identified include support for children with visual and or hearing impairment, the views of children and their families being increasingly used to shape strategy and the partnership starting to support children and families with SEND through earlier interventions.
In a joint statement, Jason Smithers, North Northamptonshire Council’s Leader, and Toby Sanders, Chief Executive of NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board, said: “We fully accept and acknowledge the findings of the Ofsted report and are sorry to all those children, young people and their families who have been let down. It is our absolute priority to ensure immediate action to drive the urgent improvements which have been highlighted.”
Sam Baker, Director of Northamptonshire Parent Carers Voice said: “Sadly, the findings of the inspection accurately reflect the reality of lived experiences that local families often share with us and the concerns that we frequently raise with services. Urgent and comprehensive action must now be taken by the Local Area Partnership to address the systemic failures highlighted by the outcome.
“We are hopeful the report will give a clearer focus to the drive to improve and serve as a catalyst for positive change. We are pleased to see highlighted the areas of effective practice, potential for improvement from planned and new initiatives as well as emerging ‘green shoots’ for more effective early help.
“We feel that by listening to the voices and perspectives of families and young people with SEND and putting them at the heart of cohesive plans, real changes can be made, and positive outcomes can be achieved.”
A monitoring inspection will be carried out within approximately 18 months. The next full reinspection will be within approximately three years. The local area partnership will have to submit a SEND priority action plan to address the identified shortfalls in provision.