Northants action group speaks out on SEND provision
It's after failings were found through West Northamptonshire.
A Northamptonshire action group say they're not surprised by concerns over provision for those with special educational needs and disabilities at a local authority.
It's as West Northamptonshire Council published an Ofsted and CQC report which found failings needing to be urgently addressed.
Lauren Bunting co-founder of the West Northants SEND Action Group, says she's had first hand experience of deep rooted issues:
"The struggles we say are very varied but ultimately come down to a local authority which doesn't listen, doesn't make decisions in the best interests of children, and doesn't follow the law.
"I question why they've waited until the publication of this catastrophic report to announce they're going to make improvements.
"They've been claiming they're going to make changes for the better for two years, and we haven't seen that. They have waited until now to talk about this."
In agreement with Ofsted and the CQC, West Northamptonshire Council, the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board and Northamptonshire Children’s Trust have published the inspection report to progress the action required.
The Partnership involved say they fully accept the findings of the inspection and apologises to children, young people and their families where we have fallen short.
Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills says:
"We recognise the ongoing work which we need to carry out to address the concerns arising from complaints and feedback from our service users and we are incorporating this into our improvement plan which seeks to carry out continual development. We have recently welcomed three additional colleagues who will support with this work.
"Inspectors noted that some of the work we are doing is still quite new and it is too early to see the desired impact and we have been open in that. Unfortunately, due to the scale of transformation needed these changes will take time and they must be made working closely with schools, health colleagues, our Children’s Trust and most of all with families.
"Involvement from families, children and young people was recognised within the report and I would like to share thanks to all those who have been involved – their contribution has been so valuable, and we will continue to build on this engagement to ensure their voices remain at the heart of our planning, conversations and next steps.
"The £1.35million investment approved at Cabinet, will make a huge difference, enabling further capacity in our team to improve the quality and timeliness for ECP needs assessment. I am confident this will set a positive trajectory to make these critical changes and be a significant step forward for the service."