'Widespread and systemic failings' revealed in inspection of Derbyshire special needs provision

An inspection of Derbyshire's special educational needs provision has revealed "widespread and systemic failings" leading to "significant concerns" for the children and young people involved. The damning report was compiled by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted following a SEND (special educational needs/and or disabilities) inspection of Derbyshire Local Area Partnership in late September.

The partnership comprises of Derbyshire County Council and NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, which are responsible for planning and commissioning services to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND in Derbyshire.

The newly-published report says that "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."

It has led to Derbyshire County Council's temporary executive director for children’s services Alison Noble to apologise and said they "fully accept the findings".

The inspectors said that "a significant number of families report being in crisis, feeling their requests for help are being ignored, which has impacted negatively on family life". Even when they are assessed, the report notes that there are not sufficient special school places for them and said: "Their difficulties become greater while they wait to get the right support, leading to some missing large amounts of their education."

The inspection team noted that "where children’s and young people’s needs have not been identified in a timely manner, their experience can be very different. Some provisions, including some schools, struggle to accommodate them, leading to increasing numbers of children and young people with SEND being suspended and/or excluded, or placed on a part-time timetable."

The report continued: "The lack of a clearly defined joint strategy for SEND in Derbyshire has led to key stakeholders, such as schools and multi-academy trusts, filling the void with their own strategies and resources. This leads to the disparity seen across the region, with parents reporting a post code lottery for support."

What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

• A considerable amount of work has been completed by the partnership over the last two years to ascertain the scope of the weaknesses in the area and some plans have been created to address these issues.
• Some child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and special schools are establishing user participation groups to ensure that children’s views are captured. This has led to changes, such as reasonable adjustments being made to their environment.
• Some schools and early years provisions are reported by parents as ‘going above and beyond’ to try and provide the right levels of support for their child.
• Children and young people with SEND living outside the local area, including those placed in residential special schools, are visited regularly by quality assurance staff and social workers as part of a robust process of checks on the provision.
• Throughout the inspection, inspectors spoke to individual practitioners who were passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and young people with SEND

What does the area partnership need to do better?

• Local area leaders have not ensured that there is a clear and cohesive joint strategic direction for the local partnership. There is not a strategic, shared understanding of the needs of children and young people with SEND in the local area that leads to effective joint working. The lack of a joint strategic needs assessment means that leaders do not have the information they need to inform decision-making and ,therefore, shape services around children and young people with SEND.
• Because there is not a shared strategic understanding or agreed approach to joint commissioning, opportunities are missed to commission services to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND effectively.
• There is a lack of alternative provision (AP) in the area. There is little evidence to show that there is a joint strategy to use AP proactively to provide support to prevent suspensions and exclusions from schools.
• There are not enough special school places to meet the increasing number of children and young people with SEND. Due to the lack of a joint strategic needs assessment, sufficiency plans to address this issue have not been adequate or timely.
• Children and young people with SEND are waiting too long for specialist chairs and seating through wheelchair services. As a result, they are suffering from pain and restriction, which impacts on their physical development and their ability to fully participate in activities of daily living.

The Local Area Partnership is now working on a priority action plan to address areas highlighted by the inspectors for improvement. Ms Noble said: "We fully accept the findings of the report and apologise to the children and families who have been affected by Derbyshire Local Area Partnership SEND services not responding in a timely way and being of the quality they should expect.

“We know we need to do better and we continue to work hard with our health, education, private, public and voluntary sector partners to offer a service these children deserve. It is our joint responsibility and we take it extremely seriously.

“The concerns highlighted by the inspectors are all areas we know need improvement and we’re making a multi-million-pound investment in employing more specialist staff, improving efficiency around assessments and creating more special needs school places.

“Those changes are already starting to show positive improvements, but the report published today shows we are not yet where we need to be, and for that we apologise to the children and families affected now.

“There has been a significant increase in demand for SEND support over the past few years and we’re not alone in this, it’s a national issue. However, whatever the circumstances, we want every child in Derbyshire to have the best possible start in life, whatever their ability or challenge."

Derbyshire Parent Carer Voice - a SEND parents’ participation charity - was one of the key stakeholders asked to contribute to the inspection. Chair Claire Walsh said: "We acknowledge that the findings align with what parent carers have consistently reported - a need for substantial improvement in the support and services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

“While the outcome may not come as a surprise, it does represent a pivotal opportunity for reflection, healing, and ultimately, progress. This report is not just a document, it’s a reflection of the voices of countless families who have shared their most challenging experiences.

“This is the beginning of a new chapter - one where we seize the chance to truly make a difference in the lives of the families we serve."

The last inspection of the partnership was carried out eight years ago. Councillor Joan Dixon, leader of the opposition Labour group on Derbyshire County Council, said: "The sheer numbers of complaints that we were receiving as councillors from angry parents and carers spoke volumes.

"Most importantly of all, what we must not lose sight of, is what this has meant for some of our most vulnerable children who we have let down badly. Some of them have missed out on large chunks of their education because they don’t have the right support."

A monitoring inspection of the service will be carried out within 18 months and the next full inspection will be within three years.