Parents still not happy with South Gloucestershire SEND services - two years after damning report

"Too many children and young people with SEND are not achieving their full potential.”

Parents are still dissatisfied with the support offered for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) in South Gloucestershire – more than two years after a damning report by official watchdogs.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) identified eight “areas of significant weakness” in the district’s SEND services during a joint inspection in November 2017.

Now a reinspection has found “parental satisfaction continues to be low”, despite “sufficient progress” having been made in six of the eight areas.

A “significant number” of parents and carers gave their views during the reinspection in February, according to a letter from Ofsted to South Gloucestershire Council.

“The majority do not believe that services have improved since the initial inspection,” the letter, signed by Ofsted lead inspector Jen Southall, said. 

“Many cited concerns about the lack of communication, such as ‘an absolute nightmare to communicate with’ and ‘trying to get hold of anyone for help is near to impossible’.”

Many parents and carers were “frustrated” by the quality of the education, health and care (EHC) plans prepared for their children, Ofsted observed.

Inspectors agreed with them, saying the quality was “poor” and the process to review the plans each year was “weak”.

“Nonetheless, there are an increasing number of parents who recognise the more recent work of the area in improving the experience of children and young people with SEND,” Ofsted wrote. 

The watchdog concluded there had not been “sufficient progress” to improve the “delays in assessments, lack of communication, timeliness and the ineffective promotion and delivery of the local offer” identified in 2017.

Likewise, educational outcomes for children and young people with SEND are still “not good enough”, it said.

“As a result, too many children and young people with SEND are not achieving their full potential.”

However, Ofsted judged that the council and its SEND partner, the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, had made “sufficient progress” to improve the remaining six areas of significant weakness identified in 2017.

Fewer children and young people are excluded from local schools, they do not have to wait as long to get their needs assessed, and there is less service variation, according to the report. 

There have also been improvements in training for health professionals on the government’s SEND reforms, implementation of the reforms, and arrangements for joint commissioning, coproduction and quality assurance.

A spokesperson for the council called the latest assessment by Ofsted and the CQC a “fair reflection of the current position”. 

In a joint statement, cabinet member for children and young people Jon Hunt and cabinet member for schools Erica Williams said they were committed to “accelerating progress” in the two areas that are still substandard.

“Not all improvements in practice are immediately visible in services delivered, but we are confident they are increasingly forming part of a better experience for young people and their families, and we aren’t going to take our foot off the pedal,” the councillors said.

The CCG’s transformation director, Deborah El-Sayed, said: “We recognise that further improvements are required to reduce waiting times for assessments and ensure education, health and care plans provide the most meaningful support. 

“We have already begun working with children, young people and families to improve these processes.”

Ofsted and the CQC will not carry out any further reinspections of South Gloucestershire’s SEND service unless directed to do so by the government.

“As not all the significant weaknesses have improved, it is for DfE [Department for Education] and NHS England to determine the next steps,” it said.