Knowsley Council have until next month to submit an improvement plan to Ofsted after an inspection of its special educational needs services found “significant” weaknesses.
One aspect of the service for children and young people was described as “not fit for purpose” in the report, which was released in May following an inspection carried out earlier this year.
The report said: “Too many children and young people with SEND face uncertainty in their future education, training or employment pathways.”
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While improvements have been made in recent years, the joint Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) report added “there is still work to do to make up for lost time.”
The key areas where weaknesses were identified included the borough’s neurodevelopmental pathway. With waits for some children of up to three years for assessment, this service was described as “not fit for purpose.”
The lack of a borough wide 0-19 healthy child programme and weaknesses in terms of preparing young people with special educational need for adulthood were also highlighted in the report.
Following that inspection, Knowsley Council were tasked with putting together a written statement of action – which must be sent to Ofsted and the CQC by August.
According to the council’s strategic risk register, produced ahead of a meeting of the council’s audit and governance committee due to be held next week, the borough has made “significant progress” in managing SEND related risks.
The report states: “The SEND Implementation Plan is being delivered at an acceptable pace and the Council continues to invest in this area, including increasing capacity of the team.”
One of the risks identified in the register is the number of SEND children in the borough, which sits at around twice the national average
The report states: “Prevalence of SEND remains high and the SEND Education Improvement Officers continue to roll out SEND Quality Assurance to assist in the identification and categorisation across schools.”
After the written statement of action has been submitted to Ofsted and the CQC, the watchdogs will then assess whether the council’s improvement plan is fit for purpose.
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