Damning report: City still failing children with special needs

BIRMINGHAM has been given a second warning for failing thousands of children with special needs and disabilities after a damning report by education and health watchdogs.

Regulators Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have ruled the city is still letting down families and has not managed to improve in 12 out of 13 ‘‘areas of significant weakness’’ identified three years ago.

Services are ‘‘hit and miss’’, academic outcomes are poor, waiting lists for vital therapies can stretch back years and hundreds are not in school at all.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson could order national intervention if he is not persuaded that Birmingham City Council and Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group can together sort out the failures.

The inspection team found during their visit in May that parents and children still endured:

A poor ‘lived experience’ because of inadequate services

Long waiting times to access therapies for speech and language, physical therapies and specialist help

Poor academic outcomes persist for SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) children. For those with an EHC plan, outcomes are weak across all key stages. This means that pupils are ill-prepared for the next stage in their education, employment or training

Absence is too high for children with complex needs, with persistent absence ‘‘significantly above national average’’ – and there is “little sign of sustained improvement”.

The report says: “Parents repeatedly say that, for those who are not as well informed, everything, including getting the advice and support they need, is a struggle.

“This is particularly true at crucial times.”

The inspectors noted the continued failures were not due to coronavirus, saying: “Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was little evidence that things had improved for Birmingham children and young people with SEND.”

They concluded: “As not all the significant weaknesses have improved, it is for DfE (Department for Education)

and NHS England to determine the next steps.”

The current education chief is Kevin Crompton, brought in on an interim basis in May, but the council has not yet announced his appointment.

At the time of the original report in 2018, city council leader Ian Ward and his cabinet lead for education, Kate Booth, pledged to act urgently.

Cllr Booth told the Post last year how officers would “work more closely” with parents to improve a special needs education system that’s “not fit for purpose”.