Ofsted Council is facing action over ‘SEND’ children
BRISTOL’S education department has been referred to the Government for ‘further action’ after an Ofsted inspector found it had failed to patch up the ‘fractured relationship’ with the parents of children with special educational needs.
That was the last of five ‘significant weaknesses’ in the way Bristol City Council handled and supported children with special needs and disabilities that were uncovered at City Hall when Ofsted inspectors visited in 2019.
And although a reinspection last month found that four of the other ‘significant weaknesses’ were now being addressed, the final one is still such an issue – with the SEND parents spying scandal over the last couple of months making it worse – that the Ofsted inspector has referred the council to the Department for Education and the NHS.
The inspectors’ report found that the council had made ‘sufficient progress’ in addressing four significant weaknesses that were found in 2019.
These weaknesses included:
a ‘lack of accountability of leaders at all levels, including school leaders’
inconsistencies in identifying and putting in place plans for children with SEND
dysfunctional processes in carrying out education, health and care (EHC) assessments
the consistent underachievement of children with SEND.
The Ofsted inspector, Phil Minns, found that leaders in Bristol had made ‘considerable progress since the last inspection.’
The fifth and final significant weakness is not, though, being sorted by Bristol City Council and its leadership.
The 2019 inspection found that there were ‘fractured relationships with parents and carers, lack of coproduction and variable engagement and collaboration.’
The inspector said: “The difficult relationships found at the last inspection have continued. This continues to affect the quality of co-production that
The difficult relationships found at the last inspection have continued. This continues to affect the quality of co-production that takes place between area leaders and parents and carers
Ofsted inspector
takes place between area leaders and parents and carers,” he said, ruling that the council still had significant weaknesses with this and had not done enough to make sufficient progress.
The council’s relationship with parents and carers has been dogged by scandal, with council education chiefs accused of ‘spying’ on parents by monitoring individual parents’ social media accounts, and then using the evidence that they were being critical of the council to attempt to take funding away from the parent and carer group that was liaising with the council on improving SEND provision.
The result is that, while four of the five areas of significant weakness are seeing ‘sufficient’ improvement, the fifth one means the future of Bristol’s SEND education services now rests with ministers.
“The area has made sufficient progress in addressing four of the five significant weaknesses identified at the initial inspection,” Mr Minns wrote.
“As not all the significant weaknesses have improved, it is for the DfE and NHS England to determine the next steps. Ofsted and CQC will not carry out any further revisit unless directed to do so by the Secretary of State.”
Deputy mayor Asher Craig, pictured left, the cabinet member responsible for education, said she was “pleased” with the Ofsted inspector’s findings that sufficient progress was being made in four of the five areas of significant weakness.
“This reflects the dedication of staff to implement service improvements at pace over the last three years, despite the additional challenges of the pandemic,” she said.
“While inspectors found that we had not made sufficient progress in addressing the difficult relationships with parents and carers identified in 2019, it is welcome that they found that ‘the majority of parents and carers accessing services and support more recently, are positive about their experience.’
“We will continue to work hard to deliver further progress, as we build on ongoing work to improve relationships through a community of groups approach,” she added.