'Reset' needed for SEND services in Central Bedfordshire says council's new administration

A reset is planned for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in Central Bedfordshire under the new ruling administration, with its own sub-committee as part of the package.

Creating more SEND places is “the number one priority along with safeguarding” for Central Bedfordshire Council’s executive member for families, education and children Hayley Whitaker, she revealed.

Six areas of weakness were identified in SEND provision across the district during an inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2019.

Progress by CBC and its health partner BLMK integrated care board (ICB) was considered sufficient in three of the six areas, after a revisit.

Independent Biggleswade West councillor Whitaker called for a joint effort at a meeting of the local authority’s children’s services overview and scrutiny committee.

“We don’t necessarily know how to fix everything we come across and we don’t have a monopoly on good ideas,” she warned.

“This is a time for a reset where rather than battle lines in the chamber, with the no man’s land in the middle of parents and children, I’d like this to be a really collaborative space where we get some critical evaluation of what we’re doing, instead of it being adversarial.

“The SEND data dashboard is missing from the agenda. When I looked at this, it simply wasn’t fit for purpose.

“Is it addressing you as parents and carers and schools? Or is it dealing with our written statement of action and accelerated progress plan, and trying to address Ofsted?

“It’s trying to do everything at once in one document which was pretty inaccessible and actually didn’t tell anyone anything.

“But we’ll bring something bigger and better to the next meeting. We’ll have about ten really simple metrics that you as parents and carers want to know, and the rest addresses the statement of action and the progress plan.

“We’re also revising the constitution and asking for SEND to be moved into a sub-committee,” she explained. This is to provide the focus and attention it really requires with its own time, space and scrutiny.

“We’ll have a separate SEND sub-committee hopefully by the end of the year. We’re working at pace to create more SEND spaces. We know we’ve a huge need to meet here. It’s not easy and it won’t happen overnight.

“It’s my number one priority to be resolved along with the safeguarding issue. But we must have a programme we can deliver, and be clear what the budget is, what we’re delivering and where.

“We need the right school, offering the right provision in the right place in Central Bedfordshire.”

Councillor Whitaker referred to “an impasse” over communication between CBC and parents, but added: “We’re listening.

“I very much acknowledge we have to find a way through that impasse. We need to communicate and listen better, and act on what we’re hearing.

“Hopefully we’ll start to see improvements, but we want to talk to parents to find out where we’re not meeting children’s needs and address that.”