'We shouldn't have to beg for special needs support'

Angie says she's spent five years trying to get the right support for her three sons, pictured here with her eldest son Thomas

Families in Derbyshire say they have been driven to "despair" by the barriers they have faced in securing support for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

A recent Ofsted report details "widespread and systemic failings" around the outcomes of children with SEND in the county.

Parents have now told the BBC they have faced delays with education, health and care (EHC) plans and problems with communication, which left their children without appropriate support and missing significant amounts of time in education.

Derbyshire County Council said it was "not a one-agency issue", but added it was "working hard to resolve" it.

'Driven to collapse'

Single mother Angie, from Amber Valley, has three sons - Thomas, 18, Joshua, 16 and Jacob, 13 - who have autism and other complex needs.

She says she has been "fighting" for five years to secure EHC plans for her sons.

The council's website says the process of securing a EHC plan should take "up to 22 weeks".

Jacob has secured a place at a special school, but Angie said Thomas and Joshua were initially given places at mainstream schools.

But Angie said they struggled to cope, so she felt she had no choice but to withdraw them from classes several years ago.

She now fears Thomas is in "no position to enter the workplace" because he has received only a few hours of tutoring a week since he stopped attending school in 2020.

Joshua now has an EHC plan, but missed out on a place at a special school in September due to council delays and now may not be able to sit his GCSEs.

Angie with 16-year-old Joshua

"My kids should have every chance to become functional adults," Angie said.

"They have no mental impairment so from an educational point of view, the local authority say they are capable of mainstream education... sensory issues are the crippling factor. They hadn't properly assessed their needs."

Angie said she eventually paid for private assessments in an effort to prove her sons could not cope in a mainstream school and tens of thousands of pounds for occupational therapy, which she said should have been provided by the authorities.

She added she was now having to take out loans to support herself and had been driven to the "point of collapse" several times.

But she is more concerned by the toll the process has taken on her sons.

"[They thought] that they just weren't good enough, that they couldn't cope and nobody understood why... and I'm banging and shouting and screaming and begging for help [from the council] and nobody is listening," Angie said.

'Crisis point'

Theresa and Nathan's 14-year-old daughter has significant needs, including mild cerebral palsy, autism and hypermobility syndrome.

The couple, from South Derbyshire, who both work in education, say their daughter has not been to school for a year and has received little support.

They added her mental health had now deteriorated and she had been hospitalised a number of times, leaving them at "real crisis point".

Theresa said: "Her depression and anxiety has got so bad because she's had no purpose... she's become extremely withdrawn, more isolated.

"And we still don't get appropriate responses [from the local authority]. We have suffered significantly."

Theresa added their daughter also missed out on an assessment for a place at a special school to start in September last year due to delays in communication on funding the place, which led to a county council apology.

'He felt abandoned'

Nick Green with his son Fin

Single dad and retired university lecturer Nick, from Long Eaton in Derbyshire, has a 17-year-old transgender son called Fin with autism and mental health difficulties, including severe panic attacks, which have caused him to miss two years of school.

Nick said he had appealed against a previous decision not to issue Fin with an EHC plan, which was not contested by the council.

However, he said the process of compiling the plan had to restart due to internal errors, including the council failing to use Fin's legal name and "repeatedly misgendering" him.

Nick said he made a formal complaint which was upheld and Fin is now expected to have support in place by mid-March.

He added: "That's a total of 21 months waiting for my son to get support he desperately needs, during which time, his needs have changed, his progress academically, socially and emotionally has suffered.

"The sheer length of time and quantity of communications is huge, trying to actually get something to happen is both time-consuming and stressful... it is depersonalising and insulting.

"My son has suffered most. The process was started a year before his GCSEs, and should have benefitted him through these.

"As it was, the school arranged three hours a week tuition, and offered more through an external provider. However, the authority would not permit the external provider to be involved. My son felt abandoned."

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: "This is not a one-agency issue, it's a partnership responsibility and one that we, as part of the Derbyshire partnership, take very seriously.

"We've recently set up an independent improvement and assurance board and are meeting monthly with a robust plan in place, now approved by Ofsted, to drive forward improvements at pace.

"We continue to work hard, with our partners, to improve our services to provide them with the support they need and deserve."

A spokesperson for NHS Derby and Derbyshire said the partnership had accepted the findings of the Ofsted report.

They added: "We are continuing to work hard to improve the NHS services that provide support and care to children who have special educational needs and disabilities."

If you have been affected by some of the issues in the story, support is available via the BBC Action Line.