SEND team to strike over pay and workload

The team said they have been left with no option but to stage the walkout

Staff who support children with special educational needs and disabilities are to begin a strike over three weeks in a row over workload and pay.

National Education Union members of Wirral Council's SEND team have said they are "under-staffed and under-resourced".

Employees will stage an initial walkout at the Mallory Building in Birkenhead from Wednesday, before further dates are planned for 22, 24, 29, 30 and 31 October.

Wirral Council said it was in the process of implementing a restructure within the team designed to address many issues that are affecting SEND services.

But union regional officer Bora Oktas said the situation “could have been avoided if the employer had addressed the concerns raised by our members”.

He said the council had “continuously failed" to recognise members’ workplace responsibilities and pay them accordingly, which had led to a significant impact on the wellbeing and effectiveness of the team.

The council said its restructure was part of additional investment of £1.1m this year and £2.8m next year to improve the support offered.

A statement read: “We have fully engaged with unions throughout this process and sought to address any concerns they have raised.

“This action is being taken by one union, with a small membership within the workforce, seeking a further assurance over pay protection for staff affected by the restructure".

It added it was confident any impact on families being supported with SEND services across Wirral would be "minimal.”

'Totally unachievable'

Mr Oktas continued: “Team members feel that they are letting their families down every day due to the overwhelming number of cases they handle."

Meeting a statutory deadline of 20 weeks for delivering a final education, health and care plan (EHCP) is "totally unachievable" under current work conditions, according to the NEU.

An EHCP sets out the extra help a child needs to access education, on top of what is available through special education needs support.

Councils have a legal time limit of 20 weeks, in most cases, to issue an education, health and care plan (EHCP), after a parent or school asks for one.

In June, parents protested outside Wirral Council's headquarters over a lack of EHCP's being available on time for their children.

Mr Oktas added that some staff members are managing a surplus of 100 cases each, and have felt unsupported by the leadership.

NEU regional secretary Peter Middleman said the union was inviting Wirral Council back to the negotiation table to resolve the dispute.