Council apology over special needs request delay

Warwickshire County Council apologised for the delay in responding to the request

A council has apologised for a second time after failing to fulfil a Freedom of Information (FOI) request around special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) training for councillors.

Warwickshire County Council is two weeks overdue on fulfilling the request from a member of the public who asked for any communication on the SEND training scheme.

The training was brought in in March 2024 after a public backlash over comments made by three Conservative councillors in a scrutiny meeting.

While the trio were cleared by the authority, their views on SEND led to protests outside the council's Shire Hall and hundreds of complaints.

The FOI request, submitted in June, asked "whether online training would be sufficient" and for any emails and meeting minutes that discussed the introduction or modification of the motion since its started.

A Warwickshire County Council spokesperson acknowledged "an oversight" on their part and apologised, before adding it was "prioritising responses to the requester".

May's local elections saw 40 new councillors take office and each of them was issued with a link to take part in new Department for Education approved online training which was not available in 2024.

Councillors were told they had to complete it before being on committees or panels related to children's services and that further training would be offered as part of a rolling programme.

The council's executive director for children and young people, Nigel Minns, apologised for signing off that internal communication, admitting he could see how it could have led some councillors to believe that the online course was the only requirement.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.