Wolverhampton Council sets out SEND action plan after Ofsted criticism

Services in Wolverhampton and surrounding areas were inspected last autumn

A plan has been set out to improve services for children with special educational needs in Wolverhampton after criticism from Ofsted.

The local authority was told it must produce a Written Statement of Action with its plans for improvements after inspectors visited last autumn.

Concerns raised included waits for assessments, quality of education, and "variable" health and care plans.

The council said it had "firm foundations to build on".

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission inspected services in September and published their findings in November.

The review looked at how well the City of Wolverhampton Council, the Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Early Years' settings, schools and further education providers identify, assess and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

"An important assessment"

Other areas of concerns inspectors highlighted was that too many families "do not know where to turn to for support" and that "embedded weaknesses and systemic failings" mean reforms to help young people achieve "'an ordinary life' remains some distance off".

A backlog of 200 annual reviews was also highlighted as a concern as well as a "low" number of young people entering supported employment.

The authority said on Tuesday inspectors did also highlight a number of areas of good practice and its action plans details the steps partners will take and are already taking to improve services.

Emma Bennett, the City of Wolverhampton Council's executive director of families, said the inspection was "an important assessment of where we are at as a city" and the SEND partnership board had produced a "robust" action plan "to drive forward further improvements".

"We have firm foundations to build on, and there is a clear determination across the partnership to ensure that all children and young people with SEND and their families get the help and support they need, and deserve," she added.