East Riding council boss sorry over special needs failings

The head of children's services said the council needed to invest in more training for staff

The head of a council's children's services has apologised to families failed by Special Educational Needs services following a recent inspection.

The Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report found there were ongoing problems with East Riding Council's provision.

These include a lack of proper school places for autistic children and parents' experiences with services.

The council said much had to be done to regain the trust of those let down.

Director of children's services Eoin Rush said reforms, including more training for staff and greater investment, would not happen overnight, but added that services had improved in the past two years.

• More stories from around Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Ofsted and the CQC spoke to young people, families, carers and health workers in East Riding as part of a joint inspection in October.

Parents and carers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)were also asked to fill in an online survey, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The inspection looked at how well reform efforts launched in 2014 were progressing.

The council acknowledged that some children and young people had been failed

It found that while officials grasped what needed to be improved and reforms were starting to bear fruit, problems still persisted.

Inspectors reported a lack of school places for autistic children and those with other needs, and also weak communication and outcomes for SEND pupils in mainstream education.

Council officials and inspectors have agreed an action plan to address ongoing problems.

One of the issues is with backlogs in completing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) which set out arrangements for children with special needs and disabilities.

Mr Rush said: "I want to acknowledge that some of our children and young people, families and carers have not had a good experience with us historically, and for that I am sincerely sorry.

"While significant improvements have been made over the last two years, there is still a lot of work to be done and that will not happen overnight.

"The level of funding in the high needs system nationally remains a significant challenge but the council will continue to lobby the government to address the funding gap for SEND services."