Strong progress in city's special needs services

Strong progress is being made to improve services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Wolverhampton, a review has found.

The review looked at how well City of Wolverhampton Council and partners identified and assessed the needs of young people.

Several areas of good practice were highlighted along with an action plan being set out for those that required further development, the council said.

Jacqui Coogan, cabinet member for children, young people and education, said she welcomed the feedback despite there being a rise in demand for services.

The review, by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), is the latest in a series of regular checks.

It found that "clear and sustained progress" had been made in addressing two key areas – identifying school-aged children and young people with SEND and arrangements for jointly commissioning and providing services.

Those areas will no longer be monitored, the council said, with just two remaining areas to be assessed again by the DfE and NHS England.

A new three-year strategy to improve support and SEND standards was set out by the council last May.

Earlier this month, Ofsted's chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said SEND services were the "biggest issue" affecting schools in England, due to high costs and poor outcomes which represented a "lose-lose situation".

Naomi Sharp, head of the DfE's West Midlands vulnerable children's unit, said the council's continued work with frontline staff, families and the Black Country Integrated Care Board was having a positive impact.

"I would like to thank you for all that you are doing to support some of the most vulnerable children and young people in society, and to congratulate you on the progress you have made," she said.

In response, Coogan said: "We want to ensure all our children – and particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities – get the very best possible start in life, and the council and our partners are working round the clock to ensure this is the case."

She added that the authority recognised there was still more to do, but it planned to "work at pace" to deliver high standards.

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