Provisions for children and young people with special educational needs in Knowsley have been called into question.
“Significant areas of weakness” have been identified through a joint inspection of Knowsley Council earlier this year by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to judge the effectiveness of the area in implementing the special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) reforms as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.
The four-day visit found that while leaders are passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND in the borough, a Written Statement of Action (WSOA) is required because of significant areas of weakness in the area’s practice. The joint report said that Knowsley has been too slow to reforms made in relation to SEND in 2014, but had “made progress at pace” in the last four years.
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It added: “While there are some strong signs of positive impact in Knowsley, and leaders should be commended for their recent work, there is still work to do to make up for lost time. These positive changes are not consistently impacting well on the lived experience of parents, carers, children and young people.”
It was said that for many children and young people with SEND in Knowsley, preparation for adulthood starts too late. “This means that too many children and young people with SEND face uncertainty in their future education, training or employment pathways. Many parents report that they do not have the information and guidance needed to be well informed about the next stages of education, employment or training that are available for their child or young person.”
The effectiveness of the healthy child programme - which enables the commissioning of health visitors for young people up to the age of 19 - was also questioned by the inspection, which said it was limited due to the current low levels of staffing. It added that young children’s needs are not identified early enough and that more than 700 children and young people are awaiting an assessment on the neurodevelopmental pathway.
The report said: “A small number have waited for more than three years.” Since 2019, it was recognised that the pathway was “not fit for purpose” and as a result, it had been redesigned and strengthened in partnership with other health providers.
“However, the impact of this, combined with the challenges of the pandemic, has not significantly reduced the high numbers of children and young people who are awaiting a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD).”
Knowsley Council will now have to submit a WSOA to Ofsted to explain how it will improve the planning for and communication about preparation for adulthood, the lack of a universal birth to 25 public health offer, resulting in poor identification of needs in children with SEND in the earliest years, and the high number of children and young people who wait too long to have their neurodevelopmental needs assessed, compounded by variable communication and support to families while they wait.
Cllr Margaret Harvey, deputy leader of Knowsley Council and cabinet member for children’s services, said the inspection marked the first of its kind in relation to SEND in Knowsley. She said: “As well as highlighting some areas for improvement, the report has also identified a wide range of strengths in Knowsley.
“This includes the pace of progress made since 2018, the co-production of the SEND Strategy with children, families and partner agencies, strengthened SEND support in our schools, strong partnership and commissioning arrangements, and the excellent support provided by our Knowsley Parent Carer Voice. A Written Statement of Action is not uncommon and we had already identified the three areas for improvement in our own self-assessment.
“We are working with our children, families and partners to effectively tackle these issues. We will continue to build on the progress and achievements highlighted and ensure we provide the very best services and support to our children, young people and their families.”
