IMPROVEMENT plans to services for some of the county’s most vulnerable children are to be finalised by the end of the week.
Following a slamming by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, Worcestershire County Council was told to buck up its ideas after both inspectorates outlined a number of significant weaknesses in its approach to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
The 78-page action plan goes into depth on how the county council and the county’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will tackle some notable problems - including safeguarding, parent-carer relationships, poor quality plans and the disparity in schools across Worcestershire providing support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Speaking at yesterday’s (August 8) children and families overview and scrutiny panel, Cllr Marcus Hart, cabinet member for education and skills, said he would be making some tweaks to the plan before signing off on it before Friday (August 10).
Significantly, no count of children in the county with special needs and disabilities is kept by the council or health authorities.
Cllr Fran Oborski, chairman of the scrutiny panel, said she had raised that issue a number of times. “If you don’t know who is coming through the system, it is very difficult to plan,” she said.
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