More investment in Hertfordshire SEND services could be agreed after damning Ofsted report

Hertfordshier County Council is to consider whether further investment is needed to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), in the wake of a damning inspection report.

An inspection by OFSTED and the CQC found ‘systemic failures’ in the provision of services for children and young people with SEND in the county.

And they found that too many children with SEND in Herts were waiting too long for their needs to be met and for provision to be put in place.

Earlier this year the council announced it was to invest a further £5m a year in SEND – to recruit around 80 staff to improve the EHCP process.

But in a motion backed by a meeting of the county council on Tuesday (December 12), councillors agreed to consider further investment, as part of the 24/25 budget setting process.

At the meeting the inspection report was the focus of three different motions – presented by each of the three political groups.

A Conservative motion – proposed by executive member for education, libraries and lifelong learning Cllr Caroline Clapper- accepted the outcome of the inspection.

It acknowledged ‘systemic failings across the partnership of the NHS Integrated Care Board and the County Council’.

And it said the council was committed to providing ‘the right education in the right place at the right time’ for children and young people with SEND.

It pointed to the council’s additional £5m a year investment in SEND, the £91m investment to create 1,000 new school places by 2027 and lobbying for additional High Needs Funding from central government.

And it resolved that the council would act with ‘urgency’ to address areas of improvement through the ‘priority action plan’ with NHS partners.

Resolutions made as part of the motion included ensuring robust governance and quality assurance, listening to children and young people and working closely with other ‘key groups and partners’, including HCPI.

It also resolved to continue the roll-out of 188 specialist resource places in mainstream schools and to lobby the government to ‘address the appalling High Needs Block funding allocation’.

As previously reported by the LDRS, the High Needs funding allocated to Hertfordshire per head was one of the lowest in the country in 23/24 – ranking 148th out of the 150 education authorities.

And that meant that whereas nearby Buckinghamshire was allocated £935 per head of relevant population, Hertfordshire received just £614.

The motion was backed by Conservative members of the council, with Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors abstaining.

Meanwhile a Liberal Democrat motion – presented by Cllr Mark Watkin – suggested the inspection report ‘confirms that the council has failed many children and young people with SEND’.

It suggested the failings had forced families into ‘life and career changing measures and costs’, as they attempted to achieve the appropriate education for their children – suggesting a significant number felt they had no alternative but to home educate.

And it suggested that despite the additional £3m increase in SEND funding in 2023/4, ‘no substantial improvement in the service is expected until mid 2024’.

The motion – backed by Labour and Lib Dem councillors, with Conservatives abstaining from the vote – called on the council to apologise ‘unreservedly’ for its ‘past and continuing failure to provide an adequate SEND service’

And it called for improvement plans to be accelerated – and for work to seek an equatable level of High Needs finding.

A further motion proposed by leader of the Labour group Cllr Nigel Bell focussed on the Chancellor’s failure to address local government funding in the Autumn statement.

But it also highlighted a lack in specific funding to address pressures such as the rising costs of children’s services and SEND provision.

It stated: “The recent Ofsted SEND inspection has laid bare the serious failings in the Local Area Partnership for SEND services, underscoring the desperate need for a local government finance settlement that is not merely adequate but comprehensive.

“This is crucial to support our urgent transformation of SEND and to provide substantial resources for all children’s and adult care services, which are now at a breaking point like any other councils across the country due to the cuts agenda of the government.”