Bradford's SEND services inspected by Ofsted and CQC

Inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited in March and a damning report, published today, said there are “significant gaps” in services for children and young people with SEND in the district.

The report said parents and carers have “lost faith” in Bradford’s SEND system.

A statement of action must now be produced by Bradford Council and the Bradford District and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to explain how the areas of weakness will be tackled.

There are 'significant gaps' in services for children and young people with SEND, the report said.

In their main findings, inspectors said between 2014 and 2019, Bradford Council and the CCG did not prioritise the implementation of SEND reforms.

This resulted in the significant gaps and while the report said leaders who are now in post acknowledge historic failings - and are “committed to bringing about change” - there is much to do.

“Children and young people are not feeling the impact of leaders’ commitment,” said the report.

It said the lack of communication between stakeholders is a “significant issue” and added: “Over time, parents and carers have lost faith in the SEND system in Bradford.”

Concern was also raised about the quality of Education, Health and Care plans.

“School leaders are overwhelmed with the number of consultations for places for children and young people with EHC plans, and they are frustrated at the poor transfer of information around these consultations,” said the report.

School leaders are 'overwhelmed'

It said annual reviews of the plans are not published promptly, leaving school leaders and parents/carers unclear on which recommendations have been approved.

It added: “The inconsistent delivery of key health services is limiting the early identification of children and young people’s additional needs.”

The report said children are not routinely screened for vision or hearing impairment at the point of school entry. The pandemic had an impact on staff capacity, but gaps existed in those checks prior to the disruption caused by Covid-19.

Inspectors said the needs of children and young people at SEND support, or waiting for a diagnosis, are not fully understood, or met by services or in school consistently.

The report said outcomes are being affected and “too many children and young people at SEND support are absent or suspended from school too often in Bradford”.

Early identification of children and young people’s additional needs is limited, the report said (Image: PA)

And home-to-school transport for children and young people with SEND is not working as well as it needs to.

The report said: “There is a shortage of drivers and escort staff with specialist training. This is leading to some children and young people with SEND being unable to attend school every day."

The report said the co-ordination and oversight of access to children’s equipment, like wheelchairs, is “poor”.

“Parents and carers often have to chase services to make sure that children and young people with SEND receive much-needed equipment in a timely manner,” it said.

Strengths identified included better support for young people’s mental health needs; language support for children in early years; effective further and higher education and training provision for young people with SEND, multi-lingual approaches to assessment as well as closer working with parents’ groups.

In a joint statement, Helen Hirst, chief officer at the Bradford District and Craven CCG, and Marium Haque, Strategic Director of Bradford Council’s Children’s Services, said the report confirmed its own findings and work is underway to address the issues which have been identified.

“Our teams have been working hard to fix these and will continue to make improvements to these areas of service,” said the statement.

“Ofsted and the CQC acknowledge that we know what the areas of concern are and that we have plans in place to put these right.

“We are determined as a partnership to make the changes that are needed so that we can provide better services for families. We have an opportunity to demonstrate to Ofsted and the CQC how we can work together, and at pace, to put in place the improvements that are required to deliver safe, effective, and responsive services.”

Julie Bruce, manager of the Parents’ Forum for Bradford and Airedale, said the work of the forum had made a “positive contribution to the lives of children and young people with SEND and their families”.

She added: “We work in a co-productive way with all partners in, Health, Education and Social Care.

“Working in this way means that we are not simply consulted about proposed changes but play an active part from the very beginning in finding new ways to make our families’ lives better. It is absolutely essential that the voice of SEND parents is heard and understood.”