Banbury and Oxfordshire special educational needs service is 'starting improvements'

Oxfordshire County Council has today (Monday) published the local area partnership priority action plan to improve services and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Banbury area parents catalogued a litany of complaints that coincided with a damning OFSTED and Care Quality Commission (CQC) report in July. See Banbury Guardian article here.

The plan responds to that report. A draft was submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) on October 24 and approved by Ofsted on December 12.

On November 16, the DfE published an improvement notice, issued to the county council. This is an official document sent to councils following inspections that have similar outcomes, outlining the steps needed to show progress in the improvement of services.

Councillor Kate Gregory, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for SEND Improvement, explained: “We recognise we are only at the start of our improvement journey and that it will take time for real change to be felt by families.

"We are working hard as a partnership to ensure we have the right foundations in place to deliver real and lasting improved outcomes for children, young people and families.

“Progress has been made but much more is to come. I look forward to continuing to forge strong relationships with partners and with families with SEND children to ensure we do this together. We are all determined to make a real difference,” she said.

The plan sets out what will be achieved across five priority action areas -

• Gathering, and acting on, the views of children and young with SEND and their families

• Developing effective communications systems across the partnership to ensure coordinated approaches

• Improved timeliness and quality assurance of education, health and care plans

• Commissioning of services to meet the needs of children and young people and their families

• Producing plans that are co-produced with children and young people and their families, which are rigorously monitored.

The local area partnership includes Oxfordshire County Council, NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the parent carer forum (PCF), the official body for the voice of parent carers. The PCF will be directly involved in activities in the priority action plan that lead to improving services and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

Rachael Corser, ICB Chief Nursing Officer, said: “We’re fully committed to improving Oxfordshire’s SEND services for children, young people and their families.

“Without doubt there is still a way to go but by working with families we are starting to make a difference to the way children and young people get the support they deserve to help them thrive.”

The Oxfordshire SEND Strategic Improvement and Assurance Board, made up of senior leaders from across the partnership and members of the PCF, meets again on Wednesday, December 20.

The partnership will work with Ofsted and the CQC on prioritising actions to secure immediate improvement for children and young people with SEND and their families.

Parents and carers can sign up to hear the latest on SEND news online and SEND coordinators can also fill in a simple form. There is online support for parents and carers of children with SEND at oxfordshire.gov.uk/localoffer