This week Southend-on-Sea City Council leader Cllr Tony Cox discusses the importance of SEND having its own cabinet portfolio, as the results of a recent inspection into the service is published.
Those who know me, know that SEND or special educational needs and disabilities to give it its full name, is a topic that I am passionate about. I believe all children and young people in Southend, including those with SEND, deserve the same quality of education, and number of opportunities.
Because of my belief, when I became leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, I felt it was vital that SEND had its own portfolio. SEND is an important issue to many in our community and due to the spotlight it has been under in recent years, I feel it deserves a dedicated portfolio.
With that in mind, today (Friday 9 June) OFSTED and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have published their findings following an area SEND full inspection of services, delivered by a range of partners in Southend-on-Sea, which took place at the end of February, early March 2023.
The report outlines that while there have been improvements, there is also still a lot of work to be done as children, young people and their families are receiving inconsistent support from services across health, social care and education.
Southend is the fourth area to be inspected under the new national framework which gives a judgement based on three levels. Southend achieved a grade two, which is what all areas have received to date.
There were no surprises in the report. Many of the issues highlighted are already being worked on and multi-agency colleagues are drawing together an action plan, which I will no doubt be discussing with you in a future issue of this blog.
I know education and healthcare plans (ECHPs) are sometimes raised by families as a concern, and the report outlines a need to improve the review process for plans, with a recommendation to; “...improve the effectiveness of joint working to support the co-production of EHCPs and annual reviews.”
As we are discussing SEND, and it is my portfolio, I think it’s worth highlighting the excellent performance report of Vecteo, the company who run home to school transport for children and young people who are eligible.
The service improved immensely this academic year and the most recent update was presented at Tuesday night People’s Scrutiny meeting. While the initial handover of the service in 2021 was far from ideal and as a council we must never allow such events to take place again, it is reassuring to hear that the company are developing a business plan to build on the solid foundation they now have with the delivery of the school transport service.
As the weather is expected to heat up this weekend, I advise everyone to take care whilst out and about enjoying everything our beautiful City has to offer. Please look after yourselves and please pick up your litter or take it home with you!
Enjoy your weekend,
Cllr Tony Cox, Leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council