In 2019 Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission conducted a joint inspection of Kent to judge how effective to local authority was at implementing disability and special educational needs reforms. The outcome of that inspection can be found here and was not at all complementary. In September this year they carried out a review to see what progress had been made in the past 3 years and it will come as no surprise to anyone who has had any interaction with the Kent SEND teams that the results were in no way positive. The report was the result of a 3 day inspection and a survey of nearly 2,000 parents and can be read in full here. If you don’t have time to read any of this then the short version is summed up in Hilary Macdonald’s letter the Sarah Hammond, Director of Children’s Services at Kent County Council:
The area has not made sufficient progress in addressing any of the significant
Letter from Hilary Macdonald to Sarah Hammond, 9th November 2022
weaknesses.
Below is a summary of the key findings:
Lack of confidence
Parents have a lack of confidence in Kent’s ability to meet our children’s needs. Communication is poor, there is a feeling that our children’s needs are not a priority and access to help from specialists is non-existent.
This is certainly our experience and something I have covered on this blog before.
Variable quality of provision
Because of the widely-held, justified belief that schools are ill-equipped to support children with special educational needs, a child with SEND in Kent is more likely to attend a special school than anywhere else in England. At first this might appear to be a good thing, however there is little fairness in the way special school places are allocated.
Often it is the level of challenge from parents and their willingness and ability to fight the system that determines the outcome, leading to inequality. These are fights we are currently engaged in, so we know only too well how true this is.
Parents and carers have little influence in the services provided
Since the last inspection in 2019 when parents had no representation, PACT has been created to give us a voice and allow us to influence the services in our local area, however the report is critical of the fact that it is a little-known forum that 2 thirds of parent hadn’t heard of, and I will include myself in that figure. OK, I’d heard of it, but didn’t really know what it was about, so that is something I will look to change over coming weeks.
When it comes to EHC plans, there are concerns that plans are rushed and inaccurate, with reviews not taking place on time and plans not being updated. The system is deliberately opaque in my opinion so that parents will not question, fight and appeal for their children. I would thoroughly recommend any parent or carer fighting for a decent EHCP talk to IPSEA and/or attend one of their training courses for parents which help us navigate the system and get the best results for our children. It is truly disappointing that we need to do this.
Weak processes, silos and financial disagreements
Put simply, there are too many separate teams and departments involved in providing for children with SEND and they do not work cohesively. As I have written about before, it has taken us weeks to find out who at KCC is now responsible for Victoria’s EHCP, and her needs are very simple compared to many, so I feel for any parent of children with multiple, complex needs requiring the services and support from many disjointed departments.
Poor achievement and lack of progress made by too many children
It would appear that KCC have little understanding of what progress children in the area are making overall. So whilst we might struggle to see the outcomes we expect and hope for our children individually, Kent doesn’t appear to have the bigger picture of what has or hasn’t been achieved either. And if they don’t have an idea of what is going on, how can they make the improvements that are desperately needed?! This is partly due to the high attrition rates of senior management within KCC, but also due to the silos and differing processes across departments and locations meaning there is no consistent view of what is going on. Worse, the report calls out the “fragmented relationships with schools”; if the local authority and the schools aren’t joined up in their thinking then what hope is there for our children?
EHC Plans are not working
I’ve written several times about the challenges we faced first getting an EHC Plan and then getting it updated to it is actually worth the paper it is written on, and battle we are still undertaking. And it would seem our challenges and concerns are widespread and commonplace. Below are a few quotes from the inspectors that summarise the situation:
- The percentage of new EHC plans judged by the area to require improvement is still almost 40%
- Some EHC plans still contain blank sections or health, education and social care input that does not link together well.
- Educational provision and targets are sometimes generic or ambiguous and not specific to the individual child or young person
- Delays are largely due to the waiting time for educational psychology advice and naming a school at end of the cycle
- [there has been a] 60% increase in demand for the number of needs assessments since 2019
- Only approximately half of annual review meetings happen on time
- Around half of all parents and carers … consider that neither their views nor their child’s views are well represented on EHC plans
Leadership and governance of SEND in the Kent area is weak
I think this statement speaks for itself.
Children are waiting too long for assessments
And the waiting times have not improved since 2019. This is leading to many parents resorting to paying for private assessments and services, as we have had to do, which again leads to inequality where only those who can afford to get the assessments, and therefore the opportunities, their children need.
Children let down by poor provision continue to be let down
The report states that there is no process for identifying children previously let down by a lack of provision so those children are never given the chance to catch up. This just compounds the poor outcomes for those children already at a disadvantage.
What happens next?
The letter concludes that Kent has not made sufficient progress in any of the areas identified in 2019 but that it is now down to the Department for Education and NHS England to decide on next steps. Given that we are on our fifth Secretary of State for Education this year and both the government and NHS are no longer fit for purpose (in my humble opinion), I won’t be holding my breath.
What a depressing state we are in.