Dec 9, 2021, East Anglian Daily Times: Extra funding needed to help Suffolk SEND service improve https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/education/suffolk-send-service-leaders-quizzed-8553846
SE England
Parents should start to see improvements to communication in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service early next year, according to education chiefs.
Councillors have also called for stronger accountability and extra funding for recruitment to further improve the service.
At Suffolk County Council’s education scrutiny committee on Thursday, SEND service leaders faced questions over the action plan to address failings in the service identified by the Lincolnshire review report published in September….
When asked when the service would be in a better position to respond to calls and emails in a more timely manner, Ros Somerville, assistant director for inclusion, said there were hopes for the new year as recruitment for new posts that will increase capacity in the team remains a challenge.
“We would like to be able to say that is possible now,” she said.
“This isn’t staff who can’t be bothered to respond to emails, it is about capacity. We are doing everything we can to recruit, we are also looking at how we can use the resource we do currently have and do it differently, so we can streamline and look at efficiency in the system.
“I would hope somewhere early into the new year we will have a new system that will support with that communication and as we move into the summer and we can recruit with additional resources we would hope to see a big improvement.”
The council’s cabinet is to be asked to allocate more cash in the budget for the new financial year going forward to fund permanent roles in the team…..
Rachel Hood, Conservative cabinet member for education, said: “We have a long way to go – there are some changes that have already been implemented swiftly and the impact is being felt now, but there are others that are taking time.
“Quite clearly we recognise there is more to be done but I hope today gives an insight into how much is being done.”
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