JAN 11, 2023, BBC NEWS: Council criticised over support for special educational needs pupils https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-64236426.amp
Support for children with special educational needs still needs to be improved in Leicestershire, inspectors have said.
In 2020, inspectors found "significant areas of weakness" in Leicestershire County Council's Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services.
In the latest report, they said there had not been enough improvement of its education, health and care (EHC) plans….
Three years ago in a joint inspection, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found there were problems with how Leicestershire County Council was getting EHC plans ready for SEND children.
During the recent revisit, they found the format of plans had been reviewed and redeveloped to better reflect the children's needs and provision.
However, the reported stated: "Many plans have not been updated for more than a year….
Parents held a protest outside Leicestershire County Council offices in October 2022 Lucy, who is autistic and has ADHD, said she was at her third secondary school because the first two did not meet her needs….
Her father Robert Martin, who co-chairs the Leicestershire parent carer forum SEND Hub, said the problem was the county council did not carry out education, health and care (EHC) assessments properly or on time, which resulted in Lucy having "considerable problems" at the schools.
"We requested support. First they declined support, then later when they gave a report it wasn't correct and wasn't a fair reflection of her needs," he said.
"Therefore that placement broke down and she went to another school."
Mr Martin said EHC plans needed to "adequately represent our children", adding it was "fundamental".
"The council needs to get these plans right because otherwise the care for disabled children in this county will not be good enough," he said.
He added Lucy was now enjoying school and was hopeful it was the right one for her.
Last October, parents held a protest outside County Hall after some special needs children still had not got a school place.
Currently, 45 children with special educational needs in Leicestershire are not in education at all, while another 102 children are still seeking a placement more suitable for their needs….
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