MP attacks council over SEND assessment delays

An MP has accused Reform UK-led Warwickshire County Council of failing children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), saying long delays in assessments are leaving some young people without the support they need.

Manuela Perteghella, the Liberal Democrat MP for Stratford-on-Avon and a member of the House of Commons Education Committee, said the authority's performance was "unacceptable".

"The first priority for me is that you get these plans and you put the resources to get these plans at least to, ideally, the national average," she said.

In response, Warwickshire County Council said a recovery plan was under way to increase capacity, reduce backlogs and improve performance.

A spokesperson said: "Performance is improving, although it is not yet where it needs to be."

The criticism follows figures presented to the council last month showing just 9.2% of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were completed within the government's statutory 20-week deadline at the end of June.

Perteghella said of the low percentage that it "leaves young people out of education and is a stain on Warwickshire County Council".

The figures prompted criticism from opposition councillors, with council leader George Finch previously describing the performance as "shocking" and promising to investigate the issue personally.

EHCPs are legal documents that set out the educational, health and social care support a child or young person with special educational needs requires.

Councils are required to complete assessments within 20 weeks.

The council said its recovery plan was being supported by strengthened performance monitoring and formed part of a wider programme to improve SEND services.

"This work is being integrated with our wider SEND improvement programme to strengthen governance, accountability and oversight," the spokesperson added.

Perteghella's criticism came after she campaigned unsuccessfully to prevent the closure of Great Alne Primary School, which shut at the end of August.

She welcomed plans for the site to remain in educational use rather than be redeveloped for housing, with proposals for specialist provision for children with autism, communication and emotional needs.

"Once you close a school, when you need it again, it is going to be very difficult if you lose the building, the capital resource," she said.

"So I'm glad to see that they saw sense."

However, she argued the school should never have been closed and said alternative SEND provision could have been developed on the site earlier.

"I will not forgive the Reform leadership for closing Great Alne," she said.

"I will hold them to account now to provide the 40 places that they promised because obviously now they would need to look for funding as well to properly resource this provision."

When the decision was made to close, the council said it was taken after hearing of declining pupil-numbers and of unsuccessful efforts to turn them around.

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