A special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) advice service has been savaged in an independent report that found it had contributed to a £10m tribunals bill for Birmingham City Council.
The National Children’s Bureau was commissioned by the council to undertake a review of the arms-length Special Educational Needs & Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) after Birmingham was issued with a statutory direction and had a commissioner appointed.
It found the service was only compliant with three out of 20 national minimum standards.
The report suggested SENDIASS ‘used their knowledge to ensure parents and children’s rights were protected and believed that appealing to the SEN and disability tribunal was the most effective option’.
This contributed to an ‘astonishing’ £10m estimated spend on tribunals between 2014 and 2021, and the SEN budget being ‘used in such a negative and unproductive way’.
The report concluded that ‘drastic action’ was required, amounting to a restructure and staff training or switching to a new supplier.
Cabinet member for children, Karen McCarthy, said: ‘This independent review report does make for difficult reading, and demonstrates that the current service needs to improve processes to enable the service to better support our parents, carers and families.
‘We understand families' concerns about the future of the service but it is clear that it must become compliant.’
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
