Wirral Council has been issued with an improvement notice due to ‘poor progress’ across the special educational needs and disability (SEND) sector in the borough.
The notice sets out 10 areas of ‘significant concern’ that were originally flagged in an inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in 2021.
It also advises the council and members of Wirral SEND Partnership on specific improvements, such as strengthening the quality and timeliness of EHC assessments, which must be made by October 2025.
Cllr Paul Stuart, Leader of Wirral Council, said: ‘I accept and acknowledge this move from the Department for Education to issue Wirral with an improvement notice. Since the inspection in 2021 where several failings were noted, our work to improve these areas has been slow and we need to do much, much more.
‘While I am disappointed in the lack of progress, I welcome the notice and as a result officers have already set up an improvement board, which had their first meeting recently.’
Elizabeth Hartley, director for Children, Families and Education at Wirral Council, said: ‘Since the 2021 inspection we have made lots of changes in SEND support and started many new projects as a direct result. But these changes, while not insignificant, have not been enough and we’re still not in the place we need to be with our SEND offer for families.
‘As a recently appointed director, I take this notice extremely seriously and, along with my colleagues across the partnership, am committed to turning things around as quickly as possible.’
