CQ Members and Supporters follow up on their Campaign for a Better Local Offer on December 3 with representatives of local councils and John Coughlan, the newly appointed Government Commissioner for SEND Services in Birmingham invited.
Ofsted’s SEND Local Area Inspection Reports found:
- in Birmingham, that the City Council was: still without a strategy; still not working cooperatively; still failing to work coproductively; still failing to engage with parents sufficiently; still with a badly communicated Local Offer; still with a patchy approach to EHCPs and long waiting times for specialist services; and still with too many of the most vulnerable children excluded from school.
- Many of the same issues in Solihull in the report dated 6 July 2021 and in some other local authority areas.
Children’s Quarter and its Members put forward proposals in Birmingham earlier this year to address the shortcomings particularly in relation to coproduction, the Local Offer and school exclusions. Despite our proposals being accepted in principle by Birmingham City Council, they have so far not been acted on; and on 19 October, Government appointed a Commissioner to run SEND Services in the city.
The CQ Members meeting is at Edgbaston Community Centre 9.30-11.30am on Friday 3 December and is open to members, supporters, their guests and prospective members. Book your place by contacting CQ or using the form below:
