PRESSURE is mounting for an independent external inquiry into Worcestershire’s failing special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services.

But Worcestershire County Council insists it can deliver improvements itself.

County MPs and parent carers say an improvement plan produced in response to July’s ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report “won’t work” and that trust in SEND services has gone.

MPs Tom Collins and Chris Bloore were among the speakers at a county council scrutiny committee meeting held on Wednesday (September 25) at Pershore’s Civic Centre.

Parents and young people also shared their experiences of waiting for assessments, fighting tribunals and trying to get specialist school places.

Dawn Style said a “toxic culture remains” at Worcestershire Children’s First and called on county council chief executive Paul Robinson to take responsibility after he promised improvements in 2018.

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Elena Round said authorities had been given “six failing years to correct this mess” while “report after report of utter fantasy has come before this committee”.

Mr Bloor, the MP for Redditch, said: “I am concerned this council does not have the capacity to deliver the improvement plan it has put forward to the Department for Education.”

He asked what changes in leadership and culture had taken place, adding there was “no trust between parents and the senior leadership of the council”.

Mr Collins said: “We’re dealing with an absolutely incredible scale of failure in SEND delivery. To address it requires a deep dive into the causes.

“My concern is this plan won’t work. If anything it has been developed too quickly, which shows there has been too little reflection, and it involves too little organisational change.”

Cllr Nathan Desmond asked why children in Worcestershire had to wait up to two years to be assessed.

Committee chair Emma Marshall said the current “piecemeal” approach to increasing the number of school places wasn’t working, adding: “We need to be bold and build more schools.”

Adam Johnston, director of children’s services at Worcestershire Children’s First (WCF), said: “I am sorry for the experiences of children, young people, parents and carers in Worcestershire.”

He said the governance structure of the local area partnership, which includes WCF, the county council and NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board, was being simplified, an “improvement board” was being set up and will have an independent chair.

Mr Johnston said existing SEND teams were being “refocussed” and additional capacity added.

Cabinet member for education David Chambers said comments from parents who “find the service lacking” are taken very seriously.

But he added: “We have 6,500 children with EHCPs and I can assure you the substantial majority of parents are delighted with the service they get from us.”

He said the council “absolutely does have the capacity” to deliver the improvement plan.