'Left waiting years': special needs services for Lancashire children condemned in Ofsted inspection

That is one of a series of damning conclusions reached by Ofsted inspectors who have warned urgent action is needed to improve the SEND services on offer in the Lancashire County Council area, which excludes Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.

The regulator found that once a child’s needs have been assessed, they “typically” receive the correct help. However, the length of time some of them have to wait beforehand means the level of support provided at any given moment is often not what they need – with reviews of their requirements sometimes being “many years” overdue.

A huge variability in waiting times for the diagnosis of certain conditions – and a postcode lottery in the type of treatment on offer once a problem has been identified – also emerged in a report published on Wednesday.

The families of SEND children, meanwhile, are left feeling powerless in their attempts to raise concerns about the support they are receiving.

The findings follow a five-day Ofsted inspection of Lancashire’s SEND system back in December.

The health and local government partnership responsible for services for children with special needs said it fully accepted the Ofsted report and was working to make the necessary improvements. It also pointed to recent multi-million pound investments to help meet the rising level of demand for SEND support.

Ofsted recognised that the partnership was “committed” to improving services and noted that some measures – including the development of Lancashire County Council’s multi-agency ‘family hubs’ network of support centres – were already having an impact.

Overall, however, inspectors concluded that there were “widespread and/or systemic failings” resulting in “significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities”.

The report states: “Too many children and young people with SEND wait an unacceptable length of time to have their needs accurately assessed and met in Lancashire. Leaders have put strategies in place to address these issues, but these are yet to make a sufficient difference. As a result, children’s and young people’s needs are not met as quickly and effectively as they should be.”

A “priory action plan” will now have to be produced by local leaders to address the issues raised.

One of the main weaknesses highlighted in the Ofsted report was delays in the production and updating of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – crucial, personalised documents that set out the support local authorities must provide to meet the needs of children who require additional help in order to access education.

Ofsted itself acknowledged a “surge” in requests for EHCPs in Lancashire, in common with a nationwide trend. As the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed last year, there was a 55 percent increase in the number of EHCPs in the county in the space of four years – going from 7,287 in January 2020 to 11,258 by January 2024.

New EHCPs should be issued within 20 weeks, but they also have to be reviewed annually – and a decision over whether to amend them or leave them unchanged should be taken within a month.

While the Ofsted report did not reveal specific data about the current level EHCP waits in the county, it painted a bleak broad picture.

“Significant delays in the EHC plan process – and the poor quality of many plans – remain key issues. For many children and young people, delays in EHC plan annual reviews and updates are considerable. For some, this can be many years.

“This means that many current plans for these children and young people are not reflective of their present needs, aspirations or outcomes. In turn, practitioners cannot rely on or use these out-of-date documents to contribute to their planning of outcomes or to chart progress.

“Many educational providers expressed exasperation at the wait for EHC plans following children and young people’s annual reviews,” inspectors said.

Contributions from health and social care partners to the EHCP process were described as being “scant” – and, in some cases, seemingly non-existent. GPs are not routinely asked to contribute to a child’s plan – with some not even told an EHCP has been put in place for one of their patients.

Such inconsistencies mean the plans themselves – even once they are produced and updated – “do not always accurately reflect the health and social care needs of children and young people”.

Lancashire County Council has earmarked £5m in its budget for 2025/26 to help deal with rocketing demand for EHCPs. In September, the authority said it was in need of “considerably more” educational psychologists, but warned that the specialist professionals were thin on the ground.

There was also criticism by Ofsted of the “variable” ways in which young people with SEND are prepared for the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In some cases – largely as a result only of the “tenacity” of individual staff members – youngsters are kept well informed and so are ready to take “their next steps”. However, “too many” others described this period in their lives as one of “feeling lost” and not knowing what will happen to them next.

Ofsted will carry out a monitoring visit of Lancashire’s SEND services in around 18 months, with the next full inspection due within three years.

WAITING AND WORSENING

The Ofsted report sets out the difficulties faced by families in getting timely diagnosis of a range of conditions – and the necessary support and treatment – for their children. The hold-ups often lead to a deterioration in the young person’s situation.

Assessment of neurodivergence is “not working well”, according to inspectors. They add: “This results in long delays and families becoming increasingly distressed. Children and young people’s circumstances often worsen while they wait. There is significant variability across Lancashire in the timeliness of assessment.

“In the meantime, these excessive waits are compounded by limited access to helpful support while children, young people and their families wait for assessment.”

Meanwhile, there are “huge delays” for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments – causing parents and carers who can afford it to turn to private providers. However, the absence of an agreement allowing NHS paediatricians to sanction the use of medication recommended in private assessments can often lead to further delay – and even appeals and tribunals.

Elsewhere, inspectors found “inconsistencies” in how speech and language practitioners provide services across Lancashire’s 12 districts. Those that have piloted walk-in support in family hubs have seen waiting times reduced, whereas in other areas the delays can be as long as 40 weeks.

‘WHERE YOU LIVE DETERMINES WHAT YOU GET’

Ofsted also highlighted how, in some instances, the services on offer to children with SEND depend entirely on where they live.

There is currently no community care for youngsters in Greater Preston and South Ribble who have eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.

In some unnamed parts of the county, physiotherapists do not have the capacity to carry out “integrated pathway assessments” for children with cerebral palsy.

Meanwhile, some children and young people are waiting up to 18 months to access a community paediatrician.

Around half of referrals to some children and adolescent mental health service teams are declined – with other support services instead being recommended. However, a “lack of consistency in how these decisions are communicated” means further delays can occur in some cases.

The NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board was already aware of the issues flagged up by inspectors and has begun a review into each of them, the Ofsted report said.

NOT ALL BAD

Several positive findings from the Ofsted inspection were detailed in the report, including:

***children and young people can participate in a range of clubs, events and activities around Lancashire;

***there is a range of specialist short break services available;

***early years services have a well-established method of identifying and supporting children who may have SEND from birth;

***the small SEND information, advice and support service is “passionate and committed to offering support, guidance and signposting to parents and carers”;

***children in care who are living outside the Lancashire area in residential facilities receive regular visits from their social worker.

***children and young people can access support for their mental health through organised sessions in schools.

‘BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED – BUT COMMITTED TO GETTING BETTER’

As the LDRS revealed last year, a record of almost 1,200 complaints were made to Lancashire County Council about SEND services between July 2023 and 2024.

Responding to the findings of the Ofsted inspection, the authority said it had invested more than £2.5 million during the current financial year “to bolster SEND staffing” and has also appointed a new Head of Service for SEND.

Along with the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), the authority sits on the Lancashire SEND Partnership Board.

Professor Sarah O’Brien, chair of the partnership and chief nursing officer for the ICB, said of Ofsted’s conclusions: “We fully accept the findings of the report and will be working closely with partner organisations to ensure services are improved and updated.

 “Unacceptable waiting times for children and young people with SEND is a national challenge and one that we recognise in Lancashire and South Cumbria.

 “As an integrated care board, we are committed to moving towards a needs-led approach where children and young people with SEND and their families will receive responsive provisions that support them with their education and in their home life, whatever their ability or challenge.

“We have established a delivery programme board to ensure that service transformation occurs in a joined-up way with all stakeholders and happens at pace and scale. We’re committed to developing and delivering on our shared strategic vision with Lancashire County Council through co-production with our local communities and families to improve outcomes for all children and young people with SEND across Lancashire.”

Jacqui Old, the partnership board’s vice chair and executive director for education and children’s services at Lancashire County Council, added: “While we are bitterly disappointed with this outcome, we acknowledge and understand the inspectors’ findings and we know that, though our commitment to providing the right support at the right time for children and young people with SEND, we can make vital improvements.

“We accept that, despite our best efforts, children’s and young people’s needs are not met as quickly and effectively as they should be.

“We understand that these delays are a great source of frustration for families, and we know we must do better.

“Nationally, there is a huge increase in the number of children seeking SEND support along with a growing demand for education, health and care plans. The problems we are facing are not exclusive to Lancashire – these are issues being faced by local authorities across the country.

“I want to be clear that the issues highlighted in the report are systemic and are in no way a reflection of our staff, who are dedicated to improving outcomes for all children, including those with SEND. I would like to thank staff for their continued hard work and dedication to improving the lives of children and young people in Lancashire.

“The capacity to improve was noted by the inspectors who had confidence that we are in a good place to move the system forwards.

“In light of the findings, we are undertaking a thorough review of our SEND processes and systems and will continue to work alongside our partners to ensure further improvements happen at pace and that outcomes improve for all children and young people in our county.”

Meanwhile, the independent Lancashire Parent Carer Forum said it agreed that there was a need for “substantial improvement and lasting change in the support and services provided” for SEND children and their families.

Sam Jones, the forum’s chair, added: “While the outcome of the inspection will not come as a surprise to parent carers, it presents us with a real chance for a new start.

“We feel that we have been offered the reassurance that the parent carer perspective, delivered by the forum as an equal partner in the Lancashire SEND Partnership, will be listened to and acted upon.

“Lancashire Parent Carer Forum remains committed to our work on building a wider network of parent carers.

“We will continue to build the LPCF Round Table to bring local community SEND group leaders to represent their group members and the communities of Lancashire. The Forum will continue to provide individual parent carers with opportunities to participate in the work of improving services.

“We commit to working positively with partners and to offer constructive challenge on behalf of parent carers to ensure that the necessary improvements highlighted in the report are delivered.

“With a clear focus and a determination to work together for the best outcomes for our children and young people, parent carers and practitioners will make considerable improvements for families.”

Lancashire County Council’s Labour opposition group leader Matthew Tomlinson said the Ofsted judgement was “extremely disappointing”, but “not much of a surprise to anyone”.

He added: “Any Lancashire MP will be able to tell you of the numerous amounts of case work we are constantly dealing with for families waiting for far too long for statutory assessments, or children being forced to attend special schools miles away from where they live.

“It’s especially disappointing that the last inspection in 2022 raised similar issues which the council hasn’t been able to address. The council is clearly letting some children and families down.

“It’s now up to councillors from the ruling Conservative group to urgently come forward with a viable plan for improvement that can reassure those families involved that there is a brighter future ahead.”

Lancashire County Council was approached for further comment.