Minister praises SEND services in West Cheshire

Will Quince, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families has praised SEND services in West Cheshire following a recent inspection.

Commissioned and run by Cheshire West and Chester Council and NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group, services in place to support west Cheshire’s children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) were assessed in February to ensure they are helping everyone to receive the best start in life.

A large number of strengths were identified in inspector’s findings, including praise for leaders' ambition for children and young people with SEND and their understanding and knowledge of the area, need being identified in young people at an early age, collaborative partnership working amongst health, social care and education colleagues and a strong training programme for staff supporting young people with SEND.

The letter states: “I know that the findings in the report come as a result of a great deal of commitment and hard work from many people across the local area, including the Parent Carer Forum, and I would like to take the opportunity to praise you for your efforts and successes.

“I was particularly pleased to read about how leaders from health, social care and education had worked quickly to implement new processes in response to the 2014 SEND reforms and the positive working relationship with the Parent Carer Forum.”

The Parent Carer Forum is a group of parents and carers in west Cheshire who have children or young people with special educational needs and/or a disability (SEND) working in partnership with professionals.

Councillor Robert Cernik, Cabinet Member for Children and Families said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this letter from Will Quince, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families. The letter is testament to the hard work, commitment and dedication of our fantastic Children and Families Service staff and the work that they do to support our children and young people with SEND across the borough.

“The Council and our health service partners have worked hard to build a valuable relationship with the Parent Carer Forum in west Cheshire, and we are extremely pleased that this positive relationship has been noticed.

“I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone involved in the inspection, as well as all parents and carers for their invaluable support and feedback throughout the process. We will continue to work hard to shape future services and make sure that they deliver what our borough’s children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities need.”

The letter goes on to say, “Please continue to build on the good progress you have made, share your effective practice with others and focus on those areas where further development is still required.”

Clare Watson, Accountable Officer for NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) added “It’s incredibly positive that our hard work and ambition for children and young people with SEND has been acknowledged in such a way. The collaborative partnership working amongst health, social care and education colleagues underpins this ambition and is an essential element of our success.”

In partnership, the Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group have already put plans in place to make improvements to areas noted for development within the inspection findings and are committed to continuously improving services for children and young people who need support the most.