Next Steps for SEND Improvement in Wirral

The SEND Improvement Notice, issued by the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, to Wirral Council in May 2024, has today been replaced with an updated version. This reflects changes in priority following the Local Area SEND inspection which took place in January 2025. 

Of the ten areas identified in the initial Improvement Notice, the combined Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection team found that sufficient progress had been made in eight of those areas to no longer require priority action. The inspection team did pick up on ‘preparation for adulthood’ as a new, third priority action area.  

In her letter to local area Chief Executives, the Minister for Children and Families, Janet Daby MP, said: “I was encouraged to read the positive findings in the report, including the changes made to improve strategic oversight and governance since the issuing of a SEND Improvement Notice in May 2024, and the reinvigorated and more ambitious intent for the children and young people with SEND in Wirral.”

Having three areas for priority action, Wirral’s Local Area SEND Partnership is required to outline its plans for improvement to Ofsted, CQC and the Department for Education. A detailed Priority Action Plan has been submitted to the inspectorates. It sets out how the partnership, which includes the local authority, education, health, and social care, will work together to: 

• ensure that EHC plans consistently identify and meet the needs of children and young people effectively and timeliness complies with statutory guidance 
• develop and embed a joint framework on preparation for adulthood, to ensure a fully coordinated approach across education, health and care, to support young people with SEND as they transition into adulthood
• reduce waiting times for specialist speech and language and neurodevelopmental assessments and make sure that children and young people, and their families, consistently receive effective communication and support while waiting 

Leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Paula Basnett, said: “As new leader of Wirral Council, I will ensure that the progress that’s been made to improve SEND services over recent months continues, that the pace of improvement is maintained and families can start to feel the benefits of those changes. Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities rely on us, to be doing all we can to set them up to live as independently and full a life as possible.”

“We recognise there is much work to be done and we will stay focused on that until we are delivering consistently good outcomes for our younger residents.”

Simon Banks, Place Director (Wirral), NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said: “The outcomes of the Ofsted and CQC inspection are a fair reflection on where we are with SEND services in the borough. There has been significant work with children and young people and their families and carers to improve how agencies work together to deliver better on SEND. There is also more to do to ensure that children and young people with SEND get the right support from the right professional in the right environment that meets their needs. We will work with providers of NHS support in Wirral to improve their offer to children and young people with SEND and ensure that this offer integrates with education, social care and other support.”

Later this month, the Local Area SEND Partnership will publish the Priority Action Plan and new SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy. These key documents will outline steps to improvement and be accompanied by a statement for young people, parents and carers from Elizabeth Hartley, Director for Children, Families and Education.