On one of the most complex and challenging tasks for Derbyshire County Council’s new Reform leadership, special educational needs and disabilities, there is not much meat on the bones – yet.
Cllr Alan Graves, Reform’s new council leader, and now Cllr Jack Bradley, its cabinet member for SEN and education, have both now fielded questions on the issue and the responses have been both sparse and vague.
More meat will fill the bones of this policy – among others – in the next six months, Cllr Greaves promises, once the council has “got its feet under the table”, while also stressing his team have “hit the ground running”.
A damning Ofsted and CQC report in 2024 assessing Derbyshire’s support of children with special educational needs highlighted an issue raised by families for years, that there were “widespread and systemic failings” that needed to be addressed urgently.
Complaints about delays and support failures led to the council paying out more than £230,000 in compensation in 2024, up from £36,000 in the previous year.
Much of this relates to poor communication and parents and children waiting months and years longer than they should for responses and completed support plans.
This has resulted in children remaining out of education without support for whole school terms and years – without the assistance they need and without contact with peers.
Meanwhile, funding special education transport is a significant budget pressure for the council, which finds itself financially hamstrung, with children’s and adults’ social care accounting for £80 million in budget pressures.
Reform’s first meeting at the helm of the council saw a new detail about the pressure facing the council regarding special educational needs.
This is the detail that it received 1,636 applications for needs assessments in 2024, of which 66 per cent (two-thirds) were agreed.
Facing several questions regarding SEN, Cllr Bradley read out the extensive current policies of the county council, saying: “The voice of parents, children and young people is vital to ensure that services work for our residents.
“We acknowledge that communication has not been what it should have been and all Local Partnership services are working hard to improve engagement with parents and carers
“The council is currently developing a joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) as part of its SEND priority impact plan.
“Sufficiency work is currently in process to plan the required need is met over the next five years.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Graves has reiterated variations of: “If anybody asks us what our education policy is, the answer is, we will let you know.”
He said earlier this week: “The policies on the county council are already there which we have to administer, however, over the term of office we may want to change some of them though that won’t be happening just yet, you’ve got to give us some time to think about things like that.
“First of all we have got to think about what the policies are at the moment and how they align with how we think and feel.”
Yesterday he said: “If you ask us the same question in six months I will be able to give you a better answer.”
He said the new Reform administration needed to carry out its audit of the council first to work out the base it had to use to tackle its key priorities.
Cllr Graves also reiterated that “our legal responsibilities as a council will be carried out, don’t worry about that”.
In contrast, Cllr Dan Price, who has now been appointed Reform chief whip – controlling voting among the Reform group – had said on his councillor Facebook page: “People say, what are your policies? Our policies are what the people want. They want SEND improved, done.”
