Life is 'unnecessarily hard' for some children with special needs due to inconsistent services in Stoke-on-Trent, inspectors have found.

While some youngsters with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) have their needs quickly assessed, parents sometimes have to 'fight' to get their children properly assessed.

And young people with SEND in Stoke-on-Trent can face 'long periods of struggle and upset' due to delays with finding the right specialist education or training for them. These are among the findings of a joint inspection into SEND services by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.

In the Potteries the services are jointly commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB). The inspectors found there was a 'city-wide determination' to get children and young people with SEND the support they need, with a 'tenacious commitment to improving outcomes'.

But inconsistencies across education, health, and social care 'negatively impact' the experiences and progress of children and young people. The local area partnership has now been asked to make a number of improvements in order to address the inspectors' concerns.

The inspectors' report states: "For some children and young people, their needs are quickly identified and assessed. In those cases, education, health and social care work in partnership with parents to get an accurate understanding of needs and put the right support in place.

"However, this is only sometimes true for all children and young people with SEND. Some parents and carers told inspectors that they have to fight to get their children's needs identified or assessed. This means life can be unnecessarily hard for some children and young people.

"If a child or young person has profound and complex needs, they will likely be well assessed, and the right provision will likely be put in place. In these cases, the child or young person will have had support from health and social care from a very early age. However, the support for pupils with less complex needs needs to be more sufficiently comprehensive and timely."

The partnership was praised for having a 'clear strategy' for future development, and for the 'rich dialogue' about individual children and young people. Support, advice and guidance for children and their families, and work to give parents a voice at a strategic level, were also seen as strengths.

But the inspectors found that parents often reach 'crisis point' before services assess their children's needs, with some youngsters experiencing long periods of suspension or exclusion from school before getting the help they need. More than 40 per cent of children with education, health and care plans in Stoke-on-Trent are defined as being persistently absent, and the number of youngsters with SEND being permanently excluded has increased recently.

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for children's services at the city council, welcomed the report and said the partnership would take on board the inspectors' recommendations. She said: "We are committed to making sure that children and young people with SEND in Stoke-on-Trent get the right support, at the right time, delivered by the right people. That's why we are currently consulting on our new SEND strategy, which will ensure that there is a clear, agreed vision across the city.

"I welcome the findings of the Ofsted inspection and we will take on board all of the areas for improvement and make sure that the right processes, support and provision is put in place to make sure that the good work we are doing in the city is benefiting all children and young people with SEND.

"If any family in the city finds that the support they need is not easily accessible, that is too many. The local area partnership of the city council and the ICB will keep working to further improve services until our vision for children and young people with SEND to 'be the best they can be' is fully realised."

Peter Axon, chief executive officer for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, added: "The ICB's vision for our children and young people is to start well, grow well and live well. The report highlighted areas of work we are committed to improving, alongside our children, young people and their families, and our wider system partners. We recognise that are some areas of excellent practice that we will continue to build upon."

Recommendations in the report include further improving the timeliness of assessments and EHC plans, and ensuring that the voice of children and young people with SEND is heard and acted upon.

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