Council makes 'significant improvement' after government notice

Wirral Council's offices at Alice Ker Square in Birkenhead
-Credit:Liverpool Echo


Wirral Council has been told it has made “significant improvement” since it was given a notice by the government last year.

The Department for Education published an improvement notice in May 2024 ordering the local authority to act up due to “poor progress” in addressing 10 areas of "significant concern” highlighted in a 2021 inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. This report looked into services for young people and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND.)

The 2021 report said the council has been “too slow” to implement reforms from 2014 with changes following “the letter of the reforms, not the spirit.” Its plans lacked “sufficient detail” while families and carers said “the system is broken.” The report said promises hadn’t been delivered, with many families feeling “completely let down.”

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Wirral Council was told it should improve services by October 2025. If the council does not comply with the government’s notice, this could lead to government intervention to direct the council on how to improve services.

Following a meeting with parents, the council, as well as the NHS, Samantha Morrison from the Department for Education and Stephen Colfar from NHS England North West in January 2025 said they had seen “significant improvement” in the last six months, better engagement with parents, active oversight from councillors and leading officers. They said this has “ensured robust governance and accountability.”

They said the council had shown clear evidence of progress to address issues with three flagged areas of improvement now considered business as usual. The letter to the council said parents were “much more engaged and involved” but also reported “parents and carers may not yet be feeling the impact of this on the ground, that it is important that they feel like their voices are heard and encouraged more face-to-face engagement.”

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A new communications staff member has been appointed and changes that would help to quickly resolve local issues. Training and support had also improved.

Progress hasn’t been seen in all areas with no significant improvement in the completion of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children within 20 weeks as required by law. However the council provided evidence it had increased the size of the team following a bunch of new hires.

The government said they needed to see recruitment completed and more progress in the quality of these plans. Parents also reported “poor communication, insufficient specialist provision and a high turnover of staff, leading to a lack of continuity” but also “positive feedback” about events.

The next review will take place in May 2025, a year after the council was issued with the improvement notice by the government.

At an education committee meeting on January 22, Adrian Leach, head of SEND, said they were recruiting for one more post and in May, the council would expect wait times for education plans to be completed would start to come down, adding: “We are now in a strong place with that team, embedding them and getting them going.”

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The latest letter comes as the council’s SEND services are being inspected by OFSTED again and are due to finish on January 31. During the meeting, Cllr Chris Carubia said there was no mention of communication as one of the biggest issues raised with him “is that the lack of communication is terrible.”

In response, Mr Leach said a lot of communication issues were related to the capacity of case workers with some workers dealing with more than 100 cases, sometimes up to 200 cases. He said he hopes a bigger team and smaller workloads would improve communication, “address those concerns and bring that confidence back in.”