Send & Children's Services

Stories about Send & Children's Services

Devon County Council SEND spending 2019-20 to 2024-25 bar chart

SEND deficit deal demands £50m budget cuts, £13m asset sales and use of £20m financial reserves

Department for Education to contribute £95 million over nine years, but terms of deal require Devon County Council to break even on SEND within two years despite five years of multi-million pound overspends.

County Hall

County council forecasts £9.3 million overspend on top of £36.6 million SEND services deficit

Additional £10 million service delivery cuts, mostly from adult social care and children’s services, to be allocated to government ‘safety valve’ deficit programme.

Representatives of SEND Parents and Carers for Change standing in front of County Hall

SEND children’s services still “failing to deliver improved outcomes for children and young people”

Devon County Council says change is underway but parents say problems remain unresolved, not enough is being done and their views are being ignored.

Ofsted says Devon County Council children’s social work remains “inconsistent”

An Ofsted monitoring report on Devon County Council children’s services, the fifth since the local authority was judged inadequate in January 2020, has found that the “quality of social work practice across Devon remains inconsistent”.

Special educational needs and disabilities protesters at County Hall

Devon County Council charged with “relentless institutional failings” in SEND children’s services provision

Children with special educational needs and disabilities protest alongside parents at County Hall as Ofsted monitoring continues to find serious unresolved issues and key areas that require significant change.

Ofsted finds county council children’s services not making sufficient progress

Devon County Council is not making sufficient progress with its children’s services since they were judged inadequate in January 2020 according to the latest Ofsted monitoring report.

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