A PROMISE made by Swindon Borough Council to improve its provision for children with special education needs has been approved by Ofsted.

A report by regulator and the Care Quality Commission last year identified “significant areas of weakness”.

The council was told to make a written statement of action setting out how it would address its failings.

The Ofsted and CQC report said: “The inspection found that working with parents and carers and children was weak and not shared and owned by young people, their families and professionals.”

It said that waiting times for children, especially those with mental health problems, were too long.

Now a statement of actions has been submitted to Ofsted and has been approved as suitable for putting into practice.

The 53-page document, authored by corporate director for children’s services David Haley, says: “The outcomes of the inspection were consistent with the council and CCG’s self-evaluation, and the inspectors acknowledged the right areas had been identified by partners.

“We recognise the need for better engagement with children, young people and their families.

“Our commitment is to collaborate and engage a wide group, including families, children and young people with SEND, in planning and evaluating our services, and embed a consistent and person-centred assessment and planning process for children, young people and their families.”

One of the specific actions is that support and referrals for children with special needs and disabilities will be better embedded in the borough’s Early Help programme and that families who ask for support will have to only “tell the council once”, rather than be referred from office to office.

And youngsters with autism will all be offered a sunflower lanyard to wear at doctors’ surgeries and hospital to tell professionals discreetly that they need more support.

A council spokesman said: “A considerable amount of work and effort has been made by everyone involved with SEND in Swindon to improve the quality of provision and act upon the areas identified by Ofsted for development.

“A written statement of action was approved by Ofsted and indeed has been commended by the Department of Education. There is a lot of good practice in our schools, particularly in our specialist provision, which is very popular with parents and carers.

“The key is to make our systems more efficient and fit for purpose.

"We aren’t there yet but we are listening to our parent groups, schools and others to improve the SEND system.”