Consultation on provision for special needs children

Council launches draft Send strategy, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Council has invited residents to share their views on a plan to improve services for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

The council has launched a consultation on its draft Send strategy for 2022-2025, which sets out five priorities designed to develop the local system. There are around 9,000 Send children and young people aged up to 25 in Haringey – 15% of the total youth population.

In their introduction to the draft strategy, senior councillors claim many Send children in Haringey “achieve better outcomes than are achieved by children with Send nationally” but admit that they “need to work hard to improve some areas of our services”.

‘Co-production’ – ensuring young people and parents are involved in discussions and decisions about their support – is one of the strategy’s key aims. It includes a plan to set up a forum where parents and carers can make their views heard.

The strategy also features a pledge to support children at the earliest opportunity to access the intervention they need, in response to concerns from parents and carers that their children and young people are not supported in a timely way.

There are several measures designed to provide parents, carers and young people with a greater choice of services, including “good-quality short breaks”.

Further aims set out in the strategy are to ensure children and young people have their needs met in Haringey rather than other boroughs, and to improve the support available to them to prepare for their adult lives.

The consultation on the draft Send strategy was launched on 20th September and closes on Sunday, 7th November. More information about the strategy and details of how to give feedback is available here: https://www.haringey.gov.uk/children-and-families/local-offer/about-local-offer/haringey-send-strategy-2022-2025