Anger as council cuts special needs support for pre-school children.
By welland | Monday, March 15, 2010, 11:11
Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Labour group have expressed concern over a decision by the Conservative run Council to end a valuable home-visiting education scheme for pre-school children with special needs.
The scheme, known as the Portage Service, currently provides help for young children with special needs who are assessed as needing additional support at home. Children receive help in developing their social, motor, cognitive and language skills through regular home visits.
Now, after cuts in the recent Council budget that were opposed by the Labour Group, the scheme will be ended by the Conservative administration with no new children being admitted.
A Labour Group spokeswoman said: “Shockingly the Conservative Cabinet chose not to reveal that this service would be ended prior to or during the Council budget meeting. Members of the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel were also left in the dark about the termination of the service. This has led to further criticism from the Labour Group that the recent budget process was misleading and lacked transparency.”
Cllr David Speirs (Labour, Paulton) stated “I am concerned that the termination of this vital service for pre-school children with special needs was not highlighted within the Conservative budget or revealed by the Cabinet Member at the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting.”
Cllr Speirs went onto say “it is vital that vulnerable children with special needs and their families are well supported by the local authority. I have therefore asked for this decision to be examined by the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel as soon as possible.”
A recent consultation conducted by the local authority about the Portage Service revealed that parents valued the help that was offered to their children and wanted it to continue.
Comments
Please find below the response given to the local media to this issue by the Council:
Re. portage service
Significant improvements to Special Education Needs early years provision have taken place throughout the district over the past five to ten years. Services have changed accordingly and are now more community focused, with the combination of Children’s Centres, registered playgroups, and Area Special Needs Co-ordinators and other specialists all providing the support that parents tell us they need. Portage work has previously been considered as specialist. The improvements and changes to services mean much of this work is now considered mainstream.
No children currently receiving portage services will be affected by the decision to stop the Council service as it will continue until the end of the academic year, as we have a commitment to continue with clients until their current course of intervention is complete. The service has not been taking on new cases.
Re. openness and transparency
The changes are part of the Council’s restructure of the Inclusion Support Service. This restructure was identified in the Children’s Service Action Plan that was discussed by the Council’s Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 25th January 2010. A list of those B&NES councillors on the panel present is as follows: Councillors: Sally Davis (Chairman), Marie Longstaff, Nathan Hartley, Dine Romero, David Speirs and Shirley Steel.
Note to Editor
1. The Portage service has a full-time equivalent 1.3 members of staff.
By council_spoke at 12:26 on 15/03/10
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