The parents and carers of children with special educational needs say their relationship with the council is “worse than before” despite claims it had improved.

SEND National Crisis Worcestershire, which represents more than 1,000 families of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), said it had seen “no significant improvements” in the service in the last six months and the experience remained “largely negative.”

The campaign group accused Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire Children First (WCF) of “bald” compliance with staff more interested in meeting deadlines than carrying out important assessments properly.

The group also claimed the council was unable to deal with the number of complaints about the SEND service from parents and carers.

Worcestershire Children First said it “recognised” the experiences of some parents and carers were “challenging” but was working to make changes "at pace."

A survey by SEND National Crisis Worcestershire asked parents for their views in the last six months.

The majority of frustrated respondents said their relationship with Worcestershire Children First had deteriorated further since April with more than a quarter saying it was “worse than before.”

“Overall, the apparent progress being reported by Worcestershire Children First and Worcestershire County Council is not filtering through,” the group said in an open letter. “The experience of the majority of SEND families in Worcestershire remains largely negative.”

Regular reviews by the Department of Education are part of a plan to drive improvements in the SEND service at Worcestershire Children First.

Of those who responded to the survey, more than three-quarters said the county council had not dealt with their application for an educational health and care plan (EHCP) within the legal 20-week time limit.

“The themes are generally repetitive,” the group said. “Assurances that all complaints are used as a learning tool seem hollow, when complaints are rising, and we have evidence that they are not being properly investigated.”

Tina Russell, chief executive of Worcestershire Children First, said work was continuing on an Accelerated Action Plan and progress against KPIs had been met. She said staff had worked tirelessly and there had been a 30% reduction in parents taking cases to tribunal.

She said she recognised the continued challenging experiences of some of Worcestershire's parents/carers but added: “Our parent carer feedback tells us that parent carers believe our EHC plans for children are aspirational, and they are.

“For us and our partners, the challenge is making the system and cultural changes required at pace so children, young people and their parents and carers feel the benefits and these changes now, not just in future years and to ensure the way we work together across the partnership makes the experiences for families as simple and as coordinated as possible.

“We remain committed to these plans of improvement and I am confident we have the right plans and the right multi-agency leadership to take them forward.”

The council’s SEND service was re-inspected by the Care Quality Commission in 2021 which found the council had made “sufficient” progress against eight of the 12 “significant” weaknesses that inspectors found three years earlier.

The ‘accelerated progress plan’ was designed by council and NHS bosses to ‘deliver changes’ in Worcestershire’s SEND service and was approved last year.

The council is subject to six-month reviews with the next one due to be held this month.