WIRRAL Council’s education boss said she agreed with council staff on strike that their work was “unmanageable” as she said the local authority was going through a “difficult” period of change.

Children, families, and education director Elizabeth Hartley said people had “for too long” had a “poor experience” with the local authority but believes things will improve for its special education needs and disabilities (SEND) services.

Eight staff members had joined a National Education Union (NEU) picket line outside the local authority’s new Birkenhead office on Alice Ker Square on October 16. Staff said they were devastated to have had to walk out but issues around pay and workloads meant staff had to take time off due to stress and the job was “the worst it’s ever been.”

The NEU at the strike called on the council’s senior leadership to come back around the negotiating table. A spokesperson for the local authority said it had fully engaged with the unions and sought to address concerns raised.

Before councillors queried a report about the council’s plans to improve SEND services at an children, young people, and education committee meeting later on October 16, Ms Hartley gave a statement regarding the strike. She highlighted statistics published by the local authority that showed that one in five children were getting education, health and care plans (EHCPs) on time. EHCPs are legal documents that set out a child’s needs.

She said: “For too long, children and young people with SEND, their parents, and carers have had a poor experience of getting support through the council,” adding: “Annual reviews have been missed or significantly delayed. Complaints from parents and carers are high and in the main they relate to missed deadlines, poor timescales, and poor communication from our council SEND team.

“Levels of dissatisfaction and frustration from our communities are high across the local area. We want that to change.”

She said the council was committed to “putting children and families first” and a notice issued by the government earlier this year was “a wake up call” for the council “after two years of activity that didn’t lead to meaningful change for children and families.” However she said the council had made progress in the six months since the notice as it moves forward with a restructure of the local authority’s SEND services.

Ms Hartley added: “We agree with the staff taking action that the case loads have been too high and that the volume of work has been unmanageable and it is in response to that that we’ve undertaken a full review of the service, consulted with staff, trade unions, and families and are now moving forward.”

She said the restructure would help reduce staff caseloads by half as well as increase staff support with an investment of £3.9m over two years helping double the size of the council’s team. She said this would create a better public service and better working conditions for staff, adding she felt she’d “always presented the SEND service as staff who want to do a good job for their families” that despite pressures “have continued to do their best.”

She said the process had been difficult for staff and respected their right to strike, adding: “Change is difficult but by staying focused on the job, we need to do […] we can work through it. We are working to make sure that disruption for families is minimised and staying in contact with people as best as we can.”

Assistant Director for Education James Backhouse said some staff would see promotions as part of the restructure and 200 people applied for the new jobs with 70 interviews taking place to help fill 40 roles. It’s hoped this will be “a game changer” and will get families support quicker.

New staff could start from November though it’s not expected all will be able to start then with a full team expected by January. However current staff said they would have to be doing the same amount of work for less pay due to the restructure.

A key issue linked to the government notice are delays in EHCPs. Statistics published earlier this year showed 427 plans had been finished with just 72 finished in the required 20 week timeframe. 33% were approved between 21 to 30 weeks. Twenty eight per cent were issued in 31 to 52 weeks with 22%, or 94 families, issued plans after a year.

150 plans are considered “stuck” which means things are not moving forward but the council said it is carrying out reviews to try and change things. A report published before the committee said levels of staff training to help them work better with families was increasing, changes to the annual review process, as well as a complete overhaul of the council’s EHCP approval system.

Chair of the committee Stephen Bennet hoped the changes would lead to the council “being back where it should be” and argued it would “make a big difference” for children in Wirral. The council said it was providing support for parents through Family Hubs, school staff were being trained, and additional staff were being employed to reach out to home educated children with SEND abd a dedicated communications officer for families.