Local Authority SEND Officers: Experiences, challenges and training requirements

Local Authority (LA) SEND teams play a central role within the SEND system, managing the processes around EHCP assessment, development and review and functioning as a crucial link between families and all involved services and a single point of contact. The picture nationally, however, is of SEND teams in crisis, with debilitating capacity problems and enduring SEND officer recruitment and retention issues impacting negatively on the quality, consistency and efficiency of service delivery.

Research undertaken by Leeds Trinity University into the SEND officer role – through capturing the voices of LA staff – seeks to shed light on the challenges of this much misunderstood role and what improvements could be made to clarify expectations, improve recruitment and retention, support better collaborative working, and meet staff training needs. Speaking at the National SEND Conference in June, Dr Tracy Laverick (Lecturer and Senior Educational Psychologist) and Dr Richard Baron (Lecturer in Mental Health) set out some of their findings from the SEND officer views gathered from across 11 LAs in North England.

What are SEND officers?

One of the reasons cited for the difficulties in retaining staff in the SEND officer role is the lack of clarity around their duties and expectations, which can be inconsistent both across and within local areas, even down to the title of the role. Whether named SEND officers, EHCP co-ordinators or caseworkers (amongst others), research respondents shared their frustrations at the lack of understanding of the role, which has an impact on how they work with families and other involved services:

• “I don’t think health and social care are aware of the purpose of the SEND team and this can cause a lot more work for us.”
• “I think if there was more understanding from schools, parents and other professionals about what an EHCP is and what the SEN Team’s role is then we would be able to focus on our statutory duties more and have more time to do our jobs better.”
• “Every caseworker works differently […] I think to be effective there should be consistency on these matters […]”

The research found that the role of SEND officer varies from being more admin-related to taking a keyworker approach. For example, some SEND officers meet with parents/carers and attend meetings, whilst others do not. In our own work supporting LAs with drafting EHC plans, we also see huge variations in duties and approaches, with some SEND officers juggling directly supporting families and overseeing the involvement of other services with drafting and amending plans, and others solely focusing on casework management.

Respondents felt that alongside clarifying duties for SEND officers as standard, parents and other agencies should have access to clearer information on the EHCP process and the roles of all professionals involved.

What are the experiences of SEND officers?

Another reason for the poor retention of SEND officers is the difficulty of the role, particularly in relation to dealing with a multiplicity of tasks, overwhelming caseloads, and upset and frustrated parents. Some comments from respondents regarding the challenges they face include:

• “Parents […] are really confrontational and challenging at times.”
• “Balancing all aspects of my job and feeling like you can’t do any part well.”
• “Massive caseload and never having enough time to do things to the best of my ability.”

Respondents felt that SEND officers need better managerial support, mentoring and training to manage the demands of the role and help protect them from aggression and abuse.

What training do SEND officers receive?

The lack of consistent, standardised and formal training for SEND officers is another significant issue that contributes to how well duties can be performed and how supported staff feel in the role, which impacts on both staff retention and quality of service delivery. This was a major element of the research findings on the challenges that SEND officers face, with respondents noting the following:

• “When I began this role […] I had a caseload of 375 young people handed over to me […]. I had no training on the filing systems, how they wrote EHCPs, or anything relevant to my job.”
• “Most of my training came from my previous roles as Independent Supporter and SENDIASS worker. Very little has been provided whilst in my LA role.”
• “Recently there has been more focus on training but this is due to the fact that we failed our Ofsted; we have been asking for training for over 7 years.”

Whilst some SEND officers receive in-house training, this can be problematic due to the inconsistent approaches across different LAs. Respondents felt that there should be nationally agreed dedicated formal training for SEND officers, including training specific to the role, training around communicating with parents, and additional training for those completing complex casework. As providers of EHCP training for LA staff and other professionals, we recognise the necessity for specialised training that focuses on statutory requirements and best practice.

This research therefore confirms the need for professionalising the SEND officer role, which echoes a recommendation in the SEND Improvement Plan for improving the skills and training of SEND casework teams. We look forward to the publication of the ‘Gaining the Views of Local Authority SEND Officers’ research project and an evaluation of the recommendations made.