Mapping SEND Co-production in Birmingham: The Current State of Play
This report provides a map of the range of current and recent co-production activities in Birmingham relevant to children and young people (0–25 years) with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families. The importance of co-production for the SEND community in Birmingham was given sharper focus by the SEND Inspection revisit in May 2021, in which Ofsted and CQC inspectors determined that insufficient progress had been made in addressing 12 out of the 13 areas of significant weakness identified within its original inspection report of June 2018. In particular, the revisit identified insufficient progress in the following areas around the themes of co-production and parental engagement:
- Co-production was not embedded in the local area
- Parental engagement was weak
- There was a great deal of parental dissatisfaction
This first report of the project Mapping SEND Co-production in Birmingham showed that there are already many co-production initiatives being undertaken within the SEND community in Birmingham, most of which appear well-regarded by those involved – specifically, it reported on 48 co-production initiatives in Birmingham; 8 of which were mainly in health, 8 mainly in social care and 7 mainly in education. The remaining initiatives were cross-sector. These examples are highly revealing and are likely to be significant for determining future priorities. Moreover, very few interviewees doubted the importance of co-production playing a greater role in the future. However, most are relatively small-scale or quite local in their impact, e.g. around a school, a nursery or a hospital, and many have only been operated for a limited period. Even in those SEND services and settings where co-production thinking is mature, the impact on professional practice and service delivery has remained underdeveloped. Consequently, co-production has not been systemic. That needs to change.
Cite as: Bovaird, Tony and McCaffery, Maria (2022), Mapping SEND Co-production in Birmingham: The Current State of Play. Birmingham: Governance International, Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Parent Carer Forum.