BRADFORD Council’s executive will discuss a major shake up in how the council delivers services for children who have special educational needs or disabilities.

The changes to SEND services have to be altered from a new system approved last year due to recent changes in how the government funds these services, and are expected to lead to more jobs cuts than originally thought.

The changes being proposed follow a consultation on how to remodel the SEND specialist services last year, which took place before the government funding changes were announced in September.

Executive are now being asked to approve a revised preferred option which would be subject to a period of further consultation between January 17 and February 28. If agreed, the planned changes would be operational by September.

The revised model would change the current SEND specialist teaching support services into one education service for children and young people from 0-25 years of age.

This model that the Executive will be asked to approve at tomorrow's meeting would have two teams working together to deliver co-ordinated support for children and young people aged up to 25 and their families.

One team would support high occurring needs like autism, specific learning needs and social, emotional and mental health needs. Another team would support low occurring needs such as hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment and physical and medical needs.

The change would lead to a saving of £770,000 from the grant provided by government for schools, but would require the council to cut between 25 and 30 full-time posts.

The original plans would have seen 16 full time posts cut from the service.

Councillor Imran Khan portfolio holder for education and skills, said: “Central Government cuts mean the Council is facing unprecedented pressures on its budget.

"That means we need to make the best use of the reduced funding we have. We’ve listened to what people and organisations have had to say and these revised proposals take account of that feedback. I understand that the revised model will mean we can continue to offer a more sustainable and affordable service for schools and can offer children with SEND and their families the right level of specialist support with a more integrated and joined up service.”

The executive meets in City Hall at 10.30am tomorrow.