Anger over closure of services to deaf children

Torbay Council has been accused of failing the families of deaf children by closing two specialist units in local schools.

Torbay Council has been accused of failing the families of deaf children by closing two specialist units in local schools.
The decisions were announced late last year, and the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) and the bay’s MP Steve Darling have joined calls for the council to think again.
“It is disturbing that some of our most vulnerable youngsters are being ignored,” said the Liberal Democrat MP. “The council has failed to consult on this, and there are serious questions to be answered.”
But the council says the services at St Margaret’s Academy and Spires College – both in Torquay – are under-subscribed, and children and their families can be served better with individual attention in mainstream schools. Support is not ending, it says, but being delivered differently.
It says ‘misinformation’ has been spread, and meetings have been held to reassure families about future support.
It says the trend is for less demand on the service, and the units – one in a primary school and the other in a secondary – have been running at half-capacity for the last five years.
The council’s figures show just two children – both currently below school age – needing specialist hearing support in the future.
A spokesman said: “Supporting all children and young people in Torbay with their individual needs is important to Torbay Council. This is why the council regularly reviews the needs of young people to ensure everyone is supported.
“The council is aware that families will be anxious regarding the change. However, no specialist support or provision is being removed.”
The council says it will carry on funding equipment and specialist support as well as running family ‘hubs’ in the community.
However, some parents fear their children will be ‘lost in the chaos’ of other schools if they are not able to receive the support of the specialist units.
In a letter to the bay’s director of children’s services Nancy Meehan, NDCS senior official Alison Lawson, says the council and the schools have failed to consult properly with the parents of the children involved.
She say the council should halt the closures and come up with an alternative, complete with a formal consultation.
Mr Darling said the treatment of the families affected by the proposed closures had been ‘shameful’.
“To be in a mainstream school with the appropriate level of support is the best of all worlds,” he said. “That’s what we have in Torbay, and that’s what the local authority seems to want to destroy.
FULL COUNCIL STATEMENT
A spokesperson for Torbay Council said;
“Supporting all children and young people in Torbay with their individual needs is important to Torbay Council. This is why the council regularly reviews the needs of young people to ensure everyone is supported.
“During a recent review, the council found that those children and young people with a Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) need is at 25% of the total Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). For those with a hearing impairment as their main area of need, this is 0.7% of the total EHCPs.”
“The decision to de-commission the places at the Hearing Impairment Units has been taken primarily due to the change in the profile of need in Torbay over recent years. The units have been running at 50% capacity for the last five years, despite being fully funded, with only two children (currently aged 0 and age 2) in the Bay in the council’s forecasting data who would require specialist hearing support in the future.”
“By continuing to deliver the support for these children in a revised manner, the council will be able to utilise the 16 spaces in line with the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.”
“For the children and young people currently being supported by the units, Torbay Council have:
Agreed to fully fund each individual child and young person at both settings to fully cover the cost of everything detailed in their EHCP, including all equipment and any specialist support or intervention which they are currently receiving.
The Torbay Hearing Impairment Advisory Service remains unchanged and therefore all the support given to all children (with and without an EHCP) with hearing impairments (both for children in these schools and other schools across Torbay) will remain unchanged. 
Torbay Council have also pledged to continue to run the ‘community’ offer, which has historically been run by the advisory team, but through the units, so that this offer continues to be available to the whole deaf community of children through the Family Hubs.”
“Torbay Council is aware that families will be anxious regarding the change, however no specialist support or provision is being removed.”
“Considering the misinformation which has been spread, the council have issued a public statement on the Torbay Council website (Statement regarding Hearing Impairment Units – Torbay Council)  and communications channels. Council staff have also met with parents and schools to reassure stakeholders that support for children will remain.  The Local Authority has a duty only to provide for those children with an EHCP.”
“Confident that the support for hearing-impaired students will still be provided, Torbay Council has made the decision to decommission the places at the two Hearing Impairment Units.”