SEND services for children and young people in Bury are improving

Services and support for children and young people, and their families, in Bury with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are improving – but there is more work to do, a recent Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England (NHSE) review has shown.

Advisors from the DfE and NHSE carried out a stocktake (an assessment visit) in early July that reviewed progress by Bury’s SEND partnership – including the council, NHS, schools and others - against plans to improve.

They found, during this second stocktake, a shared commitment to making lasting improvements to SEND services and to the wellbeing of children and young people with SEND.

Councillor Lucy Smith, Bury Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for children and young people, said: “This is testament to a year’s worth of work to make a clear difference; so that services are better for those with SEND, raising the standards for everyone, and beginning to see improved outcomes in the lives of children, families and carers.

“The stocktake visit demonstrated we’ve established strong partnerships – and we are proud to be able to show that, because we can only best serve our communities by working beyond council and NHS boundaries, together with our partners.

“It is particularly pleasing to see the DfE and NHSE feedback recognises the emphasis we place on the voices of children and young people and the impact they are having on service development, this was described as a notable strength of the partnership's efforts.

“We know that, while we have done lots, there is lots more to do. So, we will use what was highlighted for further development as areas to focus work on and build on improvements so far.”

Councillor Tamoor Tariq, cabinet member for adult care, health and public service reform, said: “It is great that the progress we’ve made as a partnership was seen, and we are demonstrating a more collaborative approach that is building a stronger culture to benefit people with SEND.

“We have a workforce strategy and are training people in a targeted way that shows efforts to strengthen capacity and build skills, which will increasingly mean people get the right support, in the right way, at the right time to enable them to be included in all that life in Bury has to offer and achieve their ambitions.

“This all gives us a strong foundation for what comes next, as we know that the groundwork we’ve done is not felt by everyone who needs SEND service and the stocktake visit gives us this so that the impact of improvements becomes more tangible for all.”

Bury Local Area Partnership was visited by the DfE and NHSE for a second six-monthly send stocktake meeting in early July, having been first visited in late 2024, to review progress against SEND priority improvement plan. See more about the partnership on the Local Offer What is the SEND Local offer - Bury Council.

ENDS

Press release issued: 28 July 2025.