Sutton’s council leader and the chair of the children, family, and education (CFE) committee have rejected resignation calls this week after a strongly critical inspection report.

Both councillors Ruthy Dombey, the council's leader, and Wendy Mathys, chair of the CFE committee, say ‘now is not the time to walk away’ after a collaborative inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted.

There are said to be “significant areas of weakness” in the effectiveness of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services in the borough after it was published last week (March 23).

In a joint response, councillors Dombey and Mathys said: “We believe that all the children in our borough should have access to the services and support they need.

“We are disappointed by the results of the Ofsted inspection of the council's SEND services but we accept their findings and we are determined to work hard to improve these services and ensure the council works with all our NHS and school partners and takes effective and prompt action to make the improvements required.

“We are committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families are supported with good quality services.

“Now is not the time to walk away.”

Both councillor Tim Crowley, opposition leader of Sutton Conservatives, and Sutton Labour have called for their resignation publicly following the report.

Lead inspector highlighted areas to improve and noted that there is an “inequality of opportunity for families” because of a “serious decline” in the availability of an effective independent advice service in the borough.

He also noted “a lack of coherence” and joint working between local area leaders, agencies and schools, resulting in “poor communication, inconsistent opportunities for social inclusion, and a high number of exclusions” which are particularly noted at primary school level.

Despite leaders attempting to increase the pace of developments and streamline Sutton’s strategy, provider and parents reportedly “remain concerned” about the quality of communication by leaders and oversight of reforms.

A Sutton Council spokesman said both the local authority, as well as the Sutton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) accept Ofsted’s findings and a detailed written statement of action will be submitted, setting out strategies in improving the effectiveness of meeting the needs of children with SEND.