A Warwickshire County Council executive has apologised for communication failings over changes to SEND training undertaken by councillors.

In an hour-long interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Nigel Minns, Warwickshire's executive director for children and young people, acknowledged that mandatory annual training for elected officials had changed but insisted the programme had still been co-produced with representatives of families of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as requested by councillors last year.

However, he accepted that the language used to inform councillors – 40 out of 57 of whom are new to the training having been elected in May – could have led to a belief that the co-produced elements had been dropped.

He confirmed that the new Reform UK administration had not been involved in the process which began prior to May's local elections.

How we got here

In March 2024, Warwickshire's county councillors unanimously committed to annual SEND training involving children and their parents and carers in the wake of a public storm over comments made by three councillors during a scrutiny meeting.

It led to a raft of complaints, protests at Shire Hall and an external investigation. Eventually, Conservative trio Clare Golby, Brian Hammersley and Jeff Morgan, none of whom are councillors now, were cleared of any wrongdoing but SEND families remained outraged by the remarks, as were fellow councillors. 

Then-leader Izzi Seccombe OBE distanced her Tory administration from the views with the mandatory training seen as key to rebuilding relationships.

The sessions were held in-person and included elements produced with and delivered by representatives of local SEND groups.

Changes

In mid-June, SEND parent Elissa Novak took to X – formerly Twitter – to question why the co-produced in-person training had been "quietly dropped" and replaced by online training. 

The council replied through its official account to say the online element was "just one part of our broader commitment to strengthening councillors' understanding of SEND" and that "in line with the council motion passed in 2024, we are also preparing to deliver co-produced SEND training sessions to provide more in-depth support".

Further questions were raised but the council simply repeated their previous comments.

The accepted motion – and therefore established political commitment – states that the council "resolves itself to the upskilling of councillors by providing annual mandatory training for all elected members".

It adds: "Before serving on any panels, scrutiny committees and other bodies that handle the provision of children's services, members will need to have attended the training and development sessions.

"These sessions will be co-produced in partnership between Warwickshire County Council's SEND services and families of children with SEND."

Officers – the professionals who work for the council – are responsible for interpreting that and turning it into action. 

Communication sent to all county councillors on June 2, 2025, subsequently acknowledged as being legitimate by Mr Minns, requested that all councillors complete what was described as "mandatory" SEND training through an online portal. It added that cabinet members and councillors serving on committees linked to children's services would be "offered" additional training as part of a rolling programme.

We spoke to four current county councillors of three different political persuasions, including members who served last year and those who did not, all of whom said that they understood the online course to be the only mandatory element and that they were not aware of anything else being scheduled.

Irrespective of that, Mr Minns confirmed the co-produced training would only be mandatory for cabinet members and those serving on panels related to children's services, not all councillors like last year, although this training and ongoing development sessions is open to all elected officials.

The first meeting

Warwickshire's children and young people's overview and scrutiny committee oversees the work of councils and partner organisations in relevant areas, including SEND. The first meeting of the new panel following the election was held on Tuesday, June 24 and Ms Novak registered to speak. 

"This council made a commitment that councillors must attend co-produced SEND training before serving on this committee," she said.

"There was an initial three-month grace period to develop and roll out this training which ended in June 2024. This should have been part of the development training for new councillors on this committee and I am disappointed to learn that this commitment was quietly dropped. 

"Co-production means working with families, embedding their voices in decision making and understanding that children and families are not problems to manage or obstacles to work around.

"We are in this together. Engagement must be more than a box-ticking exercise, it must be real, ongoing and accountable because when we don't engage, co-produce or listen, children and young people pay the ultimate cost.

"I urge you, please don't wait for another scandal. Let Warwickshire be the place where change happens, where we build a better system together."

Directors of the relevant service areas were present at the time, including Mr Minns, but committee chair Cllr Yousef Dahmash was tasked with responding through "words that I have been asked to read out".

"All elected members have been informed that they must complete mandatory online training produced by the council for disabled children," he said. 

"The training is part of our broader commitment to enhancing councillors' understanding of SEND. The online approach was chosen as the most effective way of training all members, including our 40 new councillors considering their other induction and training requirements, and the need to ensure that council business can be conducted effectively. 

"CDC (the online) training is just one part of our commitment to increasing knowledge in this important area. Training sessions with Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice and Impact have also been scheduled for September 11 and 12 and all members on relevant committees, including this one, are required to attend those sessions. 

"There will also be a SEND conference in September and all councillors will be invited, plus council officers, partners, children and young people and families. 

"Committees can still meet pending these sessions in line with the council's agreed motion which is clear in allowing scheduled panels, scrutiny meetings and other bodies to continue their business while councillors undergo training." 

The response

Mr Minns staunchly denied that there had been any plan to drop the co-produced training. 

"It was never the intention that (the online course) would be the only element of training," he said.

"Looking at the wording (of the email to councillors) now, I can see how it might be ambiguous in that sense. I can't comment on how members may or may not have interpreted what was written but there was never any intention to drop that training.

"Dates were in the diary but they became impossible due to matters relating to the induction of new councillors.

"I am happy to accept that I saw that communication before it went out and take responsibility. I knew what was happening and when you know the plan, you read things in a particular way (with that knowledge in mind) and don't necessarily think whether someone else will read that the same way. 

"I absolutely get that the communication could have been clearer."

Put to him that the doubts caused could lead to an erosion of trust in the council, Mr Minns said: "We never intended to ditch this training. The council's motion remains in place and it is our responsibility to deliver on that motion. We always intended to do so.

"Absolutely, it is unfortunate that our communication with councillors wasn't clearer and I am happy to accept responsibility for that."

Asked whether he would go as far as to apologise, he added: "I am sorry if we gave the impression that the training wasn't going to take place and certainly, if that has caused an erosion of trust then I am sorry about that."

He said that Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice had suggested utilising the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) online training but stressed they had made it clear that it should form part of a wider programme, including co-produced training that was initially planned for June until it became clear that delays forming the new administration and other induction requirements for all new councillors meant it needed to be pushed back. It remains planned for mid-September, followed by the SEND conference on September 26 and further training to come.

He added that the government is set to introduce "significant changes to the system" from October onwards, meaning training schedules would need to be adapted. 

As for who took the decision to change and how, Mr Minns describes an "iterative process" with SEND representatives that has been going on since late March, "well before the elections".  

"The arrangements for training – who does what, when and how – are co-produced with families through that planning group," he said. 

"If the offer is slightly different this year, it is an offer agreed with those representatives.

"There was no individual decision or person saying 'this is what we are going to do', this has been an ongoing discussion over some time with Parent Carer Voice, others and internally about how we meet the requirements."

Some of the sensitivity surrounds the term co-produced with parents like Ms Novak believing that to be related to the training itself while Mr Minns allies it to the process through which training is organised.

"It is a change to the training," he said.

"What was done last year was what that planning group deemed appropriate. This year, the training is what that group deemed appropriate.

"If Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice or Impact had said to us they didn't think this was the right way to go and therefore we weren't co-producing the offer of training then there would have been an issue but that isn't the case.

Asked whether there had been any resistance from either group, Mr Minns replied: "Not that I am aware of. I haven't heard any."

He also said that "neither has raised any issues with me" over the co-produced training not being mandatory for all councillors and argued it would be "illogical" to suggest the motion meant that, given that it specifically refers to panels and committees.

A freedom of information request was submitted by a member of the public last month asking for all correspondence on the matter. Mr Minns said he had not seen that but insisted he was "absolutely clear that there will be no trail or suggestion anywhere that this training should be dropped". 

He said there would be diary entries and potentially some written dialogue to rely on but said that many of the conversations had been part of wider, ongoing discussions and that the changes were never part of an outright decision, rather how to enact the decision taken through the council motion.

"I think it will be much clearer that there was no intention to drop it," he said.

"Clearly, if we wanted to we would have had to have a formal decision. The only thing that is on the record at the moment is the formal decision of council that it should happen and there have been no proposals to reverse or change that motion."

Bigger than training

Mr Minns also said the relationship with SEND groups involved much more than this issue. 

"We have a monthly SEND partnership board that looks over all our developments," he said.

"Parent Carer Voice and Impact are on that and sit around with professionals every month to plan the day-to-day work we do around SEND to meet the strategy that members have agreed. They are embedded in the system and don't only give views on training. 

"I think we have a really good and constructive relationship with Parent Carer Voice and with our young people in Impact. 

"They are not afraid to challenge us when they don't think things are right and nor should they be. It is a relationship that has gone beyond 'we all have to be nice to each other because we are fearful of upsetting each other' to that much stronger relationship where you can say what you think. 

"Clearly we don't have that relationship with every parent or family across the county, it is with the group but with those groups it is really strong."