A council slammed for failing to support children with special needs has filled 80 staff vacancies as it tries to improve the service.

Chiefs at Kent County Council (KCC) last year apologised to parents after a damning Ofsted inspection report found there had been insufficient improvements on weaknesses identified three years ago.

Now, a plan detailing the changes needed to support young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has been given the official go-ahead.

The Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) has been agreed by the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England.

It aims to tackle nine key areas of weakness outlined by Ofsted last year and build long-term improvements to SEND provision.

These included that Kent was unable or unwilling to meet children's needs and a lack of willingness by schools to accept SEND students.

Ofsted also reported poor standards achieved, poor progress and inconsistencies with Educational Health Care.

The first review of how APP is working will be carried on towards the end of the year.

DfE and NHS England will assess measures put in place and if they are working for children and their parents or carers.

KCC cabinet member for education and skills, Cllr Rory Love, said recruitment had reduced vacancies and the authority was learning from other authorities.

He added: “We have an absolute focus on making long-term, sustainable changes for the benefit of all children and young people with SEND and these changes have been shaped by their views and experiences, and those of their families.

“A lot of work is already underway. During the past seven months we have restructured our teams to give more focus to customer service.

“We have recruited permanent staff, reducing vacancies so far from 100 down to 20. We have been learning from other councils to understand how they provide their services successfully.

“I am determined that we deliver the actions in our improvement plan to provide the quality services children, young people and their families have a right to expect from us.

“Their views and experiences will continue to shape our improvements and they will be the judge of how we are doing in the months ahead as the impact of these improvements start to make a difference.”

Jane O’Rourke, director of children’s services at NHS Kent and Medway, said: “We are committed to working in partnership with our council colleagues, the children and their families to deliver the necessary improvements.

“We are working together to reduce waiting times and make sure that every child with a special educational need and/or a disability, and their family has access to the health care, services and support they need.”