The Department for Education is working “really closely” with around one in three local authorities in England to improve services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), MPs have been told.

A government minister and senior DfE official were questioned today at the Commons Education Committee about the number of local authorities where weaknesses had been found by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) during SEND area inspections.

Committee chair Robert Halfon said that the DfE had allowed a situation “to go on” where local councils were found to be failing on SEND.

SEND: Majority of inspections find shortcomings

Investigation: How SEND services are failing

Zahawi: SEND review is a ‘top priority’

Giving evidence to the committee, children’s minister Will Quince said that the DfE sends advisors to work with local authorities where improvements need to be made.

And Indra Morris, the DfE director general for children’s services, communications and strategy group, revealed that the government was working directly with around one in three councils in the country to secure improvements.

Last month, the DfE appointed a commissioner to take over SEND services in Birmingham after an inspection report found that failings had not been addressed.

Ms Morris said: “There are 49 local authorities that we are working really closely with to varying degrees and Birmingham obviously is one of the most significant councils, where we have put in a commissioner John Coughlan, who is the former chief executive of Hampshire [County Council].

“Then there [are] another 31, although there is a bit of an overlap between those two categories of local authorities, where their timeliness is below par - and again we are engaging with them and we do vary it depending on the seriousness, and indeed the engagement and commitment, of local leadership.”

SEND area inspections were introduced as part of 2014 government reforms.

The DfE intervened in Birmingham after an Ofsted and CQC report found that sufficient progress had been made in just one of 13 areas of significant weaknesses identified three years earlier.

An investigation by Tes revealed that more than half of the first 100 inspections to be carried out identified significant weaknesses in provision.

And figures published earlier this year showed that this remained the case across all areas inspected over a five year period.

Under the current SEND area inspection regime, areas are only checked once, although Ofsted and CQC later carry out a return visit to check on the progress being made in areas where weaknesses were identified.

Where weaknesses are identified, local authorities are required to produce a statement of action.

But Ofsted and the CQC are now developing plans for a continuous SEND area inspection regime.

Mr Quince said: “When you look at written statements of action, it isn’t a pass or a fail when Ofsted go and inspect a local authority. It is about looking to make improvements.

“They identify areas of strength and they also identify areas of weakness and they see where improvements need to be made.”