Agenda item

To update the board on the outcome of the Local Area SEND Inspection undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in November 2021.

The Board received a report on the outcome of the Local Area SEND inspection undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in November 2021. Inspectors had met with children and young people with SEND, parents and carers and local authority and health service officers, visited a range of providers and looked at a range of information about the performance of the area, including the area’s self-evaluation.

The main findings to emerge from the inspection report were that:

a) leaders of education, health and social care were united in their mission to improve the experience and outcomes of children and young people with SEND;

b) the parent carer forum had a strong voice and fed into strategic governance across the area;

c)  leaders were determined to know what is working and what needs changing. Leaders’ current self-assessment is accurate;

d)leaders were not complacent, they recognised they do not always get things right and that they are on a journey of continuous improvement;

e)joint commissioning processes are well established. There is an increased demand for specialist provision and health services & leaders have agreed plans for long-term investment in places and people;

f)  leaders have remodelled the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) to improve the time it takes for children and young people with mental health needs to be seen;

g)the overwhelming majority of parents and carers are happy with the educational provision their child attends;

h)parents and carers have mixed views of the services and provision open to their children;

i)   leaders have improved the time it takes to complete statutory assessments for EHC plans & worked with practitioners to improve the standard of advice contributing to the EHC plan process; and

j)   outcomes are generally strong. There is a positive picture for attendance, exclusions from school and the number of young people with SEND who progress to further education, employment, or training.

The report highlighted areas for development in relation to improving the effectiveness of the local area in identifying, meeting the needs and improving outcomes for children and young people’s special educational needs and/or disabilities. The SEND Delivery Board was driven by its ambition to “get it right” for every young person and their families and this continued to drive the partnership’s improvement journey. The inspection findings would help to shape the improvement plan for 2022/23, which would focus on:

a) relaunching and embedding the graduated approach;

b)improving the quality and regularity of communication with children, young people, and families;

c) developing and implementing SEND hubs;

d) workforce development; and

e) practice improvements.

The Chair asked that Board’s congratulations be passed on to all those involved for their hard work over many years in developing strong partnerships and delivering good practice. Both she and the Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learning, Councillor Peter Earley welcomed the continuing commitment to seek further improvements in performance and to address the issues raised by the inspection.  

Resolved that the outcome of the Local Area SEND Inspection undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission and its recommendations for improvement be noted.