Children, Education and Communities Policy & Scrutiny Committee Report of the Assistant Director – Education and Skills

20 February 2023

The Outcomes of the Local Area SEND Inspection Revisit

Summary

1.    This report provides the members of the scrutiny and policy committee with an overview of the outcomes of the Ofsted/Care Quality Commission Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities inspection revisit which took place in November 2022.

Background

2. The Local Area was previously inspected in December 2019. Inspectors identified 4 areas of significant weakness in the local area’s implementation of the 2014 Children and Families Act and was required to produce a Written Statement of Action (WSOA).

3.    The four areas of weakness identified in 2019 were:

(1) Leadership and governance

(2) Joint Commissioning

(3) Co-production

(4) The quality of Education, Health and Care assessment and planning

4.    The inspection revisit took place in November 2022 and assessed the impact of the actions taken since the 2019 inspection. The re visit was not a full re inspection and focused on assessing the evidence of the impact of actions taken to improve on the four areas of weakness. Inspectors judged that sufficient progress had been made in all four areas of weakness.

5.    Inspectors found that there had been improvements in the governance of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in the local area. They highlighted the improvements that have been made by health partners since 2019, which has included investment in additional capacity to drive SEND improvement at a strategic level. The development of the SEND Strategy has been increasingly well informed by the development and use of the integrated data dashboard. However, leaders across education, health and care recognise that there is more work to do and the next step will be to develop the operational plans to underpin the delivery of the SEND Strategy. The local area operational plan will focus on the four priorities of the SEND Strategy, 2021-25 which are:

1. VOICE: The voice of children and young people and families is visible in all that we do

2. SUFFICIENCY: Ensure sufficiency of support through joint working across the local area partnership, adopting evidence-based commissioning using the JSNA

3. EARLY IDENTIFICATION: All children and young people identified as having special educational needs have their needs identified early, are supported in the local area and are able to access a range of provision that results in success and achievement

4. TRANSITION: All children and young people are able to experience a smooth transition at key points throughout their education and into adulthood

6.      This work is being overseen by the SEND Partnership Board. The role of social care in the partnership is being developed as the next phase of the SEND improvement journey.

7.    Since 2019 the local area SEND partnership has developed a co-produced outcomes framework which underpins the Joint Commissioning Strategy. The strategy has been used to commission Early Talk for York and the All About Autism provision which launched in August 2022. The local area SEND partnership now has an effective framework in place to support joint commissioning across the local authority and health.

8.    Significant work to improve co-production with children, young people and families has taken place since 2019. The inspectors found that co-production is now a strength in York. Whilst recognising that there is still work to do, co-production is now core to the values and practice standards across the local area SEND partnership. This is central to the way that the operational delivery of the SEND strategy is being overseen by local authority and health leaders.

9.    The quality of Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs) has improved since 2019. The processes and format of EHCPs has been reviewed and re-designed through co-production with children and young people, parents and carers and professionals across education and health. The improvements have focused on ensuring that the voice of the child is central to the plans. There is more work to do to improve the consistency and quality of EHCPs but inspectors recognised the impact of the improvements that have taken place since the previous inspection.

Next Steps

10. The SEND Partnership Board is developing the local area operational plan which will drive the delivery of the SEND Strategy between 2023 and 2025. This is being co-produced with partners and stakeholders.

11.  There is further work to do to improve the timeliness and quality of EHCPs. This includes a focus on the quality of advice from professionals across education, health and social care to improve the overall quality and consistency of EHCPs. Further training from the Council for Disabled Children training is being arranged to take place in April 2023 to improve the quality of advice.

12. Developing and embedding the role of social care within the SEND partnership is a key focus of the post Ofsted improvement plan.

        Recommendations

13. The members of scrutiny are asked to note the outcomes of the SEND inspection revisit and the work taking place to embed improvement through the co-production and implementation of the Local Area SEND operational plan.

Reason:  To keep the Committee updated.

Contact Details

Author: Maxine Squire Assistant Director, Education and Skills Tel: 01904 553007	Chief Officer responsible for the report: Martin Kelly Corporate Director Children’s Services and Education
	Report Approved	ü	Date		23/01/2023
Wards Affected:				All		ü
For further information please contact the author of the report.

Annexes

Annex 1: Ofsted Revisit outcomes letter

Annex 2: SEND Strategy, 2021-25

Abbreviations

SEND – Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

EHCP – Education, Health and Care Plan