Ofsted & CQC Area SEND Inspection

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Ofsted & CQC Area SEND Inspection
Strategic Improvement Plan and Action Plan

July 2023

An Area SEND inspection was undertaken by Ofsted & CQC in Telford & Wrekin, the inspection considered the arrangements of the Area Partnership for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who attend alternative provision.

The inspection took place during March 2023, with the inspection report being published on 3 July 2023.

Read the full report online: 50221953 (ofsted.gov.uk)

Inspection Outcome

The local area partnership’s arrangements typically lead to positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The local area partnership is taking action where improvements are needed.

The next full area SEND inspection will be within 5 years.

Telford & Wrekin Area Partnership

Telford & Wrekin Council and NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board (NHS ST&W ICB) are jointly responsible for the planning and commissioning of services for children and young people with SEND in Telford & Wrekin.

The local area partnership for SEND and Alternative Provision in Telford & Wrekin brings together education, health and care services. As an area partnership we believe supporting children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is everyone’s business and we are committed to providing excellent alternative provision for those who need it.

The area partnership includes representatives from parent groups including, PODS Parent Carer Forum, young people, health services, children’s and adults social care, education support services, schools (primary, secondary and special schools), early years settings, post 16 providers (colleges and training providers).

As an area partnership we are committed to working together for better outcomes for our children, young people and their families. This work is supported by sharing information, innovative ideas and best practice to support children and young people to achieve. The area partnership holds a shared accountability for wellbeing, fairness and equity for all.

We want all our children and young people with SEND and those attending Alternative Provision to be valued, visible and included within their local community, providing them with the opportunity to achieve their aspirations and outcomes, leading to a happy and fulfilling life.

Areas for improvement

Whilst recognising the many strengths in our local area arrangements, two areas of improvement were required including:

Leaders from NHS ST&W ICB need to work closely with other partnership leaders to improve the governance, monitoring and oversight of diagnostic pathways (including neurodevelopmental, mental health and speech and language therapy assessments) for children and young people with SEND, so that their needs are assessed and met consistently well and in a timely manner.
Partnership leaders should improve communication with families, beyond the formal consultation routes, to share effective information and advice about the provision available to children and young people with SEND.

This strategic improvement plan focuses on the key actions that we will take in relation to those improvement points. This plan sits alongside our SEND action plan that outlines all our key developments for SEND services across our local partnership. Both plans are reviewed and monitored at the SEND partnership board which takes place on a termly basis across the academic year.

SEND & Alternative Provision Action Plan

Areas for improvement
What we need to improve…	We will make improvements by…	Link to actions on SEND & AP Action Plan
Leaders from NHS ST&W ICB need to work closely with other partnership leaders to improve the governance, monitoring and oversight of diagnostic pathways (including neurodevelopmental, mental health and speech and language therapy assessments) for children and young people with SEND, so that their needs are assessed and met consistently well and in a timely manner.	Ensuring the most senior leaders at the ICB are aware of SEND and related issues. NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin have recently welcomed the Good Governance Institute to review Board level governance arrangements across the organisation as the CCG assumes its new responsibilities as an ICB. To strengthen the SEND agenda at ICB level, an identified role responsible for championing SEND, Learning Disability, Autism and Children and Young People has been established in line with national NHSE guidance. Co-ordinating and reducing duplication. Senior leader from the partnership have met to discuss and map how current governance, monitoring and oversight of diagnostic pathways are functioning. A revised simplified structure is being developed including refreshing reporting requirements. This is to enable all partnership members to be aware of the actions being taken to progress components of the SEND agenda.	1.01
	Empowering clinicians to prioritise need. We will continue to support and monitor the processes in place in order that individuals can be prioritised according to need. Partnership leaders will work together to address increasing demand within available resources.	1.03, 1.06
	Increasing our focus on improving pathways. Since spring 2023 there has also been an increase in the capacity of the Mental Health, Learning Disability & Autism, and Children and Young People’s Transformation and Commissioning Directorate. A new Children and Young People’s commissioner will start in September 2023 to take forward a number of actions for improvements identified during the inspection. Further detail can be found in the SEND & Alternative Provision Action Plan.	1.04, 1.07, 1.08
Partnership leaders should improve communication with families, beyond the formal consultation routes, to share effective information and advice about the provision available to children and young people with SEND.	The local area will increase its reach to families, by: Creating ways to share information with parents, carers and families including a regular SEND magazine. Increase the reach of the SEND Parent, Carer and Family Newsletter. Continue to develop the SEND Local Offer to provide accurate and informative information, including pathways. Developing an engagement strategy detailing how we work with children, young people and their families to listen and learn from their voice and lived experience. Strengthen our approach to parental feedback considering how we are collecting the views of children, young people and their parents, carers and families. Implement and develop Parent Carer Workshops and Drop In’s following successful implementation and pilots. Implement and develop Parent Carer Summits. Increase attendance by SEND Services at community events. Increase communication through Council and NHS corporate communications, social media etc. Further detail can be found in the SEND & Alternative Provision Action Plan.	3.01, 3.02, 3.06, 3.08, 3.09, 3.10