Ofsted’s annual report 2020/21 paints a stark picture of the challenges faced by families of children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), including missed education, difficulties accessing services such as physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, and long waiting times for assessment and treatment.
“Many families were exhausted, even despairing, particularly when they were persistently unable to access essential services for their children,” states the report.
This is nothing new, stresses the document. “There are long-standing issues in the SEND system,” it says. “The pandemic has only served to highlight these issues and deepen their effects.”
Since 2016, Ofsted has worked with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on joint inspections to look at local provision for children and young people with SEND. The annual report shows 123 inspections had been carried out by the end of August 2021, with 26 areas yet to be inspected.
Just over half – 66 out of 123 – of those inspected to date have been required to produce a Written Statement of Action (WSoA) after inspectors identified “significant weaknesses” in practice.
Of the eight areas inspected in 2020/21, seven were told to produce a WSoA.
Ofsted and the CQC go back to areas where there are concerns to check on progress. By the end of August last year, they had re-visited 29.
Of those, 17 had made sufficient progress in addressing all significant weaknesses, while 11 had made progress in only some areas and one had not made enough progress in any area.
The next steps for areas that fail to address problems are decided by the Department for Education and NHS England. Three of the 29 areas have been issued with a statutory improvement notice or direction by the DfE.
Fragile system
Research by Ofsted shows the SEND system was fragile before the pandemic. Problems in education more generally have led to some children being mistakenly identified as having SEND when the reality is they have not been taught properly or had enough time to learn the skills they need.
The regulator has flagged up inconsistencies in the way SEND is identified, meaning some children miss out on vital early support.
Other issues include poor joint commissioning of services and partnership work across education, health and care, and lack of clarity about who is responsible for what.
In particular, there are ongoing concerns about the quality of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) which are intended to ensure children with SEND get the support they need.
EHCPs were introduced in 2014 as part of government SEND reforms, but it is clear many areas are still struggling to ensure every child gets a good quality plan tailored to their needs.
“In most areas inspected this year, the quality of EHCPs remained weak,” says the report. “In too many cases, they had not been updated when a child’s or young person’s needs changed or when they reached a transition point.”
In most areas, oversight of the quality of plans and the annual review process were concerning.
“Issues with EHCPs vary between different local areas,” says Lee Owston, HM chief inspector and Ofsted’s director for cross remit education, including SEND. “However, we know that involvement of all partners across health, social care and education are key to making sure the children’s needs are met.”
The annual report highlights an increase in the number of children and young people being educated at home across all year groups since the start of the pandemic.
Figures from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services show a 38 per cent rise in the number of children being home educated in 2020/21 compared with the previous year.
Parents of children with SEND were most likely to keep their children out of school – partly due to health concerns or because they felt the school was unable to meet their child’s needs.
“We know some parents of children with SEND feel mainstream schools are unlikely to meet their child’s needs and see home education as their only option,” says Owston. “Although home education can be a positive decision when parents are able to provide a good education, not every parent is equipped to be a teacher, particularly for children who need additional support.”
Local area SEND inspections were paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic meaning Ofsted did not hit its target of completing all inspections by April 2021.
“We continue to review the Covid situation and will complete all inspections when it is appropriate to do so,” says Owston.
Meanwhile, the government has asked Ofsted and the CQC to develop a new SEND inspection framework which will launch when the existing cycle of inspections has been completed.
In June 2021, Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman set out the key features of an effective SEND system – based on inspection findings, research and conversations with stakeholders – which will form the basis of the new framework.
Top of the list was the need for strategic leadership and a strong partnership approach underpinned by high aspirations for children and a shared vision.
“Local partners must also set the conditions for effective practice to flourish by maintaining effective systems for multi-agency working and having clear expectations for different services and relentless focus on the quality and impact of services,” says Spielman
They will also develop the skills and experience of their workforce and must have a “strong line of sight to practitioners and the impact of their practice on young people”.
“High-quality practice across all universal and specialist services is what really distinguishes the most successful area SEND arrangements from those that are not working well enough,” says Spielman.
Finally, the importance of listening to children and families and involving them in planning and decision-making has shone through.
“In the best area SEND arrangements children and families will tell us they are influential in decision-making,” says Spielman. “They can give honest and open feedback that leaders then act on.”
The current SEND inspection regime focuses on how well local areas are implementing the 2014 SEND reforms.
The new framework “will build on this and improve the current arrangements further”, says Owston.
This will include introducing a continuous cycle of inspections and more emphasis on the experiences of young people with SEND and their families.
The government launched a review of SEND policy in 2019, which has been held up by the pandemic. Ofsted hopes this will go some way to resolving some of the wider issues in the SEND system including ensuring SEND are identified accurately and early on and providing clarity on roles and responsibilities.
“Parents cannot be the driving force in ensuring that agencies work together, as they so often are,” says the annual report. “This must be a cross-government effort.”
CASE STUDY
IMPROVED JOINT WORKING PAYS DIVIDENDS IN DERBY
When Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission first inspected SEND provision in Derby in 2019, they identified a number of significant weaknesses in practice, including a lack of joint commissioning and strategy, and problems with the timeliness and quality of education, health and care plans (EHCPs). The city council and local clinical commissioning group were asked to submit a Written Statement of Action.
When the inspectorates revisited the area in October 2021, they found a “significant change in culture” since the first inspection in June 2019, with progress made in addressing the most concerning issues.
“Commissioners from Derby City Council and Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group have improved their joint working arrangements,” states the inspection report. “They are committed, ambitious and willing to improve commissioning arrangements across the local area.”
Challenges for parents and carers in finding their way around the SEND system in Derby have led to the joint commissioning of “SEND navigators” trained to provide support and guidance for families to help them access services.
Inspectors found there was now “a clear strategy” for improving outcomes and provision for children and young people with SEND, developed with parents and carers.
At the initial inspection, inspectors were worried about the process for putting together EHCPs, delays in completion, quality of plans and the impact they were having.
While plans have improved, the report says there is “still much work to do” – something local leaders understand.
A new procedure has been introduced to make sure EHCPs are good quality, but this is in its early stages. There is also a system in place to improve the number of plans completed within the 20-week timescale. More plans are now completed within that timeframe, but there are still delays in drafting and finalising some.
There is now more training for school staff on meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, with some special educational needs co-ordinators trained to be “SEND champions” and support colleagues, parents and carers.
Inspectors also found waiting times for all health services had reduced, and parents and carers were now more involved in plans for SEND provision.
“While we have focused on putting in place the building blocks of change, we are not complacent and recognise we have more work to do in a number of areas,” said Andy Smith, strategic director of people services at Derby City Council.
INSPECTION SHORTS
EDUCATION
School inspection results show an improvement despite the pressures of the pandemic, according to data from Ofsted. In the three months up to the end of November 2021, 83 per cent of schools were judged “good” or “outstanding”. This compares with 77 per cent of schools awarded the top two ratings between September 2019 – when the new education inspection framework was introduced – and March 2020, when inspections were suspended due to the pandemic.
HEALTH
The majority of children and young people have a positive experience of hospital care and treatment but more must be done to involve them in decision-making, says a survey by the Care Quality Commission. The regulator gathered feedback on the experiences of 27,000 children aged 0 to 15 who were admitted to hospital in November, December and January. Less than half – 46 per cent – said they were involved “a lot” in decisions about their care and treatment. Meanwhile, there was a significant drop in the proportion who said there were enough things for them to do in hospital.
YOUTH JUSTICE
Wakefield Youth Justice Service has been rated “requires improvement” following an inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation. While work to prevent repeat offending was rated “good”, inspectors raised concerns about the quality of risk assessments. They made nine recommendations including the need to develop clearer joint working arrangements between the service and children’s social care.
SOCIAL CARE
Ofsted has updated guidance on the emergency registration of children’s homes for young people requiring urgent secure placements. Under the guidance, providers can apply for priority registration if they are accommodating a child subject to a deprivation of liberty order from a court in an unregistered children’s home. They are advised to email the senior inspector or regulation inspection manager and ask the child’s local authority to alert Ofsted that an application is being submitted.
YOUTH JUSTICE
Inspectors found improvements in safeguarding at Oakhill Secure Training Centre, but warned the situation was fragile. A joint monitoring visit by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and HM Inspectorate of Prisons late last year found several areas of improvement, including a reduction in the use of force on children, with CCTV footage of any incidents reviewed by managers within 24 hours. The centre in Milton Keynes was rated “inadequate” in October 2021 after inspectors found it “barely met minimum standards of human decency”.
