The findings of an inspection into services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Westmorland and Furness have been welcomed by council and health leaders.
The report, published today (9 April) by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), gives Westmorland and Furness Local Area Partnership the middle rating for the delivery, planning and commissioning of SEND services.
Inspectors found that children and young people with SEND are valued in Westmorland and Furness and that there is a strong commitment from leaders to provide them with the support that they need to flourish.
It also said that the partnership is ambitious for children and young people with SEND, that leaders understand what is working well and what needs further improvement. It found that the updated Westmorland and Furness joint strategic needs assessment provides reliable data which has helped inform the commissioning of services and improvement work, including the attendance strategy, support for young people at risk of not being in education, employment or training and clear priorities for the updated SEND strategy. More recently, many school leaders in Westmorland and Furness feel heard by local authority leaders and value being part of the area’s improvement planning.
The report found areas for improvement and concluded that children and young people often have varying experiences and that there are inconsistencies across the education, health and social care partnership which can negatively impact on the experiences of some children and young people with SEND.
The report identified four key areas for improvement:
1. That waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessments are reduced.
2. That leaders across the partnership improve communication to professionals, parents and carers, and children and young people and that their strategies, actions, and available services should be better understood, further developing trust in the SEND system.
3. That leaders continue to strengthen the systems and processes to further improve the quality of children and young people’s EHC plans, including updates following annual reviews.
4. Area leaders should strengthen multi-agency working across the partnership, between education, health and social care, so that children and young people’s needs are identified and assessed in a more efficient and timely manner.
Commenting on the inspection report on behalf of the SEND Partnership Board, Cllr Janet Battye, Cabinet member for Children’s Services at Westmorland and Furness Council said,
“We welcome the publication of this inspection report. The report recognises that following LGR only 2 years ago, we have had to work hard to establish our new partnership and new ways of working. Whilst we are pleased that our work to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND has been noted alongside our ambitious plans for children and young people with SEND, we also recognise that we have much more to do to improve the experiences of our young people and their families across all agencies in this partnership.”
Mil Vasic, Director of Children’s Services said: We are pleased that the Inspectors found that children and young people with SEND are valued in Westmorland and Furness and that there is a strong commitment from our teams to provide them with the support that they need to flourish. We do have an ambitious partnership here and we understand what is working well and what needs improvement. For a partnership that is less than 2 years old we are definitely on a positive track."
The full report can be found on the https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/
Westmorland and Furness Council - Open - Find an Inspection Report - Ofsted