Prospect submits response to DfE on changes to area SEND inspections

Prospect has submitted its response to the Department for Education’s consultation on proposed changes to area SEND inspections from 2023.

The consultation sought views on proposed changes to the way that Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission inspect local area partnerships to assess how they work together to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people who have special educational needs and, or disabilities (SEND).

The proposals

In its consultation document, the DfE, outlines nine different proposals that will underpin the inspection framework from 2023.

For example, one proposal is to focus more on the impact that the local area partnership is having on the lives of children and young people with SEND. In its submission, Prospect ‘strongly agreed’ with this proposal.

The current inspections framework, in place since 2016, places a bigger emphasis on assessing whether local areas are meeting their statutory responsibilities instead.

In another proposal, the DfE has published a draft set of criteria for inspectors to assess the impact of the local area partnership’s SEND arrangements.

They are:

• children and young people’s needs are identified accurately and assessed in a timely and effective way
• children, young people and their families participate in decision-making about their individual plans and support
• children and young people receive the right help at the right time
• children and young people are well prepared for their next steps, and achieve strong outcomes
• children and young people with SEND are valued, visible and included in their communities.

The full list of proposals can be found here on the DfE’s consultation website.

While broadly supportive of many of the proposals, Prospect also expressed its reservations on several, such as on monitoring inspections, which would require additional resourcing. On other proposals, Prospect has commented that there is not yet sufficient detail.

In general comments, Prospect added:

“Children and young people who have SEN but their special educational provision is made outside of the inspected LA seem to be a forgotten group and could potentially be receiving a poor service in these more distant settings.

This framework seems to be predicated on readily available live data, which may not exist in a form that allows immediate access in every LA, which would add an additional financial and staffing burden on those LAs.”

Download and read Prospect’s full submission to the DfE consultation (PDF).