Ofsted announces plans for local area SEND inspections

July 10, 2020

We are pleased to see the announcement today about future plans for the Local Area inspection regime by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.

You can find the announcement here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/supporting-local-areas-to-prioritise-and-meet-the-needs-of-children-and-young-people-with-send

and a commentary from Amanda Speilman, the head of Ofsted here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/hmci-commentary-the-future-of-area-special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-inspections

Parent Carer Forums have made clear that they regard local area inspections as the cornerstone of the accountability regime for SEND and the NNPCF has been representing these views to the Department for Education and to the inspectorates. You can find a record of what we told Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in January here:

Click to access Accountability-update-20200223-004.pdf

In addition, we have been urging the Department for Education and inspectors to take an active role in assessing the response by local areas to the Covid 19 pandemic. You can find a summary of the points we have raised in our latest Covid 19 representations document here:

Click to access NNPCF-C19-update-20200702.pdf