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CQC/ Ofsted Area SEND Inspection for Hertfordshire

Ofsted and the CQC have published the final Area SEND inspection report of the Hertfordshire Local Area Partnership.

Read the SEND Inspection report (PDF 368kb)

Read a simple summary of the report

The report found:

  • We need to improve at communicating with both families and other professionals
  • We need to improve the quality and timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
  • We need to improve the quality of support for children and young people with SEND in Hertfordshire
  • We need to shorten the time families have to wait to get support from services
  • We need to improve the types of support available for children and young people in Hertfordshire.

We are doing well at:

  • working with Hertfordshire Parent Carer Involvement (HPCI), our parent carer forum, to make sure parent voices are heard when planning services. 
  • transforming mental health services and therapies, which have been codesigned with children, young people and their families.

The results of the report

The inspection report identifies "widespread and / or systemic failings" across the local area partnership led by Hertfordshire County Council and the NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB). It is the lowest rating possible.

This means that the inspection identified failings that have "significant negative impact on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people".

The DfE have also issued an improvement notice to us (11 Jan 2024). This is standard practice in these circumstances and our priority action and improvement plan will ensure we meet the requirements of the notice. 

Our response

We want to say sorry to you, our families.

We accept the findings of the report. We understand the scale of the issues, and know that too many children and young people with SEND and their families have not had the service and outcomes they need and deserve.

We have already put in place strong improvement plans. We are determined to build on them to go further and faster to deliver the improvements needed.

Read our news blog on the results of the inspection, with words from leadership across the SEND local area partnership:

Read our inspection report news blog

Read Herts Parent Carer Involvement's (our parent carer forum) response to the report:

Local Area SEND Inspection report published today (10 Nov 2023)

What happens next?

  1. We have submitted our priority action plan to Ofsted/ CQC and they have approved it (11 Jan 2024). This outlines how we will address the issues in the report.
    Our SEND Improvement Plan and the progress we are making
  2. We will work hard to deliver the priority action plan. It will take time for improvements to be experienced by our families but we hope to see a positive impact over the next year. We will update you on our progress against the plan here on the website.
  3. Ofsted and the CQC will visit us for a monitoring inspection in about 18 months.
  4. Our next full reinspection will be in about 3 years. 

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