Ofsted and the CQC concluded their 3-week inspection of the Local Area Partnership for SEND on 24 January. Throughout the inspection colleagues gave an account of our SEND improvement journey in Dudley and showed the further progress we have all made since inspection in 2019 and the revisit in 2022.
The Care Quality and Commission and Ofsted have today (11 March 2025) published their report following their Dudley Local Area SEND inspection carried out in January.
Inspection Outcome
The local area partnership's arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The local area partnership must work jointly to make improvements.
The next full area SEND inspection will be within approximately three years.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) ask that the local area partnership updates and publishes its strategic plan based on the recommendations set out in this report.
Although the report makes it clear there are areas where we still need to improve, it also shows that we have made progress and that as a partnership we are working together to improve the outcomes for children and young people with SEND. We will of course update our improvement plan and will continue our journey of improvement. We would like to thank you for your commitment, hard work and focus on improving outcomes for our children and young people
You can view the report on Ofsted's Website and our news release.
Post SEND Inspection Action Plan April 2025
Dudley Council and NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board published their plan (15 April 2025) to address improvements required following their recent SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
Inspectors highlighted improvements in Dudley’s local SEND services but said that inconsistent experiences and outcomes remain for some children.
The plan, focusses on how the local area partnership, comprising council, health, and local school services, will work together to reduce waiting times access to mental health, neurodevelopmental diagnosis and access to wheelchair services.
The one-year plan also details how the partnership will improve the quality and oversight of the Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP) as well as ensuring that they reflect up to date views from children, young people and their families.
Area three of the plan covers further improvements for the Dudley SEND Local Offer, an online resource and statutory requirement.