Guidance

Thematic reviews of the SEND local offer

Published 2 April 2026

Applies to England

Introduction

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) jointly inspect the arrangements in local areas for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

As part of the area SEND framework, Ofsted and CQC complete a series of thematic visits each year. The visits investigate a particular aspect of the SEND system in depth, in a small number of areas.

We carried out thematic visits to investigate alternative provision in 2023, preparation for adulthood in 2024 and children with SEND who are not in school in 2025.

This year, we will explore the SEND local offer. We will refer to this as ‘the local offer’ throughout this guidance. The local offer is the provision available across education, health and social care for children and young people with SEND, and their families, in a local area. Information on the local offer must be set out in one place. This is outlined in the SEND code of practice, 2014. The local offer has 2 key purposes:

• to provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it
• to make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving children and young people with SEND, their parents and carers, and service providers, in its development and review

Purpose of the 2026 visits

We want to better understand:

• how local area partnerships understand the needs of children and young people with SEND in their area
• how local area partnerships provide strategic oversight and deliver the services outlined in the local offer
• how parents, carers, children and young people are involved in developing the local offer
• the experiences of children and young people with SEND and their families when accessing services in their local area

These visits will provide insights for Ofsted, CQC, national government, strategic leaders and education, health and social care practitioners. They will be used to promote improvement in the sector and update our approach to inspection, as appropriate. Where we identify relevant insights on our visits, we will share these with the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care to contribute to their policy development.

We will not be forming outcomes about individual areas during these visits, although we will summarise our findings in a national report. The national report will list the local areas visited, but we will not attribute findings to individual areas.

Focus of the 2026 visits

The local authority is responsible for publishing the local offer. However, local authorities and their partner bodies and agencies, including health services and education providers, must cooperate with each other in developing and reviewing the local offer. These thematic visits will, therefore, focus on how the local area partnership works together to identify and respond to local needs accurately. This will include assessing how they involve parents, carers, and children and young people in developing and reviewing the local offer.

Inspectors will gather evidence from a range of stakeholders. They will seek to understand the experiences of:

• children and young people with SEND and their families, including those who are receiving support from local SEND services
• strategic partners, including:
  • those involved with developing and reviewing the local offer
  • those who commission, or support the commissioning of, services for children and young people with SEND
• delivery partners, including providers and practitioners across education, health and social care who deliver the services outlined in the local offer

Scope of the 2026 thematic visits

Children and young people aged 0 to 25 with SEND are within the scope of these visits. This includes those with an education, health and care (EHC) plan or those receiving special educational needs (SEN) support.

Themes of the 2026 thematic visits

During the visits, we will explore 4 key themes:

How the local area partnership understands the needs of children and young people with SEND in their local area

Inspectors will explore:

• how the local area partnership analyses the needs of children and young people with SEND in their local area, including any joint strategic needs assessment
• how the local area partnership uses its information to develop and review the local offer, in line with the SEND code of practice
• how the local area partnership identifies children and young people’s needs early and accurately

The local area partnership’s strategic oversight and delivery of the services outlined in the local offer

Inspectors will explore:

• how the local area partnership strategically plans for services that provide support across education (including mainstream and specialist settings), health and social care for children and young people with SEND in their area
• how the local area partnership jointly commissions services for children and young people with SEND to provide universal, targeted and specialist services across education, health and social care
• whether practitioners are aware of the local offer and how they engage with other local services
• the involvement of education and health providers in developing services that can meet children and young people’s needs at the earliest opportunity
• how the local area partnership monitors the effectiveness of the local offer and ensures that it adapts appropriately so it continues to have a positive impact on children and young people with SEND and their families

How parents, carers, children and young people are involved in developing the local offer

Inspectors will explore:

• how the local area partnership involves parents, carers, and children and young people with SEND in the planning of the local offer and reviewing of services
• how the local area partnership engages with children and young people with SEND to understand their needs, wishes and aspirations
• how the local area partnership forms relationships with parents and carers to develop services that meet the needs of local children, young people and families
• parents’ and carers’ confidence in the services available to meet their child’s needs

The experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND and their families when accessing services in their local area

Inspectors will explore:

• the experiences of children and young people with SEND when they first try to access support to meet their needs in their local area
• whether the services outlined in the local offer have a positive impact on children and young people with SEND
• whether children and young people with SEND are aware of the services outlined in the local offer and how to access them
• whether children and young people with SEND can access universal, targeted and specialist services that meet their needs in their local area
• the availability of services in the community for children and young people with SEND and whether these reflect children and young people’s needs and aspirations

To support our visits, we will request information from the local area partnership and other agencies, as set out in Annex A. We do not expect local area partnerships and other agencies to have all this information available, or to produce this information solely for the purposes of the visit. We expect them to provide only information that they already hold.

The legal context

Ofsted will carry out and lead these visits in response to a direction from the Secretary of State for Education under section 118(2) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. To fulfil any such request, and in relation to the activities in question, sections 118(5) and (6) allow us to use existing powers of entry and inspection of documents/powers to carry out an inspection under other statutes, with any necessary modifications. These include section 20 of the Children Act 2004 and the Children Act 2004 (Joint Area Reviews) Regulations 2015 (JAR Regulations).

CQC will assist Ofsted under paragraph 9(1) of schedule 4 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. If the visits involve examining the provision of NHS care or CQC-regulated activities for children and young people with SEND, CQC will provide the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with information and advice about this care, as required by its commission under section 53(1) and (4) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. CQC will exercise powers of entry and inspect documents as set out in sections 62 to 64 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Composition of the team

The team will usually be made up of 3 inspectors: 1 His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) from education, 1 HMI from social care and a CQC children’s services inspector. The thematic visits are quality-assured by Ofsted and CQC. Typically, quality assurance is carried out remotely.

Length and timing of thematic visits

Each visit will typically consist of up to 4 days of off-site activity and up to 4 days of on-site activity. The visits are planned to take place during 2026.

Inspectors will have the flexibility to reduce the number of off-site and/or on-site days when appropriate, such as when we are visiting a smaller local area with fewer children, young people and services.

Selection of local areas for thematic visits

Ofsted and CQC will select a varied sample of local areas to visit. We will be considerate of other inspection activity when selecting areas to visit.

Overview of visit activity

We are being commissioned by the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to provide information and advice about the development, review and impact of the local offer in local areas in England. To provide this, inspectors will draw together information from across education, health and social care services, as well as from third-sector organisations, and from children and young people and their families. We have set out the legal powers to request and view this information above. We will share information about how we handle personal data when we contact participants, including in notification letters.

The thematic visits will usually follow the structure set out below. The exact timetable will be constructed jointly by the lead inspector and local area leaders in consultation with colleagues in health and social care.

We may need to make adjustments to arrangements and timings, including the notification call, if there is a public holiday during this time.

The survey referred to in the Activities in week 1 section will gather stakeholders’ views in relation to the local offer. The survey will go live on the notification day, 10 days before the on-site visit begins, and will remain live until midday on the eighth working day from the notification day.

Activities in week 1 (10 days before the on-site fieldwork)

Activities include:

• inspectors notify local leaders of the visit 10 working days before the on-site fieldwork begins
• inspectors share a link to the survey for local area leaders to distribute
• inspectors and local leaders hold a set-up discussion (this is carried out remotely by video call)
• inspectors request information from the local area and a sample of other partners to support the visit (this information is set out in Annex A of this guidance)
• local area leaders make reasonable efforts to distribute the survey to relevant stakeholders (this should typically include all education providers in the partnership and key stakeholder groups in education, health and social care)
• the local partnership and other partners share information to support the visit
• inspectors carry out off-site planning and pre-visit analysis
• inspectors select individual children and young people for tracking and meetings
• inspectors select a sample of providers to visit

Activities in week 2 (5 days before the on-site fieldwork)

Activities include:

• local area partners provide further information for tracking meetings
• inspectors work with local leaders to agree a timetable
• a local area nominated representative arranges the visits and meetings
• inspectors begin off-site evidence-gathering

Activities in week 3

Activities include:

• inspectors conduct on-site evidence-gathering
• inspectors provide local area leaders with regular feedback

Information about the processes before, during and after the visits

Ofsted and CQC inspectors will review relevant information held by the inspectorates about the local offer in the local area.

Week 1: notification, set-up discussion, information request and analysis

Notification

Ten working days before on-site evidence-gathering, inspectors will contact the relevant leaders in the local area to notify them of the visit.

• Ofsted will contact the director of children’s services (DCS)
• CQC will notify the chief executive of the integrated care board (ICB)

The lead inspector will work with the DCS to nominate a representative – the local area nominated officer (LANO) – who will act as a single point of contact throughout the visit. The LANO will act on behalf of those involved in developing and reviewing the local offer in the local area, linking with the identified ICB representative.

The LANO and the ICB representative will liaise with the lead inspector throughout the visit, so that activities can be coordinated effectively.

Ofsted and CQC will only defer the visit to a local area in exceptional circumstances. If a local area has a concern about the timing of a visit, it may submit a deferral request in line with the principles set out in Ofsted’s deferral policy.

Set-up discussion

Once the visit has been confirmed, the lead inspector and the CQC inspector will make an extended telephone call to the LANO and the ICB representative. The lead inspector will make it clear that the LANO and the ICB representative are encouraged to have someone present during the call to assist and support them if they wish. This should be at least one other senior leader who typically deputises for them and can understand and discuss the content of the call.

The purpose of this call is to:

• check on leaders’ wellbeing and determine whether steps need to be taken to make sure that any issues or concerns are addressed and that appropriate support is available; the lead inspector should ascertain how to contact those responsible for leaders’ wellbeing on a day-to-day basis, so that they can pass on concerns about their wellbeing when appropriate and necessary
• discuss any important contextual factors in the local area that inspectors should be aware of
• discuss the arrangements for the visit, including a proposed timetable of activities; arrangements for talking to children, young people and families; the key officers and representatives to involve in specific meetings; and the purpose of proposed activities
• agree that there will be regular discussions to confirm the main messages gathered in evidence and to check arrangements for the day
• discuss the arrangements for distributing the surveys; the lead inspector will coordinate with the LANO to ensure the widest distribution of the surveys, which should capture the experiences of as many children and young people as possible
• discuss the information requested for the visit (see Annex A)
• ask that the key stakeholders involved in developing, reviewing and delivering the services outlined in the local offer are made aware of the visit, including providers, parents and carers

Survey arrangements

We will make the links to the surveys available for gathering stakeholders’ views about the local offer. The surveys will go live on the day when local leaders are notified of the visit and will remain live until midday on the eighth working day after the notification day. The LANO will be responsible for distributing the survey to local stakeholders. Local networks, including the parent carer forum (PCF), may help to distribute the survey to stakeholders.

During the visits, the lead inspector will work with the LANO to ensure that – as far as possible – the surveys are made available to:

• all children and young people with SEND aged 11 to 25
• parents and carers of children and young people with SEND
• all settings and services that are involved the development, review and delivery of services outlined in the local offer in the local area

Inspectors will work with those distributing the surveys to consider accessibility issues, including making paper copies available on request.

We will use the evidence we collect through surveys primarily to inform our final national report. We will not attribute findings to any specific area. We will also review survey responses periodically. If we identify any safeguarding concerns through this, we will respond as set out in the significant concerns section.

Off-site analysis

Inspectors will review the information requested from the local area and other partners, which is listed in Annex A.

Week 1, Monday

Inspectors will request the information set out in Annex A.

Week 1, Thursday, by 5pm

The local area will provide:

• pseudonymised person-level data to assist inspectors in selecting children and young people to track
• a list of education, health and social care providers and settings to assist inspectors in selecting the providers that will have sampling visits
• the requested information about children and young people with SEND

Week 1, Friday, by 5pm

Inspectors will select the children and young people whose cases will be tracked. They will select providers, services and settings for meetings and visits.

Preparing for evidence-gathering activity

Inspectors will arrange with the LANO and the ICB representative to meet with those involved in area-wide strategic planning. The meeting is to understand the local area’s context for developing the local offer, and will take place at the end of week 2.

Selection of children and young people for tracking meetings

During week 1, inspectors will select approximately 3 children and young people to be the focus of tracking meetings. These are meetings with children, young people and their parents or carers, if appropriate, and the practitioners directly involved with them. The meetings are for inspectors to hear directly about children and young people’s experiences and outcomes, including those working with multiple agencies, such as children in care and/or those with health needs.

When selecting the children to track, inspectors will consider information shared by local area leaders, the demographic make-up of the local area, including protected characteristics defined by the Equality Act 2010, and any contextual issues specific to the local area.

Once children and young people have been selected, the LANO will:

• arrange for a practitioner who knows the child or young person well to approach them, if appropriate, and their parents or carers, to discuss their involvement in tracking meetings
• share any further information about the child or young person that may be relevant
• arrange tracking meetings with children, young people and their parents and carers
• arrange a multi-disciplinary tracking meeting with the practitioners who are/have been directly involved with the child or young person – this can include practitioners across education, health and social care and any third-sector involvement

Selection of providers for sampling visits

During week 1, inspectors will select a number of providers to visit, to review the experiences of a wider group of children and young people. When choosing providers to visit, inspectors will consider those who deliver the services outlined in the local offer.

These sampling visits enable inspectors to gather information about the impact of the local area’s arrangements on a wider group of children and young people. Inspectors will seek to understand children’s and young people’s experiences and outcomes by talking to practitioners and reviewing documents. While we may include our observations from the visit in the national report to be published at the end of the thematic visits, we will not use the information gathered to make judgements about individual local areas or individual providers.

The lead HMI will provide the LANO with notification letters to send to the chosen providers. Inspectors will identify the settings they want to visit based on the information provided by the local area partnership (see Annex A). The LANO and the identified ICB representative will make the necessary arrangements for inspectors to visit the settings, or for practitioners from the settings to meet with inspectors.

Week 2: off-site analysis, creating an on-site timetable, tracking meetings and remote evidence-gathering begin

Creating the timetable

The Ofsted lead inspector will coordinate the creation of a timetable for gathering evidence off site in week 2, and on site in week 3. They will work jointly with the CQC inspector and social care inspector to create the timetable, in collaboration with the LANO and the ICB representative. This process will include arrangements for meetings with practitioners and leaders to discuss their work, and with children, young people and their parents or carers to discuss their experiences. Inspectors will also arrange keeping-in-touch meetings and a debrief at the end of the week to share visit findings.

When creating the timetable, the Ofsted lead inspector and CQC lead inspector will:

• consider which activities should be carried out in person, and which should be carried out by phone or remotely by video call
• include enough time for inspectors to travel between appointments
• include time for inspectors to review and analyse the information gathered, individually and together
• ensure that the timetable is flexible enough to be changed in response to emerging findings, if required
• work with the LANO and the ICB representative to ensure that local leaders and practitioners are aware of the timetable and any changes to it

Inspectors will meet during week 2 to confirm the plan for the visit and discuss any final arrangements with the LANO and the ICB representative.

Meetings to discuss local strategic planning

Inspectors will have discussions with those involved in area-wide strategic planning for the development and review of the local offer, including those who have been involved in:

• developing and/or overseeing plans
• communicating strategic plans with the local area
• incorporating strategic planning into performance measures

Inspectors will also want to understand how local strategic planning is having an impact on the work of managers and frontline practitioners and supporting children, young people and their families directly.

These discussions may include any of the following who have been involved in the strategic development of the local offer and the commissioning of services for children and young people with SEND:

• representatives from the local authority, including education and social care
• representatives from health
• representatives from the third sector
• children and young people with SEND and their families

Discussions with parents and carer groups

Inspectors will meet remotely with parents and carers who have agreed to participate, to:

• understand their experiences
• understand the impact of the services outlined in the local offer on their experiences and outcomes
• understand how services in the local area engage with parents and carers and the impact of this engagement
• identify any common themes that inspectors may wish to explore further during visits

Additionally, inspectors will meet with parents and carers as part of tracking meetings. They may also arrange to meet with or talk to other parents and carers to discuss relevant themes and their individual experiences, or to seek their views on a specific aspect of the local offer.

Tracking meetings with children, young people, parents and carers

Inspectors will use tracking meetings to gather information about the impact of the local strategy and commissioning of services for children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers. Tracking meetings enable inspectors to understand children and young people’s experiences and to determine whether services outlined in the local offer meet their needs and aspirations well. Inspectors will consider how decisions have been made, how children, young people and their families have been involved, and the extent to which the needs of children and young people have been met.

Tracking meetings will help inspectors to establish themes they wish to explore through further on-site activity. The information provided by the local area and other partners, and from meetings with leaders, practitioners, parents and carers, and groups of children and young people, will also feed into the themes that inspectors choose to explore further during on-site activity. This further on-site activity may include meetings with stakeholders and sampling the education, health and social care experiences of more children and young people with a range of needs and across a range of ages.

Inspectors will discuss the child or young person’s experiences, the support available to them, and the professionals involved in providing that support. They will ask the LANO to work with practitioners and families to understand how inspectors can best support the child or young person to share their experiences. Inspectors may also discuss the child or young person’s experiences with their parents and/or carers, either with or separately from their child or young person, depending on the age of the child or young person and the family’s preferences.

Week 2, Monday, by 5pm

The lead inspector will ask the LANO to coordinate information-sharing with the inspection team about the children and young people who are being tracked. We do not expect local areas to provide exhaustive information, but information should include, where available:

• a chronology of significant events relating to the education, health and social care of the child or young person
• a pen portrait of the child or young person, including information about their needs, aspirations and support

Inspectors will ask for further information, including:

• the most recent assessment information
• the most recent plans, including an EHC plan, annual review, a personal education plan or a pathway/care plan, where relevant
• commissioning arrangements for universal, targeted and specialist services received by the child or young person

Week 3: tracking meetings, sampling visits and discussions

Multi-agency tracking meetings with practitioners

Inspectors will have a multi-agency discussion with education, health and social care professionals who work with the child or young person. The lead inspector will ask the LANO and the ICB representative to ensure that the professionals involved in the discussion include staff who have the greatest awareness of the child or young person.

Inspectors may discuss a child or young person’s records with practitioners, using their knowledge of the child or young person, file structure and recording systems. They may also consider any case supervision notes. Where case records are held wholly or partly electronically, the service should arrange for identified inspectors to have secure access to the electronic system.

Inspectors will base their findings on recent information that affects the child or young person’s current situation. However, inspectors may ask for historical information to help them understand the child or young person’s journey through the SEND system.

Sampling meetings

Inspectors will have sampling meetings with education, health and social care professionals.

Inspectors will discuss the partnership’s strategy for the development, review and delivery of services outlined in the local offer and ask questions to better understand the impact on children and young people with SEND. Inspectors will also review records relating to children and young people to identify enabling factors and barriers.

Sampling visits to providers and services

During sampling visits, inspectors will meet with or visit a specific provider or service and ask for information about children and young people’s experiences.

The settings that inspectors choose to visit or meet with may include, but are not limited to, educational settings, primary care services and targeted early help services.

Inspectors will choose the children and young people to speak to during sampling visits, where this is possible. These may include children and young people who have a specific need, who are receiving a specific service and/or who are at a particular point in their care or education.

Inspectors may choose the children and young people before the visit, using the information provided by local area partners. Alternatively, they may ask practitioners to show them records based on certain criteria established from emerging themes and choose the children and young people to discuss accordingly. Inspectors may or may not invite children and young people to meet with them during the sampling visit.

Inspectors will look at any other relevant documents relating to the children and young people. They will discuss their experiences and outcomes with the practitioners in that provision or service and/or those who are directly involved in the commissioning, decision-making and oversight of the provision and support. Inspectors may also look at children and young people’s records and supervision notes. Where children and young people’s records are held wholly or partly electronically, the provider should arrange for the inspectors to have secure access to the electronic system.

Findings will be based on contemporary practice and on practice that has an impact on the child or young person’s current situation. However, inspectors may ask for historical information to help them understand the child or young person’s journey through the SEND system.

Discussions with leaders and practitioners who support children and young people with SEND

Inspectors will hold meetings with leaders and frontline practitioners working with children and young people with SEND. They will want to understand the provision and services available.

Visit inspector team meetings

The team will meet at different points during the visit, either remotely or in person. In particular, the team should, as far as is practicable, meet each day to discuss and record observations and ensure that the lead inspector has the most recent information to reflect on with the LANO and the ICB representative.

During the final team meeting, inspectors will discuss what they observed and what they were told, in preparation for a summary conversation with local area leaders.

Regular discussions

At the heart of our visits is a professional dialogue between inspectors and leaders. Regular discussions will enable the inspection team to share their observations with the DCS, the ICB representative and the LANO, identify any additional information required, answer any questions, and make changes to the timetable if necessary.

Inspectors may work with the LANO and the ICB representative to arrange additional meetings with leaders and/or practitioners throughout the on-site visit. This will enable inspectors to further explore emerging themes identified through tracking meetings or sampling visits.

Debrief with local area leaders

We will share our observations with local area leaders verbally during the visit, at appropriate points, and at the end of a visit during a debrief meeting. The debrief meeting with local area leaders will include a summary of observations and reflective discussion.

The lead inspector will liaise with the DCS and the ICB representative, through the LANO, to agree who attends this meeting. This may include local area leaders involved in commissioning and overseeing services outlined in the local offer.

Additional attendees may attend at the discretion of the lead inspector.

After the visit

We will not make or report outcomes about local areas based on evidence gathered during the visit.

Summary note

Following the visit, the local authority will receive a summary note with a record of the activities carried out (example summary note). The note will not be evaluative, and there will be no outcomes or recommendations.

Reporting

Ofsted and CQC will share the observations from these visits in a single national report. The national report will list the local areas visited. We will not attribute findings to individual areas.

Significant concerns

Inspectors should follow the principles set out in Safeguarding concerns: guidance for inspectors. If they are concerned about a child or young person, they should follow existing procedures.

If inspectors remain concerned, Ofsted and/or CQC will consider whether it is appropriate to take further action. This could include, if appropriate, inspectors referring individual children’s or young people’s cases to the local authority or requesting an inspection of the individual service or provider in line with Ofsted’s or CQC’s statutory and regulatory duties and powers.

If inspectors identify other serious concerns, they will also notify a senior officer from the local partnership as soon as possible. Ofsted and CQC will consider this information, and it may lead to further activity, including inspection.

Conduct and complaints

During the visit, inspectors will need to speak to a range of people. They will do so in line with our code of conduct, and act at all times with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect. Inspectors should take careful account of the wellbeing of leaders and staff and adjust their approach or activity, as appropriate, as they go about their work during the visit. If inspectors see or suspect that a staff member (including a leader) is upset or distressed at any point during the visit, inspectors should respond sensitively. Where appropriate, inspectors will consider suitable adjustments to enable the staff member to continue. Where appropriate, inspectors will inform those responsible for the person’s wellbeing. The lead inspector should contact the duty desk to discuss what action to take. There may be exceptional occasions where a pause to the visit may seem necessary. We will consider these on a case-by-case basis.

The great majority of our work is carried out smoothly and without incident. If concerns do arise during the visit, they should be raised with the lead inspector as soon as possible in order to resolve issues before the visit is completed. Any concerns raised, and actions taken, will be recorded in the evidence collected during the visits. If an issue remains unresolved, the local area partnership can contact a senior Ofsted leader the working day after the visit using the number provided at notification.

If it is not possible to resolve concerns during the visit, through a phone call the working day after the visit, or through submitting comments in response to the draft summary note, the local area partnership may wish to lodge a formal complaint on receiving the final summary note. The lead inspector will ensure that the local area is informed that it is able to make a formal complaint, and that information about how to complain is available on GOV.UK.

Annex A: information request

The Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have commissioned Ofsted and CQC to provide information and advice about the development and review of the local offer and how local area partnerships deliver services outlined in the local offer. To provide this information and advice, inspectors will draw together information from across education, health and social care services, as well as from third-sector organisations and children, young people and their families. We have set out the legal powers to request and view this information above. We will share information about how we handle personal data when we contact participants.

Annex A sets out the information inspectors will request for sharing information. Inspectors will provide details about accessing an online system, which local area leaders can use to share the information.

The information that inspectors will request includes the following.

Pseudonymised person-level data

Pseudonymised person-level data of children and young people with SEND, aged between 0 and 25 will be provided in Excel format. Inspectors will use this data to select the children and young people whose experiences they will evaluate as part of case tracking. This data should include:

• their age
• their gender
• their ethnicity
• any special educational needs and/or disabilities
• any health or social care involvement
• whether they have an EHC plan, or have had one previously, or are in the process of assessment
• whether they are looked after
• all educational setting(s) they are attending and have attended previously
• whether these settings are state maintained, independent, or unregistered
• whether these settings are in/out of area (include journey times in case of the latter)

How the local area partnership understands the needs of children and young people with SEND and strategically plans for services

Inspectors will consider:

• information on the local area partnership’s analysis of the local needs of SEND including the current joint strategic needs assessment that informs the local offer
• information on the planning strategies for children and young people with SEND, including any self-evaluations and action plans resulting from internal and external reviews
• a list of all children and young people aged 0 to 25 on the dynamic support register
• findings from the partnership’s analysis of outcomes data on preparation for adulthood for children and young people with SEND, including strengths, challenges and actions taken
• information on the education, health and care partners in the local area partnership involved in developing and reviewing the local offer
• information on the governance arrangements, decision-making structures, how partners work together and who is responsible for delivering what aspects of the local offer
• information on the structure of the local health services, which includes who commissions the service and who provides the service – we provide an (optional) health commissioning template for this
• information on the local area partnership’s systems and processes related to the EHC plan request for assessment
• information on the development, oversight and quality assurance of EHC plans, including the services involved, and on the assurance framework for EHC plans
• the numbers of children and young people with SEND who are:
  • not attending an educational setting, including those who receive home education
  • attending alternative provision
  • known to youth justice services
  • eligible to receive adult care services
  • on part-time timetables for their education

Information on education provision

Inspectors will consider:

• information on the local education system including the types of educational setting, and which settings have specialist provision available
• information about the placements of children and young people in residential special schools; data on the number of children and young people in residential special schools, and the reasons for this
• information about educational settings outside the local area that provide education for the area’s children and young people with EHC plans; data on the number of children and young people with SEND who are placed out of area, and the reasons for this
• the most recent evaluation of educational attendance of children and young people with SEND in the local area and any supporting action plan
• information about the strategy for transporting children and young people with SEND to their provision, including activities, short breaks and health appointments (where relevant)
• data about destinations after leaving school, including data about young people not in education, employment or training, and employment data for 18- to 25-year-olds with SEND
• information about the needs of children and young people in alternative provision and the local authority’s strategy and commissioning arrangements for alternative provision, including how they monitor the future need for placements and maintain sufficient provision
• data about children and young people who have EHC plans, or are in alternative provision on part-time timetables; this should include the numbers of children and the length of time they have been in alternative provision
• information about the alternative provision settings used by the local authority, and the children or young people who attend them, including whether these are part-time placements
• a summary of the local authority’s quality assurance process for alternative provision, including unregistered provision

Information on social care provision

Inspectors will consider:

• information on social care services:
  • organisational structure showing lines of reporting and accountability
  • details of any services in the area that have been commissioned for children and young people with SEND, including from the community, the voluntary sector and the local offer (including early help such as family hub type services)
• the local authority short-break statement, and information on the current provision and uptake
• information on the thresholds/criteria for providing services and assessments for children and young people with SEND, at different levels of need; this should include information on services for early help
• information on the arrangements for transition for children and young people with SEND and how adult social care services are provided to 18- to 25-year-olds

Health provision

Inspectors will consider:

• performance data from the previous 12 months (including current waiting times) on delivery of the healthy child programme and therapy services (including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, newborn hearing, audiology, dietetics, child and adolescent community mental health services, neurodiversity assessment and community paediatricians for children and young people aged 0 to 19 years and 19 to 25, if available
• pathways for referrals to health services for assessment, as set out in ‘performance data’ above

Further information

Inspectors may also request information from other agencies that are involved in providing support or commissioning services for children and young people with SEND, such as health and social care services or educational settings.

Inspectors will gather any personal information, including sensitive personal data, necessary to help them evaluate the impact of the local offer.

Inspectors may, at any time, ask for additional information not set out in Annex A and may agree to look at additional information that agencies provide.

Any additional information must: 

• be necessary for an accurate understanding of children and young people’s experiences and outcomes in relation to the scope of the visit
• not already be available through the request in Annex A

We do not necessarily expect local areas and other partners to have all the information set out in Annex A available. If the local area or any other partner does not hold the information listed in Annex A, they should not produce new documents solely to meet the request for information. Instead, partners should share all the information they have that is relevant to this request. Inspectors will want only the most recent information that relates to the scope of the visit. Inspectors will not review information if they believe it falls outside the scope of the visit.

If information that is relevant to more than one of the requests is shared, it does not need to be replicated in each section, but the lead inspector should be made aware of it.

Inspectors may not be able to review all the information provided by the local area. If this is the case, inspectors will select the information they judge to be most relevant to the purposes of the visit.

When local area partners share the lists, they should indicate the date(s) that the data in each list refers to, as far as possible.

If certain data is unavailable, the lead inspector may wish to discuss how the local area monitors those areas.