Improvements to SEND services in Suffolk are recognised by Department for Education in progress review

The government’s education department has ‘welcomed’ the improvements to SEND services in Suffolk and said ‘solid foundations were in place for moving forward’.

Education and health watchdogs raised ‘significant concerns’ over the county’s services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities following an inspection in 2023.

A priority action plan (PAP) was drawn up to bring about the necessary improvements, including ‘urgent action’ to improve the timeliness and quality of education health and care plans (EHCPs) and EHCP needs assessments. An EHCP is a legal document that outlines a child or young person's special educational needs and the support they need.

The Department for Education (DfE) met with senior leaders from Suffolk County Council and the NHS earlier this month to review the impact of ‘wide-ranging’ improvement plans for SEND services.

Following the meeting, a letter was sent from the DfE outlining the extent of progress made within SEND services across Suffolk over the past six months.

In summary, it ‘welcomes the improvements and the evidence of impact’ and recognises ‘the considerable challenges that remain to reach the required targets’. It also said ‘we agreed solid foundations were in place for moving forward’.

SEND services in Suffolk are delivered by the Local Area Partnership, made up of Suffolk County Council (SCC), the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board and the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, with the support of schools and colleges.

Key achievements listed within the letter include improvements in the timeliness and quality of EHCPs; outstanding academic progress for children participating in the Raising Achievement – Delivering Better Value academic interventions; better coproduction between partners; and a significant reduction of permanent exclusions in primary schools and for children with EHCPs.

Cllr Andrew Reid, cabinet member for Education and SEND at SCC, said: “We are working closely with the Department for Education, which continues to offer support and expertise, while carrying out the important job of monitoring our progress.

“It is good news that they recognise the scale of our improvement and the impact we are having on children and young people across Suffolk. Improving how we deliver SEND provision is our number one priority and we continue to invest millions into getting it right.

“We acknowledge we still have work to do, and the Department for Education recognises that we have clear plans in place to drive this.”

The letter recognised that the Local Area Partnership was ‘very open about the areas it felt still needed considerable further improvement to meet the needs of all children and families more effectively and has clear plans in place for driving this’.

These areas for development include: governance and use of data; ensuring that improvement work continues at pace, specifically with regard to timeliness and quality of EHCPs; achieving consistency across all families so that improvement is felt by all; and that the voice of children and young families continue to be heard at the heart of decision making.

It also talked of continuing to evolve the service delivery culture around ‘kindness and compassion’.

The progress meeting with the DfE was held on November 4 and reviewed work over six months since the publication of the PAP, which was agreed following the Ofsted and CQC inspection in November 2023.

This was the most formal review since the inspection.

The next progress meeting will take place in May 2025.