Local Area SEND Inspection - Report Published
In July 2025, the services across the areas of Education, Health and Social Care in South Gloucestershire were inspected by OFSTED and the CQC, with a focus on SEND provisions.
What happened during the OFSTED/CQC inspection?
Our role, as the local Parent Carer Forum, was to ensure the real lived experiences of SEND families in South Glos were clearly represented to the inspectors. The views and experiences you share with us were central to this and helped us provide a strong, evidence-based representation. This included the reports from our surveys since 2019 (Send and its Impact on Parent Carers 2024, Support in Education 2025), our Listening events in local libraries in 2024 and our topic focused feedback on access to social care in 2025.
During the inspection, our Co-production Manager took part in the main meetings with the inspectors and local partners - including the Opening Meeting, regular Keeping in Touch sessions, and the Closing Meeting.
As the local Parent Carer Forum, we also had our own dedicated meeting with the inspectors. This gave them the opportunity to ask questions and explore in more detail the evidence and experiences that we shared.
We would like to say thank you to the parent carers that responded to the OFSTED survey and to all those who helped share the survey so that as many families as possible had the opportunity to have their say directly.
What was the outcome of the OFSTED/CQC inspection?
The inspection report has now been published. This document presents the findings of the Local Area SEND Inspection for South Gloucestershire Local Area Partnership, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement in services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
We have reviewed the report and summarized the key elements for you below. Sections shown in a yellow box are taken directly from the report and inspection framework.
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 take place 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.
The report is 7 pages, and is broken down into 5 sections.
A summary of the report findings
What is it like to be a child or young person with Special Educational needs and/or disabilities in this area?
The inspection found that while improvements are underway to improve SEND provision in South Glos, children and young people with SEND and their families’ experience of services can be mixed.
The report highlighted several services working well together to support families with very young children, but for those children reaching school age and into adulthood support is inconsistent.
What is the Area Partnership doing that is effective?
Strategic Leadership:
Partnership leaders show a strong understanding of strengths in the area and where improvements are needed.
Early Identification:
The strength of partnership working has led to several improvements in identifying children and young people’s needs early.
Inclusive Education:
Underpinned by the strength of the cluster model, children and young people are experiencing an increasingly inclusive education system since the last full inspection in 2017.
Family Advocacy:
Those who work directly with families advocate strongly for the children and young people and their families in their care. This is valued by families greatly, but also by front-line practitioners.
Health Services:
Some health services ensure timely assessment and support for children and young people with SEND.
Local Provision:
The majority of children and young people with SEND are educated near their home. Those children and young people who need residential special school provision are receiving the right support and are cared for diligently.
Positive Outcomes:
Strong partnership working is helping to ensure that early identification, the meeting of need and securing positive experiences and outcomes is improving rapidly in the area.
What does the Area Partnership need to do better?
Participation and Engagement:
Children and young people and their families are increasingly participating in decision making, however, the strength of engagement with some families is weaker. Sometimes, front-line services have not secured the confidence of children and young people with SEND and their families.
Access to Services and Support:
Long waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessments with strategies to reduce the impact of these waits having varied impact.
Mixed experiences with social care support and short breaks.
Some children and young people with SEND are not receiving the specialist help they need.
The Area Partnership has not secured a compliant, up-to-date dynamic support register.
Education Provision and Planning:
The range of education provision to support strong outcomes post-16 is limited.
Inconsistent use of Alternative Provision (AP).
The overall quality of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans is variable, although they are improving.
Areas for improvement
Leaders across the partnership should secure effective engagement with children and young people with SEND and their families consistently across the local area, including through stronger co-production at a strategic and operational level.
Leaders across the partnership should develop further the work they have started to ensure children and young people can access the support they need when waiting on neurodevelopmental pathway.
The local area partnership should establish a fully compliant dynamic support register, where all relevant children and young people up to the age of 25 are included and have a key worker when necessary.
Leaders across the partnership should address the specialist sufficiency challenges, particularly in the breadth of SEMH provision, appropriate available AP and range of post-16 opportunities, so that children and young people with SEMH needs secure improved outcomes.
Leaders across the partnership should continue to improve the quality and consistency of EHC plans to ensure that they consistently provide specific reference to appropriate health and social care provision that reflects children’s needs and outcomes.
South Gloucestershire Council and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (NHS BNSSG ICB) are jointly responsible for the planning and commissioning of services for children and young people with SEND in South Gloucestershire.
They have published a joint statement in response to the inspection report which can be found in full on both websites:
Keep up to date with the Local Area SEND Inspection here
November 2025