Local Area Inspection - what is it?

The services across South Gloucestershire are due to have a Local Area Inspection. We do not know the date for this as the inspections happen with no prior warning. We will be sharing information with you over the coming weeks about what the inspection involves

Local area inspections periodically take place across the areas of Education, Health and Social Care. These inspections are carried out by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In Spring 2023 a new Local Area Inspection Framework was brought in to specifically look at the local SEND system. These are called Local Area Inspections. They will be carried out by OFSTED and the CQC in the same way, but with a focus on SEND provisions. The reason for the inspections is so that inspectors can find out how support is working for children and young people aged 0-25 years with SEND in the local area.

The services across South Gloucestershire are due to have a Local Area Inspection. We do not know the date for this as the inspections happen with no prior warning. We will be sharing information with you over the coming weeks about what the inspection involves, and there will be a questionnaire that you can take part in to have your say on the local SEND services - the voice of our families will be a crucial part of the inspection and will be used to decide what areas the inspectors look at.

We will keep all information that we share about the Local Area Inspection here so that you can come back to check and re-read it when it’s convenient for you.