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Dorset County Council has said it will work with its partners to continue to improve support for children and young people in Dorset who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

In January 2017, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an area inspection of work with children and young people with additional needs in the county council area.

This included services provided by the county council and other agencies, such as the NHS and special schools.

The inspectors’ report letter has now been published and includes a number of key findings, which the council and its partners will use to continue to improve what they offer for children and young people with SEND.

The inspection focused on how well agencies in Dorset identify, assess and meet the needs of children with SEND, as well as how they are improving outcomes for them.

In 2014, the government introduced new Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which identify the educational, health and social needs of children and young people with SEND up to the age of 25. These replaced the previous SEND “statements”.

The council told inspectors it had been taking too long to complete new EHCPs – and that it needs to be quicker at converting existing statements to EHCPs. Ofsted recognised that the council is improving this situation, however.

The inspection also highlights a number of areas where agencies are doing well or are improving – Dorset’s special schools were singled out for praise, as was the quality of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) in schools.

Ofsted also said identification of SEND in the early years was effective and that careers advice for older children was “working well”.

Dorset County Council’s director of children’s services, Sara Tough, said:

“We take these findings very seriously – and are committed to working with our partners, parents and carers to improve services and outcomes for children and young people with additional needs.

“We need to continue to make progress in improving how quickly we complete plans and get better at working together with other agencies to meet children’s needs.

“The inspection team told us they believed that we have a clear understanding of what needs to be done and that our plans are having an impact.”

The inspectors also interviewed parents and carers of children with SEND, who said they would like to be more involved – and for the agencies to share more about the work they are doing with them. The council is inviting parents to local meetings where they can talk about their experiences of SEND services.

The council’s Cabinet Member for learning, skills and children’s safeguarding, Councillor Deborah Croney, added:

“We know we have some work to do to make the experiences of all our children and young people with additional needs better – we are already making significant improvements across a number of areas.

“We want to make every child’s experience a good one – we will be working closely with parents, carers, schools and our partners so together we can make sure all our children in Dorset reach their highest potential.”

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Duncan Lewis Child Care Solicitors can advise parents on a wide range of child care law and family matters, including parents’ duties under the Education Act 1996 and SEND.

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For expert legal advice on family and child care matters, call Duncan Lewis children lawyers on 0333 772 0409.