Following a progress monitoring visit in April 2024, government officials praised Kent County Council’s (KCC) and NHS Kent and Medway’s “collective determination to make sustainable improvements to SEND services and to the lives of children and young people with SEND”.
The letter stated: “It is evident that the local area has made further progress in all nine areas of the Improvement Plan (APP) with the most progress in respect of area 4, which is concerned with the commissioning of specialist services.”
Given the progress made and evidence that improvements are having a positive impact on the lives of children and young people and their families, the DfE and NHS England will no longer require formal monitoring of area of weakness 4, and have reduced the need for formal oversight on a number of other actions within the plan.
KCC and NHS Kent and Medway were required to implement an improvement plan last year after Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission identified the need for significant improvements in 9 areas in their revisit to Kent in September 2022.
The letter was sent following the second monitoring visit to Kent by the DfE and NHS England in April 2024 where they spoke to young people, parents and schools and settings about their experiences of the changes being made in Kent. They also held a follow-up meeting with parents to gain additional views. In making their assessment of progress, they also reviewed a large amount of evidence demonstrating the impact of the improvements underway.
While many of the actions in the improvement plan have been completed, KCC and NHS Kent and Medway are continuing to work at pace to complete the remaining actions.
“With our partners across Kent, we will continue to focus on further improving the services available to young people and their families...”
KCC’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, Rory Love, said: “It is reassuring to learn that DfE and NHS England can see the progress KCC, NHS Kent and Medway, schools, and other settings have made in improving special educational needs services across the Kent area.
“While our work so far has been noted, I know there are families of young people with special educational needs and disabilities who have yet to experience the improvements, and we know we still have more to do.
“But we have already tripled the number of cases completed each month, halved the number of cases waiting for an assessment decision, and are on track to hit national averages for the 20-week deadline by September.
“With our partners across Kent, we will continue to focus on further improving the services available to young people and their families, with the support of DfE and NHS England.”
Chief Nursing Officer at NHS Kent and Medway, Paul Lumsdon, said: “While it is important to have our hard work in making significant progress recognised, we know more needs to be done and we will continue to work together to improve outcomes for all our children and young people.”
The DfE and NHS England will be conducting a further monitoring visit under the Kent Area’s Improvement Notice in December. In the meantime, KCC and NHS Kent and Medway will be focusing on showing the impact improvements are having on the lives of children and young people with SEND and their families, continuing to make sure the voices of young people shape policies and services, and communicating better with families.
ENDS
