Setting

Area SEND inspection of Southend-on- Sea Local Area Partnership

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Inspection dates: 15 to 19 June 2026 Dates of previous inspection: 6 to 10 March 2023

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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.

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Inspection outcome

The next full area SEND inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Inspection outcome

Ofsted and CQC ask that the local area partnership updates and publishes its strategic plan based on the recommendations set out in this report.

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Information about the local area partnership

Southend-on-Sea City Council and NHS Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) are jointly responsible for the planning and commissioning of services for children and young people with SEND in Southend-on-Sea. Since the previous area SEND inspection, there has been a significant increase of staff and restructuring within the local authority SEND team. On 1 April 2026, NHS Mid and South Essex ICB and NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB were abolished and NHS Essex ICB was established and is responsible for the commissioning of health services across Southend-on-Sea.

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Information about the local area partnership

The local authority commissions 2 providers of alternative provision (AP) to provide education for children or young people, including those who cannot attend school due to social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, or for those who are at risk of or have been permanently excluded. The local authority commissions some unregistered APs for young people as part of an educated otherwise than at school (EOTAS) package. Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership 15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in this area?

Children and young people with SEND have an inconsistent experience of services across Southend-on-Sea. Variability in identification, assessment and support continues to affect some of their outcomes. Leaders and practitioners have undertaken considerable work to improve communication with families. They want families’ experiences of the SEND system to be positive. Some parents and carers report effective access to information and some types of support. Although leaders and practitioners place children and young people at the centre of their work and are committed to improving the SEND system, some of the recent improvements are still becoming established and have not had their full intended impact.

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in this area?

Children and young people, alongside the parent carer forum (PCF) ‘Southend SEND Independent Forum’, increasingly shape the partnership’s strategy. Their views influence policy, training and communication. Young people act as experts by experience and have helped to improve the understanding of neurodiversity across schools and services. This work and the increasing number of young people with SEND on the youth council, has supported children and young people to feel more visible in their communities, develop career aspirations and ask for help when needed. However, some services do not capture children’s and young people’s experiences and outcomes often enough to evaluate how well support meets their needs. As a result, their voice does not always help shape these services.

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in this area?

Some children and young people receive help only after their needs escalate, including when they stop attending school, are excluded or reach crisis point with their mental health. In contrast, children and young people with SEND known to early help or social care services often receive timely assessment and coordinated support. Effective multi- agency working helps meet their needs. Children in care with SEND benefit from strong support, including from the virtual school, which helps them to access education and make progress.

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in this area?

Some children and young people with SEND have their needs assessed in a timely way, and their needs are generally identified accurately. However, this is not always the case. For some children and young people, the identification of their needs is slower than it should be. For example, some professionals do not routinely explore the reasons behind children’s and young people’s behaviour. At times, children can be labelled as having SEMH needs too quickly because of their presenting behaviour. As a result, some needs relating to neurodiversity escalate and affect children’s daily experiences, including impacting negatively on their mental health. Some young people felt that when adults take the time to really get to know them, they understand their needs better.

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in this area?

Most children with SEND receive highly appropriate support in the early years. Services generally identify children’s needs early on, particularly focusing on improving communication and language difficulties. Support is timely and effective, and careful joint working between multi-agency practitioners helps most children move into primary Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership 15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026 school well prepared. There are also increasing levels of support available for children with education, health and care (EHC) plans as they move from primary school into secondary education. However, this level of support does not continue into post-16 education. Not all young people with SEND receive consistent help to move into education, training or employment. While there are plans in place to strengthen the preparation for adulthood offer, currently, too many young people with SEND are not in

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in this area?

education, employment or training by age 17.

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What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

◼ Leaders across the partnership share an ambition to ensure that children and young people with SEND feel visible, valued and included, achieve well and lead healthy lives. They use multi-agency audits and a SEND data dashboard to strengthen oversight and improve planning. Leaders understand the gaps in some services and support across the system that impact on the experiences of children and young people with SEND in their area. For most of these gaps, leaders have developed appropriate action plans to address them. ◼ Leaders engage well with the PCF and seek feedback through surveys, meetings and events. They use this feedback to directly influence strategic planning and provide clearer information for families. For example, the PCF co-produced the SEND and AP strategy. The youth council also plays an active part in co- production. ◼ Children and young people with SEND benefit from a committed workforce. Staff

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What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

across education, health and social care work together to provide coordinated support. The number of EHC plans issued within statutory timescales is above the rate achieved nationally. This helps more children and young people with SEND receive the right help at the right time. Families receive suitable help while they wait for assessments for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Access to a wide range of online resources, workshops and a dedicated duty telephone line, as a point of contact for families who need advice, is welcomed by those waiting across some health services. ◼ Specialist school support services and health services provide effective support for many children with SEND. Speech and language training strengthens the skills and confidence of the wider workforce, enabling schools and practitioners to better support children with communication needs. Families access advice quickly

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What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

through support lines and workshops. Health services also provide coordinated care through joint appointments, including with physiotherapists, paediatricians and school nurses. A new tics and Tourette’s pathway supports earlier effective identification and intervention. A specialist health visitor works closely with maternity, social care and education services to provide joined-up support for families where increased specialist support is required. ◼ Mental health services work well together to provide timely triage, flexible support and a range of therapies. Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) staff listen to children and young people and use their views to improve service Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership 15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026 developments, such as making the waiting area more accessible for children and young people with SEND. The healthy child programme is being delivered

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What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

effectively, with targeted antenatal contacts for first-time mothers and those with high-risk pregnancies. ◼ Children and young people with SEND are identified on the dynamic support register (DSR) appropriately. The DSR helps to ensure that these children and young people, at risk of admission to hospital due to a decline in their mental health, receive strong multi-agency support to help prevent escalation of their needs. ◼ Early help and social care services respond quickly when children and young people need support. Practitioners carry out timely assessments and coordinate services well. Many children with SEND who are supported through a team around the family approach improve their attendance and engagement at school and have increased access to community activities. Children’s and young people’s needs are generally identified accurately and assessed in a timely and effective way within the children with disability service. Planning for adulthood within social care often

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What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

starts early and supports smoother transitions. ◼ Some schools provide inclusive support and meet children’s and young people’s needs well. This helps them to be increasingly successful in learning alongside their peers. AP helps some pupils re-engage with education and improves their attendance. Leaders maintain appropriate oversight of unregistered AP placements. The partnership works closely with staff in specialist settings to support young people in Year 11. As a result, many transition successfully to post- 16 destinations. ◼ Children in care with SEND attend well at school. Leaders have strengthened their oversight of pupils’ rates of attendance and the use of part-time timetables for pupils with SEND, particularly for those educated outside of a school setting. This ensures that these children and young people are receiving an increasingly positive educational experience.

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What does the area partnership need to do better?

◼ While there has been significant positive activity by the partnership to address previously identified areas of weakness, leaders do not evaluate the impact of their work in a consistent way. Many improvements are recent and have not had time to improve experiences and outcomes for all children and young people. ◼ Children wait too long for neurodevelopmental assessments and for reviews with their paediatrician. Mental health pathways lack clarity for those with needs relating to neurodiversity. These delays affect children’s and young people’s wellbeing and development. Some children and young people reach crisis point without effective, prompt help. ◼ Support for young people moving into adult health services is inconsistent. There is no commissioned autism support service within adult mental health services. This gap in provision means that young adults with SEND who do not meet Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership

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What does the area partnership need to do better?

15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026 thresholds for adult social care, and whose learning and care needs are too complex for general wellbeing health services, experience a lack of support as they transition to adulthood. ◼ Health leaders have been unable to strengthen workforce capacity across several services. As a result, practitioners are managing increasingly large and complex caseloads, which is placing pressure on the quality of service that children and young people receive. This is also affecting staff wellbeing and limiting staff’s ability to provide the support that children with SEND and their families need. ◼ Professionals do not identify and assess children’s and young people’s additional needs consistently well across services. Some children with SEND do not receive the right help at the right time. Not all practitioners involved with children and young people with SEND contribute to their annual reviews. EHC plans are not

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What does the area partnership need to do better?

updated promptly following annual reviews and do not always reflect children’s current needs, views and aspirations. Health and social care outcomes in children’s and young people’s EHC plans are often too vague to measure progress effectively. ◼ The experiences of children and young people with SEND vary between schools. Some schools meet needs well, but others do not. The partnership does not have an agreed strategy in place to tackle the high absence, suspension and exclusion rates for children and young people with SEND in Southend. There is a higher number of requests for EOTAS packages and a rise in families choosing home education for their child. Parents and carers told inspectors of their rising concerns about school-based anxiety. ◼ Preparation for adulthood does not start early enough for young people with SEND. Careers advice often comes too late. Although leaders have recently introduced a new preparation for adulthood strategy, this is in its early stages and,

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What does the area partnership need to do better?

at present, too many young people with SEND leave education, employment or training without secure next steps. ◼ Children with SEND in residential special school placements do not consistently benefit from routine additional oversight and monitoring visits to ensure the services continue to meet expected requirements. Leaders have secured additional resources to address this issue; however, the staff appointment is too recent to see the impact. ◼ Children with SEND and their families can experience limitations in choice, particularly due to a lack of local and residential short-break provision. This impacts on the quality of their family life and also limits their access to the local community. Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership 15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026

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Areas for improvement

Partnership leaders should ensure that earlier, well-planned transitions are in place for young people with SEND to help their preparation for adulthood.

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Areas for improvement

The local area partnership should strengthen the quality of EHC plans and accelerate work on improving the timeliness and quality of the annual review processes by: ▪ ensuring that EHC plans accurately reflect children’s and young people’s health and social care needs and provision, including specific, clear and measurable outcomes from all partners;

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Areas for improvement

▪ ensuring that children’s and young people’s current needs are fully understood as part of the annual review process and, where there is a change in needs, these are outlined in EHC plans that are updated in line with statutory guidance; and

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Areas for improvement

▪ ensuring that practitioners across education, health and care are contributing to EHC plans and annual review processes effectively.

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Areas for improvement

The local area partnership should work with school partners to consistently apply the graduated approach to help ensure that all education providers are meeting children’s and young people’s needs. This should include all school leaders working collectively as a partner to ensure that timely and effective support is in place to reduce the risk of absence, suspension and exclusion so that children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools experience inclusive support within their local community.

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Areas for improvement

Health leaders must accelerate plans for neurodevelopmental and mental health transformation to ensure that all children and young people who are likely or confirmed to be neurodivergent with moderate mental health needs experience timely access to specialist support. Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership 15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026

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Local authority Integrated care board

Southend-on-Sea City Council NHS Essex ICB Michael Marks, Executive Director (Children & Public Health) Tom Abell, Chief Executive Officer

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Local authority Integrated care board

www.southend.gov.uk www.essex.icb.nhs.uk Southend-on-Sea City Council, Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6ER NHS Essex Integrated Care Board, Seax House, Victoria Road South, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1QH

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out at the request of the Secretary of State for Education under section 20(1)(a) of the Children Act 2004.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection was led by one of His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) from Ofsted, with a team of inspectors including: an Ofsted Inspector; an HMI from social care; a lead Children’s Services Inspector from the Care Quality Commission (CQC); and another Children’s Services Inspector from the CQC.

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Ofsted Care Quality Commission

Dave Gilkerson, Ofsted HMI, Lead inspector Deana Fowle, CQC Lead inspector Keith Tysoe, Ofsted Inspector Alison Smith, CQC inspector Michael Taylor, Ofsted HMI Area SEND inspection report: Southend-on-Sea Local Area Partnership 15 June 2026 to 19 June 2026 excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Ofsted Care Quality Commission

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Ofsted Care Quality Commission

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Ofsted Care Quality Commission

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Ofsted Care Quality Commission

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