Update on Local Area Inspections
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From May 2016, OfSTED and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will jointly be carrying out inspections of Local Areas.
At the end of 2015/ beginning of 2016, the WPCC asked parent carers to help us feed into the recent Government’s public consultation: “Inspection of how well local areas meet young peoples' special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)” which closed on 4th January 2016, we collated all the responses submitted and used the information collated to respond to the OfSTED/ CQC Local Area Inspection consultation. ([Click here] if you would like to read our article on the consultation and our response).
From the information we have so far, we know that the Local Area inspections will begin from May 2016 and Local Areas will receive 5 days’ notice of inspection; no area knows when they will be inspected at the moment. The inspections will not be about inspecting schools or the Local Authority, rather, they will be about inspecting provision and positive outcomes for children and young people with SEND across a local area, which could include visiting schools, early years settings, colleges, Short Break settings etc.
We know that inspectors will be keen to talk to parent carers and young people to inform the inspection process. In Wiltshire, the voice of parent carers is very embedded in service design, development and delivery as a result of our regular consultations, surveys, engagement sessions, SENDIS Service and information events which the WPCC organises, and we would be the natural organisation to liaise with during an inspection. In the next few weeks, OfSTED and CQC will be preparing an inspection framework and handbook which will be published before the inspections take place in May. As we get a clearer idea of the inspection process, the WPCC will be seeking to build a database of parent carers who would be happy to talk to inspectors and who might be available at short notice, so please consider if this is something you might like to be involved in. OfSTED have produced a short video (about 2 minutes long) about the inspections which you can view by [clicking here].
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