Hertfordshire County Council: Area SEND monitoring inspection

2 December 2025 Jo Fisher Executive Director of Children’s Services Hertfordshire County Council Jan Thomas Chief Executive Officer Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board Dear Jo Fisher and Jan Thomas Area SEND monitoring inspection to Hertfordshire Local Area Partnership Between 20 October 2025 and 22 October 2025, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revisited the area of Hertfordshire to decide whether effective action has been made in relation to each of the areas for priority action detailed in the inspection report published on 10 July 2023. The inspection was conducted under section 20 of the Children Act 2004. I write on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector (Hmci) of Education, Children’s Services and Skills and the Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and the Chief Inspector of Primary Care and Community Services of CQC. As a result of the findings of the initial inspection and in accordance with the Children Act 2004 (Joint Area Reviews) Regulations 2015, Hmci required the local area partnership to prepare and submit a priority action plan (area SEND) to address the two identified areas for priority action. The local area has taken effective action as it has taken reasonable steps to address all the areas for priority action identified at the initial inspection. This letter outlines our findings from the monitoring inspection. The inspection was led by one of His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) from Ofsted, accompanied by an HMI from social care, and two Children’s Services Inspectors from CQC.

Inspectors spoke with local area leaders, parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and education, health and social care professionals. We also met with representatives of the parent carer forum (Pcf), the Department for Education (DfE) and regional NHS England. We examined relevant documents and correspondence about the performance of the area in addressing the areas for priority action identified at the initial inspection, including the area’s priority action plan and self-evaluation. Findings Area for priority action 1: Leaders should act with urgency to accelerate their data dashboard work so that they have a shared, accurate understanding of the exact provision for SEND in Hertfordshire, and of its quality, so that they can target coherent activity where it is needed most. Outcome: Effective action The local area partnership has improved the quality of its data. It uses the ‘SEND Partnership Data Dashboard’ well both strategically and operationally. The area now reviews comprehensive information to address gaps in provision. Therefore, more children and young people’s needs are identified accurately, and appropriate services are provided to meet these needs. The area uses data well in a range of ways. For example, the ‘Health for Under 5s’ website provides a wealth of information to expectant mothers and families of younger children. This is informed by data collected by multi-agency partners and the views of families about their needs. The website helps families access local support groups and obtain important advice regarding their unborn and young children. The local area partnership uses information to know where in the county it can provide more targeted support to help children and their families. An example is data collected from mandated health visits. This enables health visitors across Hertfordshire to support new families well. However, in some other respects, geographical inequity remains an issue for the partnership to address. For instance, children and young people with SEND are far more likely to be permanently excluded from school in some parts of the county than others. Leaders routinely review what information they need as new issues arise. The ‘Transformation of Mental Health and Well-being’ services gather data to build an accurate picture of children and young people’s needs. They then use this to

commission and develop a range of provision. This includes the implementation of mental health support teams in special schools. As a result of the information gathered, the area directly supports children and young people with SEND without the need for a referral to specialist mental health services. Better data analysis has informed improvements to the speech and language therapy service. This has reduced the length of time children and young people wait for an initial assessment. While this is so, sometimes waits remain for intervention following assessment. However, the area is remodelling its pathways and training in an attempt to mitigate this. Support for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs in educational settings has improved. Many teams across education, health and social care now use data successfully to evaluate and improve provision. For example, ‘Services for Young People’ tracks the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND. Consequently, the service can successfully support young people’s aspirations for education, employment or training. In terms of education, the local area partnership uses data carefully to plan where provision is needed. This has led to a carefully planned increase in the number of special school places. The area has gathered clear and wide-ranging information regarding part-time timetables for children and young people with SEND in schools. It now checks when and where these are used. This means the area can intervene to meet children and young people’s needs and improve engagement in education more quickly than before. While this is the case, local area leaders know there is more to do to develop aspects of the data dashboard. In particular, this relates to some health data for children and young people with SEND. For example, there is little information on the waiting times for intervention after assessment by the integrated therapies team. Area for priority action 2: Leaders should work more collaboratively and in partnership across all of SEND provision, with secure governance and quality assurance arrangements in place, and with a particular urgent focus on addressing the areas leaders have identified in their strategy for SEND. Outcome: Effective action The local area partnership has worked at pace to implement improved governance arrangements. Rigorous quality assurance underpins the area’s work. There has been significant financial investment in the SEND system. There is a tangible improvement in collaboration across health, social care and education.

Hertfordshire Parent Carer Involvement, the local Pcf, plays a central role in strategic decision-making. Many parents and carers report better satisfaction in aspects of the area’s work. An example of this is more recent education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments and annual reviews. However, many families do not see improvements in their lived experience of the system. There are meaningful opportunities for children and young people with SEND to contribute to service improvements. Where this happens, they feel valued and listened to. For example, young people with SEND have worked with police officers to help them understand how to communicate with neurodivergent children. The impact of the improved governance and monitoring processes includes oversight of EHC plans. Better retention of staff who manage EHC plans has helped. More plans now capture the voice of the child or young person well, though this remains variable. Newer EHC plans give a lot of helpful depth and detail about children’s needs. Health and social care advice included in more recent EHC plans is typically helpful. That said, in older EHC plans, there are still a lot of gaps in the health and social care information about children and young people’s outcomes and provision. Successful collaboration is increasingly apparent in many services. Early help provides high-quality intervention for those children waiting for wider services to be delivered. This eases some of the challenges that children and young people with SEND and their families may experience. The area’s revised governance processes mean that there is suitable oversight of children and young people with SEND who experience a crisis. This sharpened focus has led to some innovation. An example is giving the virtual school responsibility for all children and young people with SEND who are out of school. This has resulted in a more joined-up approach to ensuring the most effective action is taken. Despite recent improvements, schools still have a mixed experience of the support from the local area partnership. Teams such as the SEND implementation team often create more coherent help for schools. But some schools experience a system that is still too reactive. At times, the support that schools receive for some children and young people with SEND is not as early or successful enough to prevent problems escalating. Improved leadership systems have meant a clearer oversight of support for children and young people who are neurodivergent. The ‘Nd Support Hub’ offers important help to families and professionals prior to an assessment. The area helpfully prioritises support for the most vulnerable children and young people waiting. However, the need for neurodevelopmental assessments is very high. Leaders know that children and young people with SEND wait too long. The local area partnership is transforming this clinical pathway. However, the benefits are not felt by those affected.

Overall, there is close and appropriate oversight of the audiology challenges in Hertfordshire. The partnership has put suitable mitigations in place regarding these. However, some children and young people continue to experience unacceptable delays in accessing audiology assessments and treatment. Next steps Inspectors will reach an effective action outcome if, having gathered and evaluated evidence, they find that the local area partnership has taken reasonable steps to address the area for priority action since the full inspection, based on the relevant evaluation criteria. Effective action does not mean that the area for priority action is no longer a concern or that the local area can stop taking action to address it. Inspections are a point-in- time evaluation. Areas for priority action that receive an effective action outcome may still be identified as areas for priority action in future inspections. This can happen if the local area does not continue to take action, and/or the action has not continued to have a positive impact on the experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. Ofsted and CQC ask the local area partnership to continue to deliver their updated priority action and continuous improvement plan (area SEND) as a result of this inspection. I am copying this letter to DfE and regional NHS England. Yours sincerely

Charlie Fordham His Majesty’s Inspector, Ofsted, Lead inspector

Ofsted Care Quality Commission Charlie Fordham HMI Lead Inspector

Geraldine Bates Children’s Services Inspector Margaret Burke HMI Inspector

Daniel Carrick Children’s Services Inspector

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