London Borough of Ealing: Area SEND full inspection

Local area partnership report

Area SEND inspection of Ealing Local Area Partnership

Inspection dates: 22 to 26 September 2025

Dates of previous inspection: 21 to 25 January 2019

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.

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

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

Information about the local area partnership

Since the previous inspection, there have been changes across England in how the commissioning of health services operates. Integrated Care Systems came into effect in July 2022. This means the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board (Icb) and the London Borough of Ealing local authority are jointly responsible for the planning and commissioning of health services for children and young people with SEND across the London Borough of Ealing. Since the previous inspection, there is a new leadership team in place across the partnership, which includes a new director of children’s services.

Ealing commissions a range of alternative provision (AP) services and has two AP centres that it maintains. These provisions help children and young people with SEND who have a range of needs, including those who are at risk of or have been permanently excluded from school.

Area SEND inspection report: Ealing Local Area Partnership 22 to 26 September 2025 2

What is it like to be a child or young person with SEND in this area?

The arrangements and support that children and young people with SEND receive across education, health and social care are inconsistent. Children and young people with SEND can access a broad range of services designed to support their health, care and education needs. Across the local area partnership, provision ranges from emotional well- being and mental health support to specialist workshops and family support. However, the experiences of children and young people with SEND, and their families, are influenced not just by the availability of these services, but by how well they are coordinated by practitioners and understood and accessed by families. This leads to inconsistent support for some children, young people and their families.

Practitioners across education, health and social care are not consistently working in a joined-up way, which has a detrimental impact on the timeliness and quality of support provided. When children and young people with SEND do receive services, they benefit from a workforce across education, health and social care who are thoughtful, committed and dedicated to making sure that most children and young people with SEND receive what they need when they need it. There is a range of early help services, including children’s centres, parenting programmes and youth services, which provide effective early support to children, young people with SEND and their families. However, there are challenges in how effectively services and support are coordinated around children and young people with SEND.

Across the partnership, the voices and views of children and young people with SEND and their families meaningfully shape the development of services. For example, the care leavers group and the Youth Social Network are dynamic, influencing strategy and co- producing services across the partnership. Parents and carers are key members of SEND strategy boards across the partnership. They are actively involved in shaping services and decisions, and their views are valued and reflected in practice, such as in the provision of short breaks.

Children and young people with SEND experience long waits for some health services. This includes access to specialist support for speech and language needs, wheelchair services and neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessments. Leaders across the partnership are aware of this and have an appropriate plan in place to help address these wait times through significant financial investment.

Across all phases and types of education, children and young people with SEND typically achieve strong academic outcomes, enjoy their learning and feel well supported. Practitioners across the partnership work successfully together to help ensure that children and young people with SEND engage well with education. Those in specialist provision benefit from carefully tailored packages of support delivered by experts. Similarly, those attending AP are well supported by skilled professionals who understand their needs and help them to reintegrate back into their mainstream school setting, where appropriate.

Area SEND inspection report: Ealing Local Area Partnership 22 to 26 September 2025 3

Children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools benefit from an inclusive and proactive culture. The Ealing Learning Partnership school effectiveness team has fostered collaboration and an inclusivity approach across schools. Skilled practitioners play a vital role in supporting children and young people with SEND and provide a range of meaningful interventions that help to meet their needs. Most experience a smooth and well-planned transition between different education settings. This means the number of children and young people with SEND who are in education, employment or training is high.

Disabled children who are in need of help or protection, as well as disabled children in care and care leavers, are well supported by social workers. Practitioners have considerable knowledge and experience and communicate effectively with partner services as well as disabled children and young people and their families. Consequently, disabled children’s plans accurately reflect and help address the needs of these children and young people.

What is the area partnership doing that is effective?

◼ The new local area partnership leadership team has secured stability across Ealing.

There is a renewed focus on improving the experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. For example, the appointment of a full-time Designated Clinical Officer in January 2025 reflects leaders’ recognition of this role to improve health services and the way that they are coordinated for children and young people with SEND in Ealing.

◼ Leaders have robust SEND improvement plans in place. The views of children and

young people with SEND, and parents and carers, meaningfully shape the development of services. However, it is too soon to see the full impact of leaders’ improvements consistently across the partnership. Leaders recognise that there is more work to do to ensure that the right services are commissioned and delivered to the right children at the right time.

◼ Leaders across the partnership have a relentless focus on identifying and addressing

the needs of children and young people with SEND and improving services for them. For example, leaders have introduced a strategy which means a child does not need a diagnosis or education, health and care (EHC) plan within the early years to access specialist nursery provision where it is required. This means children have their needs met at the earliest stage.

◼ There are a range of groups and services that offer extensive support and advice to

parents and carers. These include Contact Ealing, Ealing Mencap, Ealing SEND Information and Advice Support Service, Ealing Parent Carer Forum, and Ealing Anchor Foundation. These effectively signpost parents and carers to family fun days and well-being activities. Services, including music therapy and support at home, are delivered through well-resourced children’s centres, offering tailored support for families. These services foster community engagement and emotional support, which positively impacts families navigating SEND pathways.

◼ The Dynamic Support Register (Dsr) functions effectively in Ealing, ensuring that

Area SEND inspection report: Ealing Local Area Partnership 22 to 26 September 2025 4

children with autism and/or a learning disability who also have complex mental health needs are supported well. The timely and effective support provided to those on the Dsr is responsive and impactful and effectively prevents hospital admissions for many vulnerable children and young adults.

◼ The partnership has a robust and inclusive mental health support system for children

and young people with SEND, underpinned by well-planned workforce development and strategic service expansion. For example, the Mental Health Support Teams work with most schools in Ealing. Children and young people with SEND are actively supported throughout their child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) journey with smooth transitions between pathways. However, some children needing specific work for psychotherapy wait too long for support.

◼ The partnership has robust oversight arrangements in place for the small number of

children and young people with SEND placed in residential special schools. Their progress is frequently monitored, and suitable safeguarding arrangements are in place.

What does the area partnership need to do better?

◼ There is variability in the quality and timeliness of children and young people’s EHC

plans. Recent EHC plans are updated more swiftly after annual reviews. They reflect well the voice and need of the child or young person with SEND, have ambitious outcomes and clearly identify the contribution of other agencies. The partnership has been working at pace to ensure that quality and timeliness are a priority for improvement, and this is evident in more recent plans. However, some variability remains.

◼ Children and young people with SEND who have speech, language and

communication needs are seen promptly for an initial assessment, where they receive specific advice and guidance. However, there is then often a significant delay in receiving the specialist support that they require. This can adversely affect children’s and young people’s progress and outcomes.

◼ Children and young people with SEND experience an inconsistent support and

guidance to prepare them for adulthood. Practitioners across education, health and social care do not always collaborate effectively. This means that the quality of support provided to children and young people varies significantly. For example, travel training and access to transition services are not universally available, with some young people with SEND receiving a comprehensive offer while others do not. This variability is reflected in children and young people’s EHC plans, which often lack appropriately personalised planning for transition.

◼ Leaders across the partnership are ambitious to improve the primary care offer for

children and young people with SEND, including sustaining learning disability health checks at a high rate and streamlining access via the child health hub. However, the partnership recognises there is inconsistent training and quality assurance in annual health checks, a lack of shared care agreements for prescribing medication and missed opportunities for multi-agency working. Primary care is not routinely involved in EHC plan processes, nor do they receive a final copy of the child or young person’s

Area SEND inspection report: Ealing Local Area Partnership 22 to 26 September 2025 5

plan. This limits their understanding of a child or young person’s full needs. These gaps result in delays and inequity in health care, despite timely referrals and a clear commitment to improvement.

◼ Children and young people’s access to neurodevelopmental assessments varies

dependent on their age. Those under the age of six are typically assessed in a timely manner. In contrast, those over the age of six often face extended waits for diagnostic assessments. Although support services are available during this period, there is no formal oversight of the waiting list by practitioners or leaders across the partnership. This means that opportunities to review whether needs have changed or additional support is required are sometimes missed. The partnership has developed a robust plan to address this, but it is too soon to see the impact that this plan has had.

◼ Some children and young people with SEND wait too long to receive support from

wheelchair services. This can be either for a new chair, replacement or repair. This means some children and young people remain without appropriate mobility support for prolonged periods. This has resulted in some being left in discomfort and without the wheelchairs necessary to meet their physical needs.

Areas for improvement

Areas for improvement The local area partnership should implement recovery plans at pace in order to reduce the lengthy wait times for:

• Wheelchair services

• Speech and language therapy

• Neurodevelopmental assessments The partnership should also ensure that there is effective mitigation in place for children and young people waiting for assessment and diagnosis from health services and that they can access appropriate support while they are waiting. The local area partnership should improve the coordination of services, support and communication between practitioners, the child or young person with SEND and their family so that needs are identified and met more quickly and effectively. The local area partnership should improve the quality of EHC plans, including the contributions from multi-agency practitioners, and update plans in a timely way so that they accurately reflect the current needs, and the support to meet these needs, of the child or young person.

Area SEND inspection report: Ealing Local Area Partnership 22 to 26 September 2025 6

Local area partnership details

Local authority Integrated care board London Borough of Ealing

North West London Integrated Care Board

Robert South

Rob Hurd

www.ealing.gov.uk

www.nwlondonicb.nhs.uk Perceval House 14–16 Uxbridge Road Ealing London W5 2HL

NHS Nw London 1 Armstrong Way Southall UB2 4SD

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.

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

Inspection team

Ofsted Care Quality Commission Joanna Walters, Ofsted HMI, lead inspector Harriet Doran, CQC lead inspector Sarah Saunders, Ofsted HMI Lesley Perry, CQC inspector Tom Anthony, Ofsted HMI

Area SEND inspection report: Ealing Local Area Partnership 22 to 26 September 2025 7

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve 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.

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government- licence/, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

This publication is available at http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/.

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn.

Piccadilly Gate Store Street Manchester M1 2WD

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

Why this page, not just a PDF? The original is a PDF - fine to read, but a poor fit for assistive technology: heading structure is often inconsistent or absent, text doesn't reflow for zoom or a narrow screen, and screen readers can struggle with multi-column layouts and scanned pages. This page is the same content rebuilt as plain, semantic HTML - real headings, text that reflows, nothing a screen reader or zoom tool trips over.

Republished from Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Open Government Licence v3.0. View the original PDF.