Written Statement of Action (WSoA)

Following the Ofsted and Care Quality Commissions SEND inspection in March 2022, Buckinghamshire was required to submit an action plan. This plan addressed 3 areas of significant weakness identified by the inspection team. These areas relate to therapies, community paediatrics and the neuro-developmental pathway for children and young people with ADHD and ASD.

A multi-agency group pulled together the action plan following a series of stakeholder workshops held during June and July. These were attended by:

• health, education and social care professionals
• voluntary and community sector representatives
• parent/carer representatives

The action plan, also known as a 'Written Statement of Action', was approved by Ofsted in late August 2022. We will meet regularly with the Department for Education and NHS England as we implement the plan.

The Written Statement of Action sits alongside other priority areas for improvement, for example, how we support young people with SEND to prepare for adulthood.

Following a progress meeting in July, the Department of Education (DfE) will no longer monitor progress in the Integrated Therapies and Community Paediatrics areas of the WSoA. Monitoring will continue for Neurodevelopmental pathways.

But, we will work on changes and improvements needed in all areas so that the support we provide continues to improve.

We will provide updates on our progress.

Since agreeing to our WSoA, the Department for Education and NHS England have monitored our progress.

We have had four meetings with them, the last meeting was on 4 July 2024. These meetings will continue until Buckinghamshire has its next full inspection.

We have completed most of the original actions in the WSoA. We know that there is still more to do to reduce waiting lists and improve the support we provide to children and young people with SEND when their needs are first identified. This ongoing work is being taken forward through Buckinghamshire’s SEND Strategic Plan.