Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have inconsistent experiences and outcomes in Knowsley, inspectors have found. The inspection in summer looked into how local services worked together to support SEND children and families.
The inspection was led by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) from June 29 to July 3, 2026. It considered how effectively local education, health and care services work together to improve support for SEND children and young people. Knowsley’s local partnership arrangements were found to lead to “inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND”.
Councillors to discuss findings
Councillors are set to discuss the findings of the inspection report at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, November 4. The Local Area Partnership in Knowsley is required to review and update its SEND strategic plan to address the inspection’s findings and improve support ahead of inspection within the next three years. This needs to be published within 50 working days of the date of the letter (September 18, 2026).
However, the inspection report said it represents an improvement from the previous inspection in 2022, which identified significant weaknesses in the local SEND system. This required a published written statement of action (WSOA) to show how the local authority and services would work to improve.
Areas for improvement identified
In the 2026 report, inspectors recognised stronger leadership and governance, an accurate understanding of local needs, an appropriate grip on performance and areas of risk, and a range of effective practice across education, health, and care services.
The inspection identified six areas where improvement is needed by the partnership, including ensuring that children and young people with SEND consistently benefit from well-coordinated partnership working, with professionals making sure that they get the right help at the right time. It also called for accelerating work to reduce long waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessment, and enhancing support to children, young people and families across education, health and care while they wait.
Leaders should improve their oversight of the quality, accuracy and timeliness of Education, Health and Care plans (EHCP), making sure that these plans are accurately updated promptly after annual reviews. The report also highlighted improving access to a suitably well-resourced disabled children’s service which provides timely, accurate assessment, support and oversight to the children, as well as improving the short breaks offered for children, young people and families, and strengthening preparation for adulthood and ensuring this preparation is routinely reflected within EHCPs.
Improvement plan agreed
No areas were identified by inspectors related to widespread or systematic failure. Instead, the report highlighted a need for improved consistency. A programme of improvement has been agreed to by the partnership, with a “detailed delivery plan, including actions, milestones, timescales, success measures and identified leads for each area requiring improvement”.
The SEND Partnership Board will oversee the delivery of this plan and monitor progress alongside Knowsley Council, the Integrated Care Board and other wider system partners. The Knowsley Council's 2026/27 budget included permanent investment into children and young people’s services, including £1.5m for improvements in SEND. This is extra money to the council’s existing spending on SEND services, “designed to increase capacity, improve timeliness and strengthen support for children and young people with SEND and their families”.
