Ofsted inspect nurseries, schools and colleges to make sure that children and young people are taught as well as possible. They also work with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to check the quality of health and social care services in England, like hospitals and care homes.


A SEND Local Area Inspection is when they inspect services in local areas, such as Bexley, that support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
The purpose of inspection is to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with SEND
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements

Local Area Partnerships are inspected at least once every 5 years. Bexley was inspected in December 2023 and published the Improvement Priority Action Plan in April 2024. There will be a re-inspection within 3 years to assess improvements made against the plan.

Bexley SEND Inspection Outcome Image

Led by The London Borough of Bexley and the NHS South East London Integrated Care Board, the partnership is made up of all partners in Bexley who have a responsibility for commissioning and providing services for children and young people with SEND, including local authority services, health providers, education settings and the voluntary and community sector. 

  • As the independent Parent Carer Forum representing Bexley families, we provided feedback as part of the inspection process sharing parent carer views of their SEND experience in Bexley across education, health and social care.
  • Bexley Voice are a member of the Local Area Partnership Board (SEND Improvement and Assurance Board), providing regular feedback from parent carers on the priority improvement areas
  • Bexley Voice are a member of the SEND Operational Board that oversees work being undertaken to deliver the Priority Action Plan and reports to the SEND Improvement Board
  • We have Parent Representatives on the EHCP and Annual Review and the Preparing for Adulthood Task and Finish Groups
  • We have a Preparing for Adulthood Focus Group that meets with Bexley regularly and provides input into the Preparing for Adulthood Task and Finish Group
  • We run Lived Experience Sessions relating to the priority improvement areas, capturing your views and experiences and feeding back to the SEND board
  • We have undertaken SEN Parent Surveys, on behalf of the board, including a base line survey attracting 140 responses in the Autumn Term 2024 and a follow- up survey in the Spring Term 2025 (120 responses)
  • We shared the findings of the Bexley Voice PfA Surveys with the SEND board, which we have run bi-annually since 2020
  • We will continue to be the voice of parents and carers in Bexley as work is undertaken to address the areas of weakness highlighted within the report
  • Complete our surveys
  • Join us as a Parent Rep
  • Become a member of our Preparing for Adulthood Focus Group
  • Come along to Tea and Talk and share your views, experiences and ideas for solutions

One of the issues identified in the inspection was that of communication. To improve this the local authority and ICB are producing a series of ‘You Said, We Did’ messages to share with parent carers to highlight improvements. 


For further information:

  • Read the Area SEND Inspection report of the Bexley Local Area Partnership on the Ofsted website.
  • Read the Priority Action Plan on the Local Offer 
  • Read the Bexley SEND Strategy on the Local Offer