The official opposition at Suffolk County Council today expressed their concerns about the latest judgement from Ofsted/CQC regarding SEND services in the county.
The latest letter from Ofsted/CQC has been published on the Ofsted website following a monitoring visit in March 2026.
Whilst they agreed that 80% of EHC plans now completed on time was a significant milestone, they pointed out that the report also stated that ‘ineffective action’ had been noted by the inspectors when it came to governance and quality assurance processes, pointing out that the service had been through a turbulent time with workforce changes and that parents reported that EHC plans were still subject to ongoing delays, with poor communication.
The letter also said that too many education placements break down because of a lack of robust planning.
Simon Dowling, the Green group’s deputy spokesperson for Children, Young People Education and SEND, said:
“It’s great to hear that the council is getting a grip on EHCPs and Annual Reviews. This is a significant milestone, and we know that employees in the SEND service are working incredibly hard to keep on top of these given that the need for EHCPs is growing and growing.
The letter is very clear that the Suffolk SEND partnership – which includes the council and health partners – still has much to do, and that action on some of the leadership and governance recommendations has been ‘ineffective’, which is very worrying considering how long parents have already been waiting for SEND improvement in Suffolk.
It is clearly still a service under enormous pressure.
We are asking the Reform UK administration at the council to take this feedback extremely seriously, and to make further improvement an absolute priority for their first few months in office.
It looks as though the SEND service is beginning to improve – it will take a great deal of hard work to make sure the improvement continues.
We will looking for reassurance from the Reform UK administration that they will be making additional investment in SEND to accelerate the rate of improvement.”
