Torbay SEND Inspection
On Monday 3rd March 2025, the SEND local area partnership was informed that Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are beginning their three-week inspection of Torbay SEND services.
The partnership is made up of the council, the integrated care board (including all NHS providers), all schools and educational settings, adult social care services and our parent and carer forum including the wider voluntary and community sector who provide services for Torbay children and young people.
Up to ten inspectors will be examining the services that the Torbay local area provides to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The aim of the inspection will be to understand people’s experiences of SEND services in Torbay, and assess if the partnership:
- has improved upon the eight areas of weakness identified in the last
inspection - meets one of the three judgements regarding the quality of its services.
A big part of the inspection are service user surveys. This is your chance to have your say on how we deliver SEND services for our children and young people. There will be three surveys:
- One for children and young people
- One for parents and carers
- One for practitioners
If you are one of the above groups, please fill in a survey(s) as soon as possible. You will need do this by 9am on Tuesday 11 March.
The inspection team will be placing a lot of weight on the experiences of service users so it’s important that you complete an appropriate survey.
There are also guidance documents on what to expect during an area inspection.
SENDIASS Torbay has offered to help parents and carers who need assistance filling out the surveys, or who can’t access them online. Call 01803 207884 or email sendiass@torbay.gov.uk.
They will have a laptop and member of staff available and can either go through the survey with you over the phone or in person. This would be completely confidential.
Inspectors will also be looking at key cases and will speak to staff, service users, carers, and partners.