Bexley's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Improvement Notice Lifted Following Successful Reforms
Bexley has successfully had its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) improvement notice lifted, marking a significant milestone in the council's efforts to enhance its SEND provision.
The positive news was announced by Councillor Caroline Newton, Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate Services and Education, who expressed her appreciation to the entire team for their hard work. Mr. Taylor, Head of Service for Early Health and MASH, provided further detail on the SEND reform plan, highlighting four key areas of focus: the expert hand offer
providing specialist advice to mainstream schools, the development of specialist inclusion bases, strengthening partnerships across education, health, and social care, and robust monitoring and accountability arrangements.
The expert hand offer
is designed to provide specialist advice and support to mainstream education settings. This includes an additional offer of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and Educational Psychologists (EPs) to schools, supplementing the existing support from EPs within the early intervention service. While recruiting and retaining EPs presents a challenge, Bexley is actively working to increase their numbers.
Mr. Taylor noted that Bexley had been proactive in shifting towards specialist resource provisions within mainstream schools, putting the council way ahead of the curve
compared to other local authorities. The focus is on developing these specialist resource provisions within mainstream schools, referred to as 'inclusion bases' or 'units within the school that's able to hold on to mainstream pupils and avoid them having to go to our borough specialist schools'. The long-term objective is to enable more children to remain in local schools and communities while ensuring specialist support is available where required. In the first year, 122 resource provision places were opened, with a further 56 planned for this year.
Partnerships across education, health, and social care are being continuously strengthened. The Best Start Family Hubs programme is evolving into a more connected, accessible, and community-based service. The opening of BSFH Thamesmead at Lakeside Medical Centre, for instance, enhances integration with health services. While specific tangible benefits for children with SEND are not explicitly detailed, the overarching aim of these strengthened partnerships is to provide more accessible support, ensuring children and families can access the right help at the right time.
An all-member briefing will be held to discuss the SEND reform plans in more detail. The plan is set to be published in a more digestible format in the coming weeks. Councillor Newton also thanked the committee for their scrutiny work, noting that Ofsted had positively viewed the committee's challenge during the SEND inspection prior to the improvement notice being lifted.
Public reports pack 13th-Oct-2026 19.30 Childrens Services and Education Overview and Scrutiny Co
Agenda frontsheet 13th-Oct-2026 19.30 Childrens Services and Education Overview and Scrutiny Comm