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Devon’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Local Offer

Devon’s Written Statement of Action


All of the services supporting children and young people with SEND were inspected in December 2018. As a result, Devon County Council and NHS Devon were asked to make improvements in four areas:

  • Understanding of our strategy.
  • Improving communication.
  • Timeliness and quality of Education, Health and Care Plans.
  • Improving support for children with autism.

Devon’s Written Statement of Action (WSoA) explains what we are going to do to make improvements.

Written Statement of Action updates

Progress updates

Initial documents

Involving families in the SEND Written Statement of Action

We are committed to strengthening our communication with parents and want to reinforce our dedication to working in partnership with parents and their representative groups to improve the SEND system in Devon.

Over the past few months, the Local Authority and the NHS Devon CCG have been working closely with our partners, education providers and parents/carers to develop the Local Area Written Statement of Action. This engagement consisted of two phases.

Phase one consisted of a series of workshops and meetings to inform the content of the plan. A wide range of groups took part in these activities including:

  • SEND Local Offer Reference Group
  • Devon Parent Carers’ Voice
  • 1:1 conversations with individual parents
  • 1:1 conversations with parents at local support groups
  • Children’s Scrutiny
  • Adults Scrutiny
  • Devon Education Forum and phase associations
  • SEND improvement board
  • Education whole service meeting

The information gained at these meetings was used to create a draft Written Statement of Action.

Phase 2 involved detailed discussions around the draft plan that covered the actions identified, the outcomes we were looking for and the timescales we would work to.

The draft plan was published online with a form that parents and other stakeholders could use to feedback to us. Meetings also took place with a number of partners and stakeholder groups. Input to and feedback on the draft plan came from:

  • the SEND Local Offer Reference Group
  • a range of parent carers from established groups/forums
  • individual parents and carers
  • online submissions through the website form which was open to the public
  • the Department for Education
  • the SEND Improvement Board
  • Devon Children and Families Partnership Executive
  • Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Quality Assurance Committee
  • Devon County Council Corporate Leadership and staff
  • Devon Education Forum and Schools Phase Associations
  • Children’s and Health & Adult’s Scrutiny Committees
  • Sustainability & Transformation Partnership
  • SENCO forums
  • Babcock LDP
  • Children and Family Health Devon
  • individual schools and special schools, early years and other educational settings

This feedback was collated by the senior leaders into a final Written Statement of Action which was subsequently approved by the Local Authority Corporate Leadership Team and the NHS Devon CCG Quality Assurance Committee.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who contributed ideas and suggestions.

Road map

Take a look at our SEND road map which highlights some of the achievements and improvements that have taken place between 2019 and 2021.

The SEND inspection report

Between 10 and 14 December, inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission visited Devon. They met children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers, as well as staff in schools and settings, Local Authority and NHS staff. Inspectors also scrutinised data, strategies and plans.

Jo Olsson, who chaired the Devon Children and Families Partnership (DCFP) Executive, wrote to all parents and her letter can be found here. In her letter, she affirmed the commitment of partners to continue the programme of improvement, which inspectors confirmed was on the right track.

Nadhim Zahawi MP, then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families wrote his views in a letter to Devon County Council.

You can read the full inspection report from Ofsted and the CQC.

If you would like to find out more about how you can participate in the improvements, please email sendlocaloffer@devon.gov.uk.


We take accessibility seriously. However, some of the information presented in these documents may not be fully accessible to someone using assistive technology such as a screen reader. If you need guidance, or an alternative format, email childsc.sendimprovementprogramme-mailbox@devon.gov.uk with details of any preferred format and the assistive technology you use.


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