鈥淚nconsistent鈥 outcomes, and long waits for services for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have been criticised in the first inspections published under Ofsted鈥檚 new framework. The watchdog has published reports following joint area SEND inspections in and in February this year. The new regime, carried out with the Care Quality Commission, came into effect in January. Council areas are now given one of three ratings. Cornwall and Warrington achieved a middle rating. It means inspectors found their arrangements 鈥渓ead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes鈥. Each will face another full inspection in around three years. More than two thirds of councils inspected under the old framework in 2021-22 had 鈥渟ignificant weaknesses鈥 鈥 the worst record since the watchdog started visits six years ago. Reports highlight EHCP delays In Cornwall, inspectors found the experiences of school-age children with SEND were “not consistently positive鈥, sometimes due to a 鈥渓ack of clear information鈥 about services. Unlike services for younger and older pupils, those for five to 16-year-olds “do not consistently meet children and young people鈥檚 needs in a timely way鈥. Some common themes emerged across both inspection reports, particularly in relation to delays in accessing services and assessments. Although many children in Cornwall had their initial needs assessed 鈥渋n a timely way鈥, delays in the annual review process for education, health and care plans (EHCPs) were 鈥渢oo frequent鈥. This 鈥渞esults in plans not fully reflecting the changing needs of children and young people”. Leaders are “improving oversight in this area, but this needs accelerating鈥. The High Court ruled last year that children with special needs should not have to wait more than three months for changes to their care plans. Some children don’t get support when most needed Waiting times to access mental health services have been 鈥渞educed significantly鈥, though some children 鈥渟till wait too long for speech and language therapy鈥. But progress in reducing waiting times for neuro-development assessment has 鈥渘ot been successful鈥. This means 鈥渟ome children and young people are not able to access support when they most need it鈥. Children waiting for a specialist placement are 鈥渘ot in education that best meets their needs and are not receiving the specialist help they need鈥. The report also found planning for children with more complex needs was 鈥渘ot consistent鈥. 鈥淎s a result, some children and young people with complex needs do not get the right support at the right time.鈥 Kate Evan-Hughes, the council鈥檚 service director for education and community health, said she was 鈥減leased that the inspectors recognised the strong partnership working鈥 in the region. However, she said the council 鈥渞ecognise that there is always more that can be done to ensure the quality of service is consistent across all areas and ages鈥. Improvements are underway. 鈥楥hildren wait too long for health services鈥 In Warrington, inspectors found some children and young people 鈥渨ait too long to be assessed for health services鈥. This included assessments from the speech, language and communication therapy service, mental health services and the neurodevelopmental pathway. A Schools Week investigation revealed last year how thousands of children across the country are stuck on waiting lists for expert mental health help. Warrington鈥檚 leaders have introduced 鈥渟upport and guidance鈥 while children wait for services, but 鈥渟ome needs escalate鈥 continue to wait for help. The increased demand of EHCP assessments 鈥渙utstrips some services, such as the educational psychology services鈥 capacity to complete their reports in a timely manner鈥. These impacts 鈥渘egatively鈥 on the number of EHCPs completed within 20-weeks, meaning children鈥檚 needs are not met 鈥渜uickly enough鈥. ‘Backlog’ of annual reviews Government research in 2019 found more than 90 per cent of local authority principal educational psychologists experienced more demand for their services than they are currently able to meet. Inspectors also found a backlog of annual reviews, though the area 鈥渉as plans in place to complete all outstanding annual reviews by the end of the academic year鈥. 鈥淗owever, this means that these EHC plans do not recognise children鈥檚 and young people’s changing needs.鈥 Leaders are 鈥渁ware of the future demands on their services鈥 but they 鈥渉ave not secured sufficient resources, particularly workforce and educational places, to meet the current and future increase in demands across services鈥. Sarah Hall, Warrington鈥檚 cabinet member for children鈥檚 services, said the report highlighted 鈥渟ome of the good work our local area partnership is doing to make a difference to the lives of children and young people with SEND鈥. But she said they would 鈥渁lso fully take on board the areas of improvement highlighted in the report鈥.