Dear Colleagues,

Following Cumbria’s Local Area SEND Inspection, carried out this week jointly by inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), we wanted to write to you all.

First and foremost, to thank you all for your efforts, either directly this week in working with inspection teams and contributing to their experience of the Cumbrian system, and also each and every day in work, where your dedication, creativity and commitment continue to make a difference to the lives of some of our most vulnerable children, young people and families. It is very clear how well valued you all are.

We will not be able to share any of the findings from the inspection process until the publication of the report, which will be delayed by a number of bank holidays coming up and also by purdah. However, we wanted to share with you that the inspection team were impressed with the quality and accuracy of our self-view. Our self-assessment findings triangulated across the system, and inspectors found that we had identified both our strengths, and our priorities for improvement very well.

Whilst it is clear that we have a long way to go before we will be satisfied with our offer, the team were also clear that our direction of travel was positive, and shared our views about the commitment and quality in the Cumbrian workforce.  We are keen to ensure that we do not lose momentum in our work to improve the Cumbrian system, and make the lived experience of our children and families with SEND the best it can be. As such, we will be working quickly, and before we receive our inspection report, to ensure that our plans are further developed to reflect what we have learned this week.

Once again, thank you all for your hard work every day, and for your help and support over the course of the last two weeks.

With best wishes,

• Dan Barton, Assistant Director – Education and Skills, Cumbria County Council
• John Macilwraith, Executive Director – People, Cumbria County Council
• Hilary Fordham, Chief Operating Officer, Morcambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group
• Julia Westaway, Senior Commissioning Manager Morcambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group
• Peter Rooney, Chief Operating Officer, North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group
• Greg Everett, Senior Commissioning Manager, North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group