Services for children with special educational needs (SEND) provided by Kent County Council are improving.

Following a monitoring visit in April, government officials have praised the “collective determination” of KCC and NHS Kent and Medway to make sustainable improvements.

Last year, the county’s local authority and NHS bosses had been required to implement a plan after Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission identified the need for significant improvements in nine areas during an inspection.

Following the criticism, KCC took on 80 extra staff.

And now inspectors say: “It is evident that the area has made progress in all nine areas of the Improvement Plan, with the most progress in the commissioning of specialist services.”

Given the progress made, the level of formal oversight will now be reduced.

During their visit, the Department for Education (DfE) inspectors spoke to young people, parents and schools about their experiences following the changes being made.

KCC cabinet member for education and skills, Cllr Rory Love (Con), said: “It is reassuring to learn that DfE and NHS England can see the progress that KCC, NHS Kent and Medway, schools, and other settings have made in improving special educational needs services across the county.

“While our work so far has been noted, I know there are families of young people with special educational needs and disabilities who have yet to experience the improvements, and we know we still have more to do.

“But we have already tripled the number of cases completed each month, halved the number of cases waiting for an assessment decision, and are on track to hit national averages for the 20-week deadline by September.

“With our partners across Kent, we will continue to focus on further improving the services available to young people and their families, with the support of DfE and NHS England.”

The chief nursing officer at NHS Kent and Medway, Paul Lumsdon, said: “While it is important to have our hard work in making significant progress recognised, we know more needs to be done and we will continue to work together to improve outcomes for all our children and young people.”

Kent is due its next inspection visit in December.