Most parents of children with special needs living in the Kingston area are unhappy with the services on offer, an Ofsted inspection letter revealed yesterday.

The letter stated a requirement for Achieving for Children, the council and Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group to explain in writing how they will foster a more positive relationship between parents and parent representatives.

Ofsted inspectors spoke with children, parents and carers during a week-long inspection of services across the borough for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The letter, published on November 5, reads: “Most parents who contributed to the inspection are unhappy with the local area.

“These parents have lost confidence in the local area to meet their children’s needs effectively in a timely way.

“They cite significant concerns, notably about communication to and from the local area, instability in staffing and the management of the transfer process of statements of special educational needs to education, health and care plans.”

Other areas needing improvements cited in the letter included the “poor” quality of education, health, and care plans written for individuals.

The letter continued: “In too many cases, outcomes and provision for health and/or social care were either missing and/or out of date, and/or lacked personalisation to the child or young person.”

Leader of Kingston Council, Councillor Liz Green, said: “We welcome an inspection so early in our administration and fully take on board the findings of the visit which has highlighted areas for improvement.

“We know that our need to work to improve these services and all our children and young people deserve the best opportunities.

“To do this we need to work more closely with parents and carers, schools, health partners and Achieving for Children and we are setting out a clear plan on how we will achieve the improvements.”