Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Local SEND Reform Plan 2026

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Local SEND Reform Plan June 2026

Name of Local Authority: Bcp Council

Name of Integrated Care Board: NHS Dorset

Local SEND Reform Plan Sro: Lisa Linscott

Executive Summary

We have listened carefully to children, young people and families in developing our local vison. As one young person told us: “we want schools to be accepting, welcoming and supporting so that everyone has the same experience in every school”. Our delivery programme sets out how we will build an inclusive 0-25 system where children and young people with SEND are supported early, consistently and close to home, and where belonging is embedded in everyday practice.

Our 3-year ambition is clear: “We belong, We’re listened to. We can thrive”.

Bcp is well positioned to deliver reform, with strong leadership and partnership across education, health, care and the voluntary sector, and a shared commitment to improving outcomes for children, young people and families. Our Local Partnership Maturity Assessment confirms developing strengths in governance, co-production, early identification and inclusion, and our recent inspection recognised improving lived experience. However, challenges remain and children and young people with SEND and their families still have inconsistent experiences and outcomes.

Bcp has experienced a sustained increase in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in recent years, above national and regional averages, with growth in autism, social, emotional and mental health, and speech, language and communication needs. Use of alternative provision and Independent Special and non-maintained Special Schools is also higher than average.

We will strengthen inclusive practice across settings, provide timely and flexible support without unnecessary barriers, and ensure the right provision is available at the right time. In three years, Bcp will have a mature, integrated Experts at Hand model that is a normal, trusted part of everyday practice. The system will be visible, well understood, and positively experienced by settings, families, and practitioners. Everyone will understand their role in supporting children and young people and work together to ensure the right support in the right place at the right time.

We will build skills, confidence and capacity in our workforce across education settings, local authority and health, focusing on inclusive practice, group level interventions and efficient use of specialist expertise. Workforce sustainability and value for money are central to programme delivery.

We will address variability in experience by improving communication, co-production and partnership working. Delivery of our plan will build confidence among children, families and professionals that the system can respond early, fairly and consistently.

By 2029, children and young people with SEND will experience greater belonging, earlier support and improved outcomes. Families will report increased confidence and trust in the system, and partners will share responsibility for inclusion. Through delivery of this plan, we will reduce reliance on crisis responses and escalation, stabilise high needs pressures, improve value for money and support the long-term financial sustainability of the system. We will see reduced request for EHCNAs as more children and young people in mainstream settings will benefit from earlier support as out Experts at Hand model build confidence. We will see a decrease in the use of alternative provision and increase in children and young people remaining in their community settings and schools.

Section 1 – Vision and Goals

We will deliver a fully inclusive 0–25 SEND system in which children and young people feel they belong, are listened to, and can thrive. Through strong partnership working and co-production, children, young people and families will receive high-quality, timely support in their local communities, enabling the majority to succeed in inclusive mainstream settings, with responsive access to specialist support when needed.

Our Goals

A. Improve Outcomes for Children and Young People Children and young people with SEND achieve strong outcomes.

• Increase attendance of children and young people with SEND
• Increase the proportion achieving a Good Level of Development (EYFS)
• Increase the number sustaining education, employment or training post-16

B. Strengthen Inclusive Mainstream Provision Mainstream settings are inclusive, confident and equipped to meet needs early.

• Increase the proportion successfully supported in mainstream settings with a strong universal offer
• Increase specialist places and resource base provision within mainstream
• Reduce reliance on EHCPs through earlier intervention
• Increase access to support through the Experts at Hand model
• Reduce reliance on alternative provision through earlier identification

C. Improve Confidence of Children, Families and Partners Families experience a transparent, responsive, co-produced system.

• Increase parent and carer satisfaction
• Strengthen co-production and engagement with families
• Improve lived experience and feedback from children and young people

D. Deliver Financial Sustainability and Value for Money Resources prioritise early intervention and inclusion.

• Reduce High Needs Block pressures over time, turning the curve on in year deficits
• Shift investment toward inclusive mainstream provision
• Strengthen financial governance and accountability

E. Strengthen System Leadership and Accountability Partnership leadership is collaborative, data-driven and outcome focused.

• Embed strong multi-agency governance and decision-making
• Use maturity frameworks to drive improvement
• Ensure robust, data-led performance management across services

Section 2 – Strategy

• Where the local area partnership expects to be in the next 3 years

MHSTs, the Virtual School, and supported employment pathways post-16, with developing practice of Inclusion Leads and Ep consultation. (BB1, BB4)

system alignment. From 1 April 2026, NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board is clustered with Bath and Northeast Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (Bsw) Icb and Somerset Icb, embedding improvements for children and young people with SEND in the future operating model. As the Icb strengthens place-based partnerships and moves toward a strategic commissioning function, SEND services will be shaped and delivered through neighbourhood, multidisciplinary teams—supporting more consistent decisions, clearer accountability, and earlier, coordinated support closer to home. (BB1, BB2, BB3, BB4)

• A strengthened universal SEND offer,

co-produced with SENCOs, partners, children and families, which has clarified ordinarily available provision and shared expectations for inclusive practice. Early evidence shows this is supporting earlier intervention and making inclusion “ordinary business” in many settings. (BB1, BB4)

• An established approach to the creation

and utilisation of inclusion bases, with several initiatives underway to increase capacity across special schools, satellite sites and specialist bases, with further capital projects planned to expand secondary and post-16 provision. Collaboration between the LA, MATs, schools and colleges to identify sites for development is good, resulting in a number of place creation opportunities for further commissioning or capital investment. (BB2)

Our Experts at Hand model will bring together a broad and sustainable workforce, drawing not only on Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists, but also on practising teachers, SENCOs, inclusion leaders and the Parent Carer Forum, embedding lived experience and frontline expertise into everyday practice. This model will shift the system from referral-led intervention to one rooted in consultation, coaching and capacity-building, strengthening inclusive practice at scale and ensuring that early, locally available support becomes the norm. (BB1, BB3, BB4)

• Improved partnership, leadership and

governance, with refreshed boards, clearer shared oversight across education, health and the local authority, a collaborative Best Start in Life Plan and increased effectiveness of multi-agency decision making. (BB3)

This will be delivered through a Bcp cluster model, enabling localised, place-based working, with a single point of contact providing a simple, accessible and consistent route into support. A digitally enabled access system will underpin this approach, ensuring transparency, responsiveness and equity, alongside robust monitoring and evaluation processes that track reach, impact and outcomes in real time. These insights will feed into a strong governance structure, with clear lines of accountability from the Experts at Hand Board through to highlight reporting to the SEND and AP

• A High Needs Block (Hnb) Board has been

established (BB3) to provide strategic financial oversight for SEND funding. The Board:

Scrutinises cost drivers and benchmark against comparator authorities

Board. (BB2, BB3) Inclusion leads will play a pivotal role within this model, using data intelligence to target support, address inequities and ensure equitable reach across settings and communities. Delivery will be coordinated through a team manager, who will oversee the deployment of secondees, and inclusion leads, ensuring coherence, consistency and effective multidisciplinary collaboration across clusters.(BB4)

Identifies and monitors cost containment measures to manage demand and expenditure

Ensures value for money through equitable, effective, and sustainable use of resources

Tracks trends in demand, spend, forecasting, and pressures, and implement corrective actions

We will have a trusted, integrated Experts at Hand system that operates as everyday practice across education, health and inclusion. Schools and settings will experience a simple, fair and transparent system where support is available early, locally and without repeated referrals or unnecessary escalation. Specialist expertise will be brought closer to settings through a single, clear route to multidisciplinary advice, focused on consultation, coaching, modelling and capacity building rather than gatekeeping. Mainstream settings will be able to access support at a setting and group level, building their capacity and confidence to support children and young people with SEND from 0 to 25. (BB1, BB2)

Monitors quarterly SEND Reform Data Returns

• Oversees the deficit recovery plan
• Improved relational practice with families,

particularly at individual case level, supported by a trusted Sendiass service, effective mediation and Early Dispute Resolution, and growing confidence that families are being listened to within statutory processes. (BB4)

A strengthened and fully embedded Universal SEND Offer will ensure that inclusion is understood as “how we work” across all settings. Supported by Experts at Hand, practitioners will routinely access timely advice and coaching to meet need early, without waiting for diagnosis or statutory processes. This will include a strengthened focus on common and emerging areas of need, including speech and language, autism, Adhd and social, emotional and mental health needs. The development of a neurodiversity-informed system, including the implementation of a Neurodiversity Tool and an all-age needs-based model of care for Adhd

• Areas of excellence at key life stages,

notably Early Years (early identification and intervention) and post-16 supported internships and employment pathways, demonstrating what is possible when pathways are well designed around need. (BB1)

• Co-produced Bcp Three Tier Alternative

Provision (AP) delivery plan is in its mobilisation phase and is supported by an

Alternative Provision Delivery Board and ‘The Difference’ (a leading education charity). A popular primary network of schools has been established to support improvement at Tier one and development of a secondary network is underway. Provision at one of our Primary Schools has been highlighted to the DfE as an example of best practice. (BB2, BB3)

and autism, will support earlier identification, strengths- based support and reduced reliance on diagnosis-led pathways. (BB1, BB4)

Aligned delivery of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Transformation Programme will ensure a no-wrong-door approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health, integrated within locality models and Experts at Hand, further strengthening early intervention and reducing escalation.

• ‘Cradle to Career’ place-based working is

being positively received by schools and health partners, and this work is being supported by The Reach Foundation (a charity which supports leaders, schools, and communities to build stronger systems of support around children) (BB4)

There will also be clear alignment with the work of public health children and young people’s 0-19 service with the ambition to increase number of children achieving Good Level of Development (Gdl). This will include strong links with the SEND team/pathway within the public health children and young people’s 0-19 service.

Delivery of this model will be enabled through locality- based clusters of schools and partners, aligned with Family Hubs and Best Start in Life, creating strong networks of shared responsibility and peer support. These Bcp clusters will act as the primary delivery mechanism for inclusion, enabling coordinated use of targeted funding, specialist outreach and early intervention, and fostering a strong sense of belonging within local communities. Children and young people will experience consistent, inclusive environments where they are supported to thrive alongside their peers and feel known, understood and valued within their education setting and community. (BB3)

What Needs to Change

Despite these strengths, the system is not yet working consistently for all children and young people:

• Delivery remains fragmented, with unclear

roles, thresholds and pathways, variable follow-through, and uneven access which remains overly referral-led. (BB3, BB1)

• Impact is not consistently embedded or

evaluated, and learning from complaints, mediation and lived experience is not yet systematically used to drive improvement. (BB4)

This will be complemented by a coherent, place-based approach to inclusion and sufficiency, underpinned by a three-tier model of provision spanning universal, targeted and specialist support, and aligned with a reformed Alternative Provision system. Through our inclusive sufficiency strategy and planned capital investment, we will increase capacity within mainstream

• Workforce pressures and capacity

constraints affect consistency, early intervention and development of preventative

approaches. (BB3) settings, including through inclusion bases, whilst ensuring that specialist provision is developed where it is most needed. This will support children to thrive in their local mainstream school, reduce reliance on out- of-area and high-cost placements, support more children and young people to be educated locally, and reduce travel distances over time.

• Persistent gaps and inequalities remain,

particularly for children and young people with Semh needs, children with autism, those in some secondary settings, early years children outside formal provision, post-16 learners on SEN Support, and young people post-19. (BB1, BB2)

A coherent outreach and capacity-building model, drawing on special schools and Alternative Provision, will extend specialist expertise into mainstream settings, supporting inclusive practice at scale through consultation, modelling and workforce development. Alongside this, a cluster-based targeted funding approach will enable flexible, needs-led deployment of resources to support early intervention and prevent escalation. (BB1, BB2)

• Transitions remain a key risk point,

including into Reception, post-16 and post-19, with late or reactive planning still too common. (BB1, BB2)

• Co-production is not yet embedded at a

system level, participation does not fully reflect local diversity, and feedback loops such as “you said, we did” are inconsistent. (BB4)

Partnership leadership will be mature, transparent and outcomes-focused, with strong governance, shared accountability and clear representation across education phases, health and families. Shared data and intelligence will be routinely used to inform decision- making, target support and evaluate impact. A redeveloped, co-produced SEND Local Offer will provide a clear, accessible and strengths-based front door for families and practitioners, enabling confident navigation of support and reinforcing expectations of ordinarily available provision. (BB3)

• Whilst collaboration between the LA, MATs,

schools and colleges is good this needs to sit within a clearer long-term strategy and governance model to ensure resources are focused on areas of priority so there is equity of accessibility across the system. (BB4)

Key Enablers

Within three years, co-production will be embedded as a core system leadership principle, with parent carers and children and young people actively shaping design, delivery and evaluation. We will have built on existing mechanisms used in developing this plan to ensure we directly hear the voices of children and young people, as well as parents and carers. Multi-agency Belonging Forums and locality structures will ensure that lived

The key enablers of an effective system are partially in place:

• Leadership and governance are

strengthening, with shared ambition and improved joint working with NHS Dorset, including joint commissioning group and forward planning. (BB3)

• Data and intelligence are improving,

supporting a better understanding of need, but alignment across partners remains incomplete and limits system-wide planning. (BB3)

experience informs decision-making at both strategic and operational levels, strengthening trust, reducing conflict and improving outcomes. Children and young people with SEND and their families will feel listened to and have increased confidence and trust in us. (BB3, BB4)

• Workforce capability and confidence are

mixed; there is strong relational practice in parts of the system, but a need for clearer expectations, shared models of practice and sustained workforce development. (BB1, BB4)

In three years’ time, the local area will resolve the majority of SEND concerns at the earliest possible starts, with fewer cases escalating to formal routes. This will be embedded through stronger learning loops which will be fully integrated into everyday practice through strengthened quality assurance.

• Co-production and mediation provide solid

foundations but need to shift from mainly reactive activity to proactive system shapers, with children and young people’s voices more consistently captured and acted upon. (BB3, BB4)

From early years through to adulthood, the system will support children and young people through clear, coherent pathways. Early identification will be strengthened through integrated locality partnerships between Best Start Family Hubs, health services and education providers, while Preparing for Adulthood will be embedded from the earliest stages. By 2028–29, young people will access flexible, employment-led pathways, with strong support into education, training and work, reduced risk of Neet outcomes, and improved independence and life chances. (BB1, BB2)

In summary, Bcp has strong foundations, committed partners and clear examples of what works. The next phase must focus relentlessly on integration, consistency and impact: embedding practice across all settings, implementing Experts at Hand, and ensuring that lived experience, data and workforce development drive a joined-up system that delivers equitable outcomes for all children and young people with SEND.

In summary, the Experts at Hand model, combined with a strengthened universal offer, locality-based delivery and a coherent sufficiency strategy, will act as the engine for change: embedding inclusive practice, building workforce capability, integrating services and ensuring that earlier, fairer and more effective support becomes the norm, and that all children and young people experience genuine belonging within their local communities.

Baseline Target Metrics

Success measures

By 2029, children and young people with SEND in Bcp will experience greater belonging, earlier support and improved outcomes. We expect to see change in the following key indicators that evidence change within our system:

Increase in the number of children and young people without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

Earlier identification and support of needs, reflected in a reduction in escalation to statutory assessment and a lower proportion of Ehcna requests progressing to an EHCP, as needs are met effectively at an earlier stage

Increase in the number of available specialist places in mainstream settings in specialist bases

Decrease in the number and proportion of children and young people with EHCPs in non-maintained or independent special schools.

The number of alternative provision places both registered and unregistered commissioned by the local authority will be maintained after an increase during 26/27 and into 27/28 when they will plateau and then return to current levels in 28/29

Internally we will also monitor a wider range of indicators including:

• Increase in attendance
• Further decrease in suspensions and permanent exclusions for children and young people with SEND
• Partnership maturity through ongoing evaluation against our Local Partnership Maturity Matrix
• Positive experiences for children and young people and their families through co-production and engagement measures
• Increased practitioner confidence and consistency of practice across settings and phase in inclusive universal responses measured through inclusion Rag rating
• Coverage of developmental checks at 12 months and 2-2.5 years, offering an important opportunity for early identification of support needs.
• What is the local area partnership’s strategy for delivering on the above?

Our Local Partnership Maturity Assessment shows Bcp moving from emerging to developing across most pillars. Leadership stability, governance, co-production and inclusive practice are strengthening, but experiences for children, young people and families remain inconsistent. Too much support is still reactive, fragmented or delayed. Our theory of change is that sustainable improvement comes from coordinated shifts across all pillars, not isolated actions.

We will strengthen inclusive mainstream practice, ordinarily available provision and the graduated approach so that more children and young people can be supported in their local mainstream provision.

We will embed early identification and prevention from early years to post-16 so that more children will have needs met early, and reliance on specialist and crisis provision will reduce.

We will build our Experts at Hand offer so that children and young people receive the right support in the right place at the right time.

We will embed a sustainable and skilled workforce so that children and families will experience continuity, consistency and better outcomes.

We will work as one multi-agency so that children will experience coordinated support rather than fragmented services.

We will embed co-production, hearing the voices of children and young people as well as parents and carers, so that they will influence decisions, feel listened to and trust the system.

We will align resources to early help and inclusion, so that the system becomes locality based, financially sustainable and outcomes improve.

Together, these changes enable belonging, reduce crisis, and support all children and young to flourish.

• Please upload a completed copy of the Local Partnership Maturity Assessment Tool.

Document attached to email submission

• What is the local area partnership roadmap for the next 3 years?

• Communication of Inclusive

Place Sufficiency Strategy to schools and settings ensuring it is well-understood and buy-in is secured.

on target cohorts (Autism, Semh and Slcn)

together to enable stronger governance, forecasting of need and monitoring of usage and impact, from 0-25, for mainstream and specialist place needs.

Strong governance and reporting mechanisms continue to monitor the Inclusive Place Sufficiency Strategy and 3- tiered Inclusive Capital programme.

• Initiate delivery of strategy,

working with schools and settings to identify early opportunities for maximum impact.

• We will demonstrate a

sustained reduction in out-of- area placements and travel distances, supported by impact analysis of travel time and accessibility.

Embed consistent admission, commissioning and monitoring processes across all placement types: AP tiered approach and Fap protocol support children to be placed in appropriate settings and reintegrate in mainstream places where appropriate. Regular monitoring for all children who have moved back into mainstream to ensure the continued success of the placement and provide swift support where necessary to reduce occurrence of placement breakdown.

• Agree and implement an

Inclusive Design Charter, setting out the joint responsibility of education providers and the Local Authority to ensure sufficient places within inclusive, welcoming and well-organised environments that enable children and young people to belong and thrive in their local community.

• Agree and initiate delivery of a

three-tier Inclusive Education Capital Programme aligned with our Experts at Hand offer and graduated approach, ensuring assessment of travel impact across all developments. This will include:

• Inclusion as the default –

guidance enabling mainstream settings to develop inclusive

environments and on-site inclusion bases;

• Targeted inclusion bases –

delivery of Local Authority-commissioned provision within mainstream schools;

• Specialist provision –

planned specialist place developments aligned to evidenced need.

• Deliver the Education Capital

Programme approved by Cabinet (March 2026), including:

• a new DfE approved special

school for children with complex Semh needs;

• additional satellite sites linked to special schools;
• additional inclusion bases

providing specialist places in primary and secondary schools.

• Initiate the three-year Home to

School Transport Transformation Project overseen by Travel Board which seeks to provide improved outcomes for children and young people, promote independence and preparation for adulthood and

deliver significant and recurring financial efficiencies through procurement reform, route efficiencies.

Enablers

Enablers

Enablers

Capital Capital Capital

• Deliver the three-tier capital

investment strategy agreed by Cabinet in December 2026, ensuring ongoing alignment of capital expenditure against identified strategy and objectives.

• In March 2026, the Council

committed £13.9 million of High Needs Capital funding to deliver new specialist, alternative provision and inclusive place models across 2025/26–2027/28, with a further £300k allocated to accessibility adaptations across school sites.

• Deliver the three-tier capital

investment strategy agreed by Cabinet in December 2026, ensuring ongoing alignment of capital expenditure against identified strategy and objectives.

Digital and Data

• High quality data will enable robust monitoring.
• In May 2024, Bcp submitted a

successful bid via the DfE’s special free school programme. The DfE accepted the identified need for an additional 180 special school places. Following the reassessment of the programme Bcp was reassigned a £9.2m capital funding allocation and a free school site (Parkfield) to enable Bcp to deliver new specialist places from September 2028, addressing future demand at significantly

.

Communication

• Clear communication strategies

will ensure the approach is well understood and implemented.

lower long-term revenue cost than non-maintained provision. This remains a key priority as Bcp has a significantly higher percentage of pupils in Independent Special and non- maintained Special Schools compared to the national and regional averages.

• The DfE also announced in

March 2026 an allocation to Bcp of £9.2m over two years to deliver specialist school places. This alongside the Hnpca’s for 26/27, 27/28 and 28/29 will form the basis for our three-tier capital investment strategy due to go to Cabinet for approval in December 2026.

Digital and Data

• Ongoing investment in

place-planning data and forecasting, particularly for children with specialist needs and those accessing or at risk of accessing alternative provision.

Commissioning and monitoring

• Strengthened commissioning,

admissions and monitoring arrangements for targeted and specialist provision, ensuring

places meet both individual need and local demand.

Building Block 2: Access to specialist support and local placements Improving collaboration between settings and deploying expertise from a range of specialist and expert sources, to support schools and settings to meet the needs of children and young people earlier and locally This model sets out a realistic three-year trajectory from the current system, where demand, waiting times and reliance on statutory processes remain key challenges, towards a fully embedded 0–25 Experts at Hand approach. It represents additional capacity across education, health and care, designed to build sustainable inclusion within mainstream settings, reduce escalation to EHCPs and specialist placements, and ensure equitable access to early support across all providers, including those outside the local area. This model represents additional capacity and does not replace existing provision

Experts at Hand

Experts at Hand

Experts at Hand

Building Blocks

Building Blocks

Building Blocks

• Analysis and coproduction

confirms this is the right delivery model for Bcp, with supporting detail and evidence provided in the Eah Appendix

• Bcp Council and NHS

Integrated Care Cluster will jointly commission the phased delivery of the Experts at Hand (Eah) model, drawing on existing local authority specialist services and NHS community therapies to enable early implementation, ensure continuity, and avoid duplication

Experts at Hand is fully embedded as business as usual, operating within strong governance arrangements and widely trusted and valued by schools, health partners and families.

• Establish a cluster-based

Experts at Hand model as the entry point for SEND early advice and support, aligned to the three-tier AP and graduated approach framework. This will be a 0-25 service aligning the Ey SEND leads through to schools age and post 16/Fe, including out of area settings.

• Advanced Salt in post

Specialist expertise is used strategically and equitably, prioritising consultation, coaching and system leadership, with targeted intervention deployed proportionately and at the right tier.

• Scale and standardise cluster

models through clear governance arrangements, agreed quality standards and routine performance monitoring, ensuring consistent access and eliminating postcode variation.

• Define and publish a shared

core offer, with consistent language and expectations across education, health and inclusion, supporting universal, targeted and specialist responses.

Strong, preventative local inclusion ecosystems are in place, delivering consistent practice and equitable access regardless of setting type or location.

• Confirm and establish joint

commissioning with Icb to expand model

• Establish the core delivery

structure: Appoint a Team Manager and five Inclusion Leads, each leading a cluster of schools with a clear locality- based model.

• Fully integrate health, mental

health and inclusion services within Experts at Hand delivery, supported by shared accountability, joint decision-making structures and aligned outcome measures.

A successful ‘grow your own’ model is embedded, with a diverse range of school- and setting-based inclusion leads confidently operating as Experts at Hand across clusters.

Over the next three years, the model will be implemented through a phased approach, beginning with pilot clusters and scaling to full locality coverage, building capacity across education, health and care while embedding consistent practice and governance. The role of the Advanced Salt with be developed by the Local Area Leadership Team in Q1, but is expected to be in line with the recently received guidance and the four pillars from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists being:

• Deploy a multidisciplinary

workforce: Secure 10 seconded education leaders, alongside allocated Educational Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy capacity across clusters to builds sustainable capacity in mainstream settings.

• Strengthen further

whole-setting inclusive practice by setting clear system expectations for universal provision and environmental adjustments, underpinned by Qa processes, peer review and proportionate challenge.

A needs led neurodiversity model of care is embedded and supports early identification, reduced waiting times and high confidence from practitioners, parent carers and children and young people, reinforced through embedded coproduction.

• Extend the model across Early

Years, post-16, Ehe and key transition points, with defined ownership, oversight and transition assurance to prevent gaps in support.

• Advanced Salt: Meet with the

leaders across the system to agree what the role will and won’t do, Write Jd and get it banded and go out to recruitment

Clear digital system monitoring and evaluating impact with key metrics such as Reduction in EHCP requests, increased mainstream retention, reduced waiting times and improved attendance / exclusion data

Clinical leadership

Enhancing support into education

Strategic leadership

Leading on Research, Innovation and Improvement Further detail about the Bcp model can be found in the Eah appendix 4

• Use the learning from the pilot

use of the neurodiversity tool to inform scalability and related decision making that supports a shift towards a need led model of care.

• Confirm and finalise the

contract variations for Speech and Language coverage

• Launch the single point of

contact model: Ensure every school has a named Inclusion Lead and access to a consistent “team around the school” approach.

• Expand cluster-based targeted

funding and outreach models, supported by transparent governance, clear decision-making criteria and regular review of impact and equity across areas.

• Implement the digital access and triage system: Go live with

a single digital platform for requests, supported by a weekly triage panel and a 5- day expert allocation process. Ensure timely access based on assessed local need.

• Strengthen universal and

targeted offer delivery: Expand Special School and Alternative Provision outreach and embed Parent Carer Forum involvement to support co- produced inclusive practice.

• Embed data-led targeting and

equity: Use data intelligence, including RAG-rating of schools, to prioritise need, ensure equitable reach, and guide deployment of Inclusion Leads and secondees.

• Coordinate workforce delivery

effectively: Ensure the Team Manager oversees the deployment, alignment and impact of Inclusion Leads, secondees and multidisciplinary partners across all clusters.

• Establish governance,

monitoring and reporting: Implement a robust monitoring and evaluation system, with monthly reporting to the Inclusion Steering Group and

highlight reports feeding into the SEND and AP Board.

• Deliver regular, referral-free

multidisciplinary consultation spaces in each locality, underpinned by Educational Psychology consultation models and operating across all AP tiers.

• Embed Early Years settings,

schools and Best Start Family Hubs within the core operating model to ensure early identification, joined-up pathways and smooth transitions.

• Develop and pilot the use of a

Neurodiversity Tool to support earlier identification and needs-led support without reliance on diagnosis.

• Continue to build upon existing

work to recover existing waiting times for formal neurodiversity diagnosis.

• Align delivery of the Children

and Young People’s Mental Health Transformation Programme with Experts at Hand, ensuring a no-wrong- door approach and integrated locality-based support.

• Develop and embed a school

cluster-based targeted funding model, enabling resources to be deployed flexibly at locality level to meet emerging need and strengthen early intervention.

• Trial Eah approach across

one cluster with clear monitoring and evaluation to adjust the architecture as required by the end of year

Enablers

Enablers

Enablers

Workforce Partnership, Governance and Leadership Partnership, Governance and Leadership

• Skilled and sustainable

workforce development plan including leaders from schools and families.

• Clear governance and

accountability – Defined ownership, decision-making and escalation across clusters and partners.

Strong governance with clear leadership, decision-making and assurance arrangements that embed Experts at Hand as business-as-usual and ensure equity, consistency and trust across partners.

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

• Shared vision and practice

framework – A consistent, neurodiversity-informed graduated approach aligned to the three-tier AP framework, underpinned by a clearly defined and widely understood core offer.

Data and Digital

Shared practice model and quality standards A widely understood, neurodiversity-informed framework defining consultation led practice, appropriate use of specialist

• Shared quality and assurance framework –
• Integrated data and monitoring

– Aligned performance measures and reporting across education, health and inclusion

• Cluster-based operating model

with clearly defined multidisciplinary teams, referral-free consultation spaces, and embedded partnerships across Bcp

to track access, impact and equity.

expertise and graduated responses.

Locality and cluster based operating model. Strong local inclusion ecosystems with multidisciplinary teams, outreach and flexible resources, ensuring equitable access regardless of geography or setting type.

Workforce

• Skilled, aligned workforce –

Consistent training and support enabling confident delivery of neurodiversity informed, needs-based practice.

• A no-wrong-door approach

linking SEND, AP, mental health, and neurodiversity pathways support a positive experience for children and young people, their families and carers and seamless transitions across services.

Finance and Commissioning

• Transparent, flexible funding –

Cluster based commissioning with clear criteria and regular review to reduce variation and target need effectively.

Workforce

A skilled, distributed ‘grow your own’ workforce Investment in developing school- and setting-based inclusion leads from across phases and settings, with clear progression, support and recognition as Experts at Hand.

Commissioning

• Flexible, outcomes driven

commissioning and cluster funding aligned to AP tiers and need, enabling early intervention, rapid support deployment and reduced escalation

Data and Digital

• Integrated data, intelligence and

co-production. Robust use of data, lived-experience insight and co-production with parent carers and children and young people to monitor impact, build confidence and drive continuous improvement.

Building Block 3: System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co- production Putting in place the enabling conditions across a local area that ensures planning and provision reflects the local area and is joined up, including strategic co-production with parent carers and children and young people This approach ensures that strong, shared system leadership and governance across education, health and care is underpinned by meaningful co-production, robust data and transparent decision-making, enabling partners to work collectively to improve outcomes, build trust and resolve issues earlier and more consistently.

1. Shared Expectations, Culture and Practice

1. Shared Expectations, Culture and Practice

1. Shared Expectations, Culture and Practice

• Co-produce and publish a

simple, accessible co- production toolkit including a benchmarking tool (based on the Lundy model) that includes:

• Introduce peer review / dip-

sampling across services to test whether the standard is being applied consistently

• Externally validate practice

(e.g. peer review) to test maturity of co-production practice and system culture, including:

• Monitor whether disagreement

is being managed constructively

• how well the system

handles disagreement and builds trust through early resolution

• clear expectations for co-

production across for all partners (families + workforce)

• Build co-production

expectations into service specifications and contracts

• raising and resolving concerns

early (including use of mediation where needed)

• how well co-production with

parent carers and children is lived systematically

• Introduce incentives/support for

participation (e.g. transport, childcare, digital access)

• A focus on Bcp’s ‘language

that cares’ and respectful dialogue

• Shift from participation to

shared leadership roles for children, young people and families (e.g. co-chairs, advisers)

• Train practitioners in inclusive

engagement techniques (not just general co-production)

• Run whole-system

engagement sessions to test and refine shared expectations in practice

• Monitor to ensure children’s

and parent carers’ (analysed separately) engagement is embedded within locality / cluster working and decision- making and that it routinely influences service design and system priorities

• Use governance to evidence

reduction in escalation over time

Develop a segmented engagement plan (including children with Semh needs, less-heard groups etc, how will each be reached, by whom)

• Embed co-production into

commissioning cycles formally (requirements, evaluation, contract monitoring)

• Utilise benchmarking tool to

test whether co-production has happened at key points in pathways

• Publish regular public-facing

impact reports to close the loop with families

Establish locality-based engagement structures for children and young people, linked to clusters/localities

Introduce specific mechanisms to capture children and young people’s views directly and separately from parent carers, ensuring their voice is distinct

• Align Qa frameworks across

services to include co- production indicators

• Introduce thematic analysis

cycles (e.g. quarterly themes from feedback feeding into boards)

Commission or partner with Vcs organisations to reach cohorts the system cannot easily engage

• Ensure all major programmes

demonstrate how feedback has shaped decisions

Identify and prioritise a small number of high-impact processes to redesign first

Create process maps showing where co-production must happen

Map all existing feedback routes (complaints, Sendiass, Pcf, surveys etc.) and bring them into one framework

Agree a standard “you said, we did” reporting format

2. Communication and Relationships

2. Communication and Relationships

2. Communication and Relationships

• Launch redevelopment of the

SEND Local Offer, co- produced with children, young people and families, to improve accessibility, confidence and self-advocacy.

• Introduce real-time feedback

tools (e.g. post-contact feedback, digital touchpoints)

• Embed communication quality

into performance management and service evaluation

• Provide targeted support for teams where feedback
• Baseline current communication experience

highlights weaker relational practice

• Deliver Sendiass action plan and monitor impact
• Develop and roll out minimum

communication standards (including response times and tone)

• Embed Pct’s communication

support programme for schools and settings, refining based on feedback

• Embed Early Dispute

Resolution (Edr) as the default, supported by:

• workforce training
• clear access routes for families
• Complete Sendiass service review and action plan
• Embed process for learning

from complaints, mediation and feedback at a whole system level

• Strengthen, widen and sustain

Parent Carer Forum engagement so it is stable, influential and representative.

• Embed Parent Carers

Together (Pct) as a key role within the Experts at Hand model in order to build schools and settings’ skills in engaging with families.

• Ensure families routinely see

the impact of their feedback on service design and delivery.

3. Partnership Governance and Accountability

3. Partnership Governance and Accountability

3. Partnership Governance and Accountability

• Map all existing partnership

forums and decision-making routes

• Introduce formal reporting of

co-production impact into boards (not just activity updates)

• Commission independent

review of partnership governance and system effectiveness, including decision-making, accountability and impact.

• Rationalise and align

governance so co-production has clear influence at each level

• Build co-production into risk

management and escalation processes

• Include complaints, mediation

and tribunal themes within governance reporting

4. Shared Data and Evidence

4. Shared Data and Evidence

4. Shared Data and Evidence

• Agree a small, meaningful set of shared indicators
• Use predictive and trend data

to proactively identify issues and shape commissioning

• Align data collection methods

across organisations (so data is comparable)

• Define how lived experience

data will be captured consistently across partners

• Train leaders to use combined

data + lived experience in decision-making

• Implement shared partnership

dashboards, integrating lived experience and co-production feedback

• Use shared dashboards to:
• identify variation between localities
• target support and commissioning decisions
• Evidence routine use of

data and lived experience in commissioning and service redesign

Enablers

Enablers

Enablers

Co-production and communication

Co-production and Communication

Co-production and Communication

• Clear routes for families to access Edr and Sendiass
• Co-production embedded in

service design, commissioning and quality assurance

• Strong, representative system reflecting population diversity
• Launch communications for SEND Local Offer redesign
• Strong feedback loops ensuring transparency
• Children and young people and

families acting as equal partners

• Transparency around

governance and decision making

• Trusted access routes for support and dispute resolution

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

• Trusted governance with

transparency and consistent decision making

• Formalised partnership governance framework
• Agreed roles, accountability, escalation routes
• Inclusion of education, health, care, early years, Fe
• Creation of locality forums (e.g. Belonging Forums)
• Shared accountability for outcomes
• Strong collective ownership across education, health, care
• Locality forums functioning effectively

Commissioning and Finance

• Performance management against shared outcome
• Mature joint commissioning arrangements

Commissioning and Finance

• Resources dynamically

allocated based on need and impact

• Commissioning linked to evidence and outcomes

Finance

• Investment shifted upstream

• Increase use of local

placements and increase success at earliest stages

• Embed coproduction into

service design and review

• Normalise inclusive behaviours

and shared accountability

• Strong system leadership with

shared ownership

• Inclusion embedded in

organisational culture and behaviours

working across all settings, with a strong universal offer, aligned workforce, funding and accountability driving early intervention, reducing escalation and enabling children and young people to thrive from cradle to career.

impact of ordinarily available provision and universal offer

• Begin cultural shift towards inclusion as “core business”
• Formal local offer agreement

across all partners to secure mutual understanding of the universal baseline

Enablers

Enablers

Enablers

• Long-term capital investment aligned to local needs

Workforce Workforce

• Targeted workforce

development for SENCOs and leaders

• Sustained workforce strategy (retention, expertise, networks)
• Stable, skilled multidisciplinary workforce
• Strong multi-agency operational alignment
• Predictive data and intelligence informing planning

Capital

• Early capital scoping for inclusive adaptations

Data and Digital

• Mature partnership and coproduction structures
• Integrated data and digital systems for tracking impact

Data and Digital

• Mental Health support teams in

schools universal offer covers 100% schools (with other support services growing and adding to this offer)

• Baseline data and digital dashboards established

Governance and Leadership

• Clear governance and system leadership arrangements
• Stimulate engagement of

leaders to sustain key LA and Icb roles for success moving forward

Cradle to Career

Cradle to Career

Cradle to Career

System Establishment and Governance

Funding, Infrastructure and Governance

Impact Evaluation and Continuous Improvement

Confirm school clusters, targeted funding and engage partners.

• Set consistent financial

monitoring, reporting and accountability arrangements.

Establish a robust framework to collect and analyse quantitative data and qualitative feedback from all stakeholders.

Establish cluster governance structures, including leadership and steering groups.

• Recruit or designate key leadership roles

Compare outcomes across clusters to identify effective practice and refine delivery.

System Alignment and Capacity Building

Deliver initial Cradle to Career catalyst phase (three conference days) to identify local priorities.

Evaluate the impact of targeted funding, demonstrating value for money and reduced demand on statutory and specialist services.

• Deliver joint training for schools

and partners to embed shared practice and approaches.

• Deliver Cradle to Career conference programme

Early Years and Best Start Delivery

Systematically report findings and share impact with schools, partners and decision-makers.

Implementation and Continuous Improvement

Establish and operationalise Best Start Family Hubs as inclusive access points.

• Begin delivery of interventions

and support through cluster arrangements, testing and refining delivery models based on feedback.

Design, pilot and embed evidence-based early intervention approaches focused on identification, inclusion and prevention.

System Consistency and Workforce Development

• Support schools and providers

to embed consistent inclusive practice across clusters.

• Ensure active engagement

and communication with children, young people and families throughout implementation.

Strengthen sufficiency data collection to improve planning and provider engagement.

• Provide ongoing Cradle to

Career learning and support through external partners.

Family Access and Pathways Early Identification and Family Experience

Co-produce clear, accessible, strengths-based information

• Ensure a clear, navigable plan for every child from birth, with

and “self-serve” resources for families.

early identification embedded at all stages.

Develop navigable birth-to- adulthood pathways, including early identification points.

Outcomes in Early Years and Inclusion

Improve early years outcomes, including Good Level of Development (Gld).

Design and implement a consistent and inclusive support offer for families.

Increase inclusion across providers, with all settings supporting children with SEND.

Pathways, Transitions and Communication

Transition Systems and Practice Transition and Inclusion Framework

Embed consistent, evidence- informed transition processes across all schools and providers.

• Agree and implement a

transition framework, including development of transition- specific “micro-pathways” (e.g. home to nursery, nursery to Reception).

Audit transition processes and agree universal, targeted and enhanced (targeted plus) transition expectations, and roles.

Monitor and evaluate transition outcomes through data and stakeholder feedback.

• Pilot shared tools and evaluate

impact through data and stakeholder feedback.

Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) and Post-16 Systems

Preparation for Adulthood and 16–25 Pathways

Preparation for Adulthood (14–25)

Develop a clear 16–25 pathway framework with defined routes, progression criteria and gap analysis.

• Embed high-ambition PfA

outcomes from KS3–25 across EHCPs, SEN Support, reviews and transitions.

Embed employment as a core outcome, including expansion of Supported Internships and employer partnerships.

• Expand employment pathways, including Supported Internships

Embed early identification and prevention approaches to

and stronger employer partnerships.

support reduction in Neet and escalation into adult services.

Enablers

Enablers

Enablers

Co-production and Communication

Co-production and Communication

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

• Early and meaningful

engagement with education settings, Fe providers, voluntary sector and partners

• Co-design and clear

communications with stakeholders including parents and carers

• Bcp Education Conference

delivered to secure sector engagement and buy-in

• Simple, shared model

documentation and communications

• Parent/carer trust: Clear,

consistent guidance and fewer surprises.

• Continued engagement of

education settings and partners

• Continuous improvement

loop: Outcomes shape workforce development and future commissioning.

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

Data and Digital

• Access to shared, high-quality

data to identify need and priorities and evaluate impact

• Fully integrated data

system: SEND, SEN Support, Neet and outcomes linked for smarter commissioning.

• Clear articulation of partner

roles, responsibilities, and values with shared accountability

• Trust-building through co-

design rather than top-down implementation

• Provider confidence: Ongoing

coaching, practical problem-solving support.

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

• Defined partner roles,

responsibilities and shared values

• Robust governance

arrangements in place, including for transitions

Finance

• Value for money

focus: Investment aligned to sustained outcomes, not short-term fixes.

Data and Digital Data and Digital

• Access to high-quality, shared

data to identify need and inform priorities

Experts at Hand

• Access to shared, high-quality

data to identify need and priorities and evaluate impact

• Core infrastructure: Supporting

providers, pathways and young people in real time.

• Initial alignment of SEND, SEN

Support, Neet and participation datasets

• Participation sustainability

tools: Risk indicators, rapid re-engagement mechanisms

Commissioning

Commissioning alignment moving from places to pathways

Bcp Three-Tier Alternative Provision Model

Bcp Three-Tier Alternative Provision Model

Bcp Three-Tier Alternative Provision Model

Roll out the refined three-tier AP model across all schools, expanding capacity, embedding processes into business-as-usual, and formally launching ratified policies.

Secure sustainability through monitoring, evaluation, final handover from delivery partners, and transition to ongoing governance arrangements.

• Complete pilot phase of three-

tier Alternative Provision model including the development of Tier One with the support of The Difference (a national education charity)

• Evaluate impact through

continuous monitoring, lived-experience feedback from children and families, and iterative refinement of referral criteria, placements, training and commissioning arrangements.

• Complete mobilisation phase

of three-tier Alternative Provision delivery plan, which aligns with best practice identified through the Alternative Provision Specialist Task Force’s models. This will include contracting provision, sharing expertise and identifying pilot schools and area, developing referral pathways, place planning and financial models, designing Cpd and an evidence-based Tier 1 resource toolkit.

• Align the three-tier Alternative

provision model with other developments such as Families First, sufficiency and place planning and the targeted funded school cluster model.

• Implement pilot phase of the

three-tier Alternative Provision delivery plan with the support of The Difference (a national education charity).

Enablers

Enablers

Enablers

Project Management Partnership, Governance and Leadership Workforce

• Project management and

governance through the AP Working Board

• Universal induction for all

schools, supported by a scaled Cpd offer and accessible Tier One toolkit, ensures schools understand their responsibilities within the graduated approach and can embed Tier One as part of everyday practice.

• Formal commitment from pilot

schools, AP providers and other partners.

• Agreed referral criteria, AP

Panel processes, placement expectations and reintegration planning allow pilots to operate with confidence and consistency whilst still enabling learning and adaptation.

Data and Digital

• Robust baseline data on

exclusions, placements, AP usage, attendance and outcomes

Partnership, Governance and Leadership

Co-production and Communication

Workforce

• Cross-programme working to

avoid duplication (for example with Families First, targeted funding school cluster groups, place planning and commissioning).

• A common focus on inclusion,

belonging and the graduated approach.

• Coordinated communications,

launch activity and senior leadership endorsement reinforce the model as a shared system responsibility

• Pilot-specific training, coaching

and peer learning strengthen staff capability to deliver tier one provision and graduated approach within mainstream settings.

• Scaled-up, consistent

approaches to gathering lived-experience feedback are embedded into policy and practice, supporting continuous improvement and accountability

Data and Digital

• Systematic collection of data

and lived-experience feedback from children, young people and families informs refinements.

Finance

• Agreement to allocate required funding.

Data and Digital

• Routine use of performance

data, quality assurance reviews and outcome reporting enables ongoing oversight of access, effectiveness, cost and impact beyond the pilot and scale-up period.

• Increased number of available

specialist places in mainstream settings in specialist bases

Increased number of available specialist places in mainstream settings in specialist bases

• Reduction in the number of

Ehcna requests and reduction in number of all EHCNAs that result in an EHCP

Success measures

• Increase in the number of children and

young people without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

• Increase in the number of

children and young people without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

Increase in number of children and young people without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

• Increase in number of children

and young people without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

• Earlier identification and support of

needs, reflected in a reduction in escalation to statutory assessment and a lower proportion of Ehcna requests progressing to an EHCP, as needs are met effectively at an earlier stage

• Decrease in the number and

proportion of children and young people with EHCPs in non-maintained or independent special schools. (note this does not yet lead to a decrease in forecast expenditure against the High Needs Block due to increase in unit costs)

Decrease in the number and proportion of children and young people with EHCPs in non-maintained or independent special schools.

• Increase in the number of available

specialist places in mainstream settings in specialist bases

• Decrease in the number and proportion of

children and young people with EHCPs in non-maintained or independent special schools.

Beginning to see reduced number of Ehcna requests

• The number of alternative

provision places both registered and unregistered commissioned by the local

• The number of alternative provision

places both registered and unregistered commissioned by the local authority will be maintained after an increase during 26/27 and into 27/28 when they will

plateau and then return to current levels in 28/29

authority will return to May 2026 levels in 28/29

Leading indicators

Leading indicators

Leading indicators

• Decrease in suspensions and

permanent exclusions for children and young people with SEND

• Increased workforce Fte in

Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

Increase in attendance rate for children and young people with SEND

Decrease in suspensions and permanent exclusions for children and young people with SEND

• Increase in positive

experiences indicated through co-production and engagement with children and young people and parents and carers

• Increase in attendance rate for

children and young people with SEND

Decrease in waiting times for autism, Adhd and specialist services.

• Self-evaluation against our

Local Partnership Maturity Matrix, indicates progress in key areas

Increase in positive experiences indicated through co-production and engagement with children and young people and parents and carers

• Increased practitioner

confidence and consistency of practice across settings and phase in inclusive universal responses measured through inclusion Rag rating

• We expect to see some

increase and then plateauing in the number of alternative provision places both registered and unregistered commissioned by the local authority

• Decrease in suspensions and

permanent exclusions for children and young people with SEND

• We expect to see an increase

in number of Ehcna requests in this year, particularly as

more children and young people identified and supported early through consultation and universal or targeted approaches.

• We expect to see an in

increase in the number of alternative provision places both registered and unregistered commissioned by the local authority

• What will the local area partnership deliver in the first year?

Please outline the key workstreams, milestones and trajectory your local area partnership will deliver and achieve in 2026-27 as well as how you plan to spend the investment allocation that will help fund this year’s delivery. Please share key milestones and anticipated dates, success measures, cost breakdown and category. These should incorporate the core minimum requirements, be mapped to the building blocks above and should reflect a more detailed trajectory to the narrative, milestones and target metrics outlined in the 2026-27 column above.

to meet the needs of children and young people at the right time and as close to home as possible.

• The inclusivity of the

physical environment of education settings is strengthened through quality design principles and flexible delivery models Success measure

Admissions and placements processes for children being placed in special schools and inclusion bases

specialist bases:

of places in a locality-based pathway model.

inclusive environments

mainstream settings in specialist bases

72 additional specialist places in primary phase mainstream settings in specialist bases

Formal approval a three-tiered Inclusive Education capital programme for oncoming 3 years

Strengthen partnership model as enabler to support and improve successful reintegration and inclusion of children from AP, with strong monitoring to ensure sustained inclusion

Agree an Inclusive Design Charter to provide the principles for well-designed, and delivered, educational environments that enable children and young people to belong and thrive

Increased number of available specialist places in mainstream settings in support bases and specialist bases

Deliver the Education capital programme agreed by cabinet Mar 2026 to deliver new special and specialist places for recognised target cohorts of need (Autism, Semh and Slcn);

Coproduction and consultation for updated Home to school Transport policy for use in Autumn 2027 school admissions and consultation processes

Develop Inclusive Place

Planning areas and supporting data and forecasting to highlight strengths and areas of development within localised pathways EYs to P19

Home to School Transport Policy agreed

Develop School Organisation and Asset Management Board – to enable direct strategic collaboration with trusts for place sufficiency plan

Review and consultation on Home to School Transport Policy in readiness for implementation for Sept 2027

Application of robust competitive procurement process

Building Block 2: Access to specialist support and local placements Outcome

• A fully implemented,

cluster-based Experts at Hand model operating consistently across all areas A clear, cluster-based Experts at Hand model is in place across all areas, aligned with the Universal Offer, Families First and Best Start in Life, with shared purpose, language and expectations that reflect changing patterns of need and mainstream inclusion.

Confirm and document detailed Experts at Hand model, including:

Increased workforce Fte in Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

Plan start of pilot for proposed Experts at Hand model in one cluster

Increased workforce Fte in Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologist s, and support workers

New posts starting – prepare induction

Increase in the number of children and young people with SEN without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers. By end of Q4 this will have increased to:

Lisa McDonald Eah Project lead Rachel Gravett Deliver induction programme for all experts (education, health, secondees) Purpose and principles Implement shared data capture and reporting Director for Commissioning, Resources and Quality Offer by cluster Access criteria and referral routes Continue with recruitment process, shortlisting and arrange interviews Launch pilot across one cluster Chloe Morley Roles, responsibilities and expected outcomes Designated Clinical Officer for SEND Review delivery against outcomes Provide systemwide briefings to schools, settings, partners and parent carers Confirm funding model, contractual arrangements and governance using performance data and stakeholder feedback

• Schools and settings

can easily access the right expertise at the right time Schools and settings can access timely, practical expertise without escalation or “loudness”, enabling early adjustments to

Salt – 5,035 Baseline & Needs Analysis: Establish regular learning and problem-solving forum Address remaining capacity or capability gaps Ot – 2,518 Finalise cluster- level analysis using SEND, attendance, behaviour, Ep – 3,357 Finalisation for contract variations and Strengthen workforce development and environments, communication and practice through clear, accessible and non-jargonistic support routes.

CAMHS/Mhst data

commissioning planning

peer support approaches

Map school readiness against Ordinarily Available Provision (Oap)

Test and refine access pathways based on early learning

Agree sustainability plan and priorities for the following year

• Increased confidence

and capability in mainstream settings to meet SEND needs early Mainstream settings are confident in meeting SEND and emotional wellbeing needs early, using inclusive, outcome-focused approaches, without reliance on diagnosis, and through coaching-based partnerships with families.

Develop shared language, consistent practice expectations, and collaboration protocols

Share learning and impact across the wider system.

Identify priority themes and target schools

Establish shared performance and learning framework and agreed data set

Finalise model – structure, funding and commissioning (Slas / Mous)

Begin workforce alignment and role clarification across partner organisations

Prepare for full Eah launch, including

• Reduced escalation to

crisis and specialist provision Earlier, proportionate universal and expert support reduces unnecessary escalation to crisis and specialist provision, ensuring need—not system pressure or parental entitlement—drives decision-making and support.

induction planning

Develop systemwide communication plan and service identity: engage Schools / settings & Build Buy-In

Stable, well-understood Experts at Hand model established

Implement access and delivery systems: single point of contact, digital platform, triage,

Develop role profiles, adverts and recruitment campaign

Success measure and referral-free consultation.

Increase in the number of children and young people without EHCP or specialist placement supported by Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers

Sustainability plan and clear strategic priorities for the next year mapped having reviewed feedback on delivery model

Learning, impact and emerging evidence shared across the wider system

Leading indicator Increased workforce Fte in Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists, and support workers Refine model based on what is working and local need Drive inclusive practice and early intervention: outreach expansion, neurodiversity approach, Early Years integration, and “grow your own” workforce.

Embed data, funding and

governance: data-led targeting, cluster-based funding, strong monitoring, and reporting to Eah and SEND/AP boards.

Building Block 3: System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co- production Leading Indicator Self-evaluation against our Local Partnership Maturity Matrix, indicates progress in key areas

Jeanette Yorke Head of SEND

Co-produce and begin development of a co-production toolkit and benchmarking approach (Lundy model), including:

No change expected

Launch and test the co- production toolkit and expectations across priority services and clusters

No change Review and refine the co- production toolkit and benchmarking approach based on learning and feedback

Self- evaluation against our Local Partnership Maturity Matrix, indicates progress in key areas

Establish and begin delivery of locality-based engagement structures for children and young people, ensuring:

Evidence how children and young people’s voice (captured separately) and parent carer voice are influencing:

• clear

expectations for co- production across all partners

• “language that

cares” and respectful dialogue

• expectations

for raising and resolving concerns early

• Children and

young people’s voice is captured directly

• Children and

young people

• service design
• decision- making
• system priorities

Strengthen reach and

(including mediation)

and parent voice are analysed separately

representation of engagement activity, ensuring participation reflects local diversity

Run whole- system engagement sessions to test and refine shared expectations in practice

Begin delivery of regular engagement cycles across children and young people, parent carers and partners

Embed routine “you said, we did” reporting across the partnership

Develop and agree a segmented engagement plan, identifying:

Demonstrate how feedback (including complaints, mediation and lived experience) is:

Introduce and embed “you said, we did” reporting across key programmes and services

• children and

young people (including less- heard groups)

• parent carer

groups

• analysed systematically
• used to inform service improvement

Refine communication and Edr approaches based on:

Implement the shared feedback framework, bringing together:

Design and agree locality- based children and young people’s engagement structures aligned to clusters/localities

• engagement feedback
• complaints
• Sendiass insights
• mediation themes
• family experience
• feedback and escalation patterns

Demonstrate improved consistency and responsiveness in communication across services

Introduce specific mechanisms to capture children and young people’s views directly and separately from parent carers

Launch redevelopment of the SEND Local Offer, co- produced with children, young people and families

Roll out minimum communication standards across services

Commission or partner with Vcs organisations to reach less-heard groups

Embed aligned governance arrangements, with clearer:

Begin embedding the early dispute resolution (Edr) approach, including:

Identify and prioritise high- impact processes for redesign, and map where co- production must happen

• decision- making
• escalation routes
• accountability

Begin development of shared partnership dashboards, integrating:

• clear and accessible routes for families
• workforce awareness and initial training

Begin implementation of the Sendiass review and

Map all existing feedback routes (complaints, Sendiass, Pcf, surveys etc.) and design a single partnership feedback framework

service data

lived experience

co-production feedback

Agree a standard “you said, we did” reporting format

improvement plan

Confirm Year 2 priorities, informed by:

Introduce governance reporting of feedback, complaints, mediation and tribunal themes

• feedback
• data
• co-production insight

Baseline current communication and family experience

Develop and agree minimum communication standards (response times, tone, clarity)

Implement initial shared data capture and reporting, including lived experience measures

Design a shared early dispute resolution (Edr) approach, including:

• clear routes for

families to raise concerns

• the role of

mediation

Map all existing partnership governance forums and decision-making routes to identify

duplication and gaps

Agree a small, meaningful set of shared indicators, including experience and escalation measures

Engage with Schools Forum on Local SEND Reform Plans Building Block 4: Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

Lisa McDonald Universal Offer Workforce confidence and skills baseline established to enable monitoring and evaluation as we progress through the model Universal Offer Increased practitioner confidence in inclusive universal responses measured through inclusion Rag rating Universal Offer Increased practitioner confidence in inclusive universal responses measured through inclusion Rag rating Eah Project Lead Agree and publish a shared definition, language and expectations for inclusion and the universal Offer Embed Universal Offer within everyday assessment, behaviour approaches and transition planning Review workforce confidence through follow-up checks

Workstream – Universal Offer

Kerry Smith Outcome Head of Education Effectiveness Evaluate impact of Universal Offer on early identification, inclusion and experience

• The Universal Offer is

embedded as everyday practice across all settings, acting as the consistent first response to need.

Co-produced, signed Universal Offer / Local Offer agreement

Deliver targeted workforce development responding to identified confidence and skill gaps

Improved consistency of practice across settings and phases measured through inclusion

Improved consistency of practice across settings and phases measured through inclusion

Pippa Emerson Head of Early Help & Targeted Interventions Produce “every child and young person can expect…” statement Refine guidance, training and Qa processes based on learning and feedback

• Practitioners

confidently identify needs early, work effectively with families, and use

Strengthen leadership

proportionate support without unnecessary escalation to specialist services.

Ensure mutual partnership understanding of adaptive teaching, environment design and ordinarily available provision

ownership through forums, peer discussion and shared expectations

scorecard Rag

Embed Universal Offer expectations into business-as -usual systems, leadership cycles and strategic plans Publish and routinely use practice exemplars to support continuous improvement

scorecard Rag

Increase in attendance rate for children and young people with SEND

Workstream – Cradle to Career

Implement peer review, joint visits and secondments led by inclusion leads

Outcome

Schools work collaboratively through a place-based school cluster model to develop inclusive practice with the support of targeted funding.

Decrease in suspensions and permanent exclusions for children and young people with SEND

Ensure alignment of Universal Offer with Families First, Early Help and Experts at Hand, including Best Start in Life & inclusion leads

Collect and share diverse case studies, including family and young peoples lived experience actively reinforcing shared expectations

Confirm ongoing alignment between Universal Offer and Experts at Hand

Family Hubs are inclusive, trusted access points for early support for children, young people and their families

Define the governance structure and feed into the Inclusion Steering board

Transitions between phases of education promote inclusivity and a sense of belonging for all children and young people.

A coherent, graduated system consistently meeting needs early

Promote use of expert advice within universal practice, reducing unnecessary escalation

Define metrics for inclusion dashboard and proportionate monitoring

Workstream – Bcp Three-Tier Alternative Provision Model

Finalise governance structure and monitoring through inclusion leads and

Outcome

Establish baseline workforce

A three-Tier Alternative provision model is piloted successfully in Bcp.

confidence and skills audit

finalisation of dashboard

Success measures

Map current inclusive practice, leadership ownership and system interfaces

Leading Indicators

• Increased practitioner

confidence in inclusive universal responses measured through inclusion Rag rating

Clear understanding of how universal and expert support connect

• Increase in attendance

rate for children and young people with SEND

Develop case study framework and identify priority practice areas including lived experience

• Decrease in

suspensions and permanent exclusions for children and young people with SEND

Cradle to Career Establish and operationalise Best Start Family Hubs as inclusive, trusted access points for early support Cradle to Career Begin implementation of aligned commissioning across clusters Cradle to Career Agree school clusters and governance structure, and engage partners including Fe and voluntary sector Cradle to Career bespoke Bcp conference days delivered as part of a catalyst phase, which identifies Cradle to Career Develop and agree commissioning framework aligned to 0–25 pathways Agree partnership charter with roles, Review and strengthen responsibilities and shared values sufficiency data oversight opportunities in each cluster.

Implement regular engagement cycles

Cradle to Career approach embedded across clusters

Recruit and embed a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner

Co-produce accessible, strengths based ‘self-serve’ information to support families to understand and access help early

Design, pilot and embed evidence based Best Start interventions focused on early identification, inclusion and prevention of escalation

Begin co-product ion of clear, navigable pathways for children from birth

Audit existing transition processes across phases and settings and identify strengths and areas for improvement

Design whole- system family support offer (0–

• aligned to

pathways

Identify, share and embed best practice in transitions across early

Agree and implement transition principles, systems and processes for the universal, targeted and targeted plus offers across all education phases

years and into Reception

Develop single, consistent local inclusion narrative and visual

Embed SEND Reform and Best Start Inclusion Lead priorities within new Health Visitor contracts and service specifications

Begin Post-19 Planning with clear post-19 EHCP expectations.

Baseline understanding of current transition

Design and implement a clear, inclusive

Agree levels of support, roles

practice and post-19 pathways and data sets

and responsibilities for transition

transition support offer for families

Create and implement a Clear 16–25 Pathway Framework with agreed local routes that is understood by families, providers and practitioners.

Define what “good transition” looks like at each phase.

Three Tier Alternative Provision

Complete mobilisation phase of three- tier Alternative Provision delivery plan, including:

Develop shared expectations for preparation for adulthood across SEND, SEN Support, education, Iag and commissioning,

Embed whole- system family support offer (0–

• aligned to

pathways

• identification of

pilot schools and area

• developing

referral pathways

• place planning

and financial models

• designing Cpd

evidence- based Tier 1 resource toolkit

Strengths based, SEND informed Iag consistently applied, with early pathway conversations embedded.

Experts at Hand link: Adopt a clearly defined model aligned to post 16 pathways, prioritising adaptation and sustainment over refusal, and providing targeted support to providers working with young people with complex needs.

Agree shared metrics and dashboard

Three Tier Alternative Provision

Establish shared, Bcp three-tier Alternative Provision model

Enter the pilot phase of the three-tier Alternative Provision

Confirm budget allocations and

establish commissioning approach

delivery plan with the support of The Difference (a national education charity).

Implement data sharing and report cycles

Align three-tier Alternative provision model with other developments

Embed regular engagement cycles (forums, feedback loops)

Alternative provision embedded as time-limited, planned intervention, with clearer reintegration or progression routes in pilot areas.

Three Tier Alternative Provision

Establish referral, decision making and scrutiny processes

Evaluate pilot phase and prepare to upscale the model – use baseline vs pilot data to establish measurable outcomes

Plan system wide knowledge- sharing

Establish baseline data

Roll out of tier one toolkit to all settings

Stronger shared accountability between schools, AP providers and the local authority for keeping children and young people included in pilot areas.

Commence tracking of live data

Advice will align with the AP Specialist Taskforce and will provide targeted, cross- professional expertise to strengthen early identification, assessment, and responsive

Implement regular multi agency review and evaluation

Test affordability and sustainability across the pilot

Adapt tiers based on evaluation and findings

Year 1 Spend Per Quarter

• How will the local area partnership deliver the first-year plan?

The local area partnership will use transformation funding to strengthen its existing project and programme leadership capacity ensuring strong oversight and focus to ensure delivery of the Local SEND Reform Plan and realisation of the outcomes and success measures. We will bring in project lead expertise to support the delivery of the Experts at Hand model. A portfolio management approach will be embedded across the SEND Reform Delivery Plan to track progress, manage risks and ensure efficient use of resources. This will ensure we can provide assurance to the DfE that delivery is on track, highlight risks and address issues at an early stage. We will use a combined approach of drawing on corporate transformation expertise and enhancing it with this additional capacity. This will ensure we continue to grow and share skills across the organisation. This approach is strengthened by NHS system alignment, with the Dorset Icb now operating within a wider cluster and moving toward place-based, multidisciplinary commissioning that enables more consistent decision-making, clearer accountability, and earlier, coordinated support closer to home for children and young people with SEND.

Investment will also focus on developing robust data dashboards and reporting tools to ensure accurate, timely tracking of performance measures and statutory returns. This will be complemented by strengthened data and analytical capacity drawing on existing skills within the organisation and training for existing staff to improve data literacy and analytical skills where required. We will use these tools to enable partnership oversight of a synthesised view of quantitative measures and lived experience insight, ensuring that our plan delivers efficient use of financial resources and improved outcomes and experiences for children and young people and their families.

Together, these measures provide sufficient capacity and capability to deliver the plan and support evidence-based decision making.

7. Other funding Local Authorities.

Block Transfers: If you have made a block transfer (Schools Block to High Needs Block) for 26-27, please set out how your plans for this funding align with the activities outlined above.

Not applicable for Bcp Capital: We have announced at least £3 billion in high needs capital between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to support children and young people (Cyp) with SEND, or those requiring alternative provision (AP). This funding is intended to support place delivery across the full 0-25 age range, including early years and post-16. We expect funding to support the following outcomes: a. Inclusion at the core of high needs sufficiency strategy, resulting in more children and young people with SEND accessing suitable places in mainstream settings, across all phases of education b. Every child or young person who needs a place in an inclusion base can access one c. Fewer children and young people with SEND needing to travel a long way to access a suitable placement d. Improved suitability of the mainstream estate to support children and young people with SEND, with adaptations to improve inclusivity and accessibility of the physical environment We also welcome innovative uses of high needs capital to drive inclusion, for example, investment in assistive technology for use in mainstream settings.

Please outline your strategy for how this funding will meet the outcomes above.

Bcp’s capital strategy underpins delivery of the Inclusive Place Sufficiency Strategy, translating identified need across the 0–25 system into targeted investment in inclusive mainstream provision, specialist bases, estate adaptation and, where evidenced, specialist capacity. It is informed by analysis of current and projected SEND need across all phases, alongside demographic growth and local insight, with EHCPs forecast to rise from 4,982 to 6,491. Increasing prevalence of autism, Semh and communication needs is driving demand for both targeted and specialist provision.

The historic deficit in specialist capacity reflects fragmented planning and investment that has not kept pace with rising demand, resulting in a sustained mismatch between need and provision. This is evidenced by reliance on independent and out-of-area placements, delays in securing placements, and increased use of alternative provision. Benchmarking further shows that need across Bcp is above national average with greater volatility than national trends, indicating capacity pressures—particularly at secondary and post-16—alongside geographic variation in need. This combination limits timely access to appropriate provision, increases travel and cost, and contributes to escalation into higher-cost placements.

Bcp’s strategy sets out forecast demand and capacity requirements by phase and need type, addresses historic gaps in specialist provision, prioritises inclusive mainstream capacity (including specialist bases), and strengthens local provision to improve access and reduce reliance on external placements.

Delivery is structured through a three-tier capital programme aligned to sufficiency modelling:

Phase 1 (Stabilisation): addresses historic deficits in specialist capacity identified through the May 2024 DfE bid, reducing reliance on high-cost placements through delivery of a pre-approved programme, including the agreed £9.2m targeted DfE special capital allocation and Parkfield site.

Phase 2 (Rebalancing): expands specialist bases within mainstream settings (Tier 2), increasing capacity for priority cohorts and enabling more children to be supported locally.

Phase 3 (Inclusion at scale): embeds a rebalanced system, with a greater proportion of need met through mainstream and specialist base provision.

This phased approach improves placement mix, supports more efficient use of High Needs Block resources, and contributes to long-term financial sustainability, while recognising ongoing cost pressures linked to increased complexity of need and market factors.

Priorities include:

• expanding and better targeting specialist bases, particularly in secondary and post-16 provision
• delivering capital improvements to mainstream sites to enhance accessibility and inclusive environments
• aligning investment to accessibility planning and inclusive design principles
• developing local specialist pathways to meet complex needs

Where expansion of specialist provision is required, the Council will evidence unmet need, demonstrate that inclusive mainstream options have been fully explored, and ensure all investment aligns to the overall sufficiency strategy in partnership with local trusts.

The co-produced Bcp Inclusive Design Charter underpins all capital investment, ensuring the estate is used efficiently, inclusively and sustainably, and supporting delivery of a more equitable, locally accessible SEND system aligned to SEND and AP Improvement Plan expectations.

Further detail can be found in Appendices 3, 3A and 3B

8. System partner and stakeholder engagement, and co-production.

Partnership engagement and coproduction are central to the delivery of SEND reform in Bcp. In line with Every Child Achieving and Thriving, the partnership recognises that sustainable improvement depends on strong collaboration across education, health, care and the voluntary sector, alongside meaningful involvement of children, young people and families in shaping decisions that affect them. This shared commitment supports a system that is inclusive, transparent and responsive to need.

The local area partnership has strengthened and stabilised governance and leadership arrangements, with refreshed boards and clearer shared oversight across education, health and the local authority. These arrangements provide a strong foundation for effective engagement, shared accountability and collective decision making. Multi-agency forums support coordinated responses, joint commissioning and system-wide learning, while ongoing work continues to improve clarity of roles and escalation routes during periods of change.

Schools and settings play a critical role within the local family of schools. Engagement with early years providers, mainstream schools, alternative provision and post-16 partners takes place through established networks and collaborative forums. The partnership is improving consistency of engagement across phases, building confidence in inclusive practice and ensuring providers contribute to the delivery and monitoring of SEND reform. The cradle-to-career cluster model is central, bringing partners together to meet the needs of children locally.

Coproduction is embedded as everyday practice. Parents, carers, children and young people contribute at individual, service and system levels, including statutory processes and strategic forums. The partnership recognises that children and young people’s voices are distinct from parent voice and is strengthening how these views influence decision making and service design.

Inclusive engagement approaches, including digital methods and community-based opportunities, broaden participation and reach less heard groups. Alongside this, workforce development prioritises building confidence in coproduction across education, health and care, while also supporting families to engage effectively.

Clear feedback loops ensure learning from engagement, complaints and dispute resolution informs continuous improvement. Sendiass provides independent advice, and the partnership remains committed to sustaining confidence in its independence.

Our plan to ensure partners and stakeholders engage in the future development and implementation of the Reform Plan is as follows: To ensure parents and carers are engaged we will strengthen co-production through the Parent Carer Forum, expand accessible engagement opportunities, and provide clear feedback loops so that families can see how their views influence decision making.

To ensure children and young people are engaged we will further develop youth forums and participation groups, use inclusive and creative approaches to capture voice, and ensure their views are routinely evidenced in service design and review.

To ensure our schools, early years settings and partners are engaged we will, as suggested in the Schools White Paper, take a leadership role in driving, convening and collaboration across the local system, strengthen networks, communities of practice and cluster models to support shared ownership of SEND reform and inclusive practice across all phases

Through transparent communication, strong governance and consistent coproduction, engagement remains integral to delivery, helping to build trust and sustain an inclusive system where children and young people with SEND feel they belong and can thrive.

Further detail can be found in our co production appendix 5

9. Risks and Mitigations

10. Dependencies

Delivery of Bcp’s Local SEND Reform Plan is dependent on several national and local reforms that will influence pace, prioritisation and system capacity. In line with the DfE Quality Assessment Framework, the partnership has identified key dependencies and defined mitigation approaches to ensure delivery remains aligned to the core minimum requirements.

NHS reform and health system transformation Changes within NHS Dorset, including evolving Integrated Care Board (Icb) priorities, commissioning arrangements and service models, will impact delivery of integrated SEND pathways and the Experts at Hand model. There is particular dependency on the availability and sustainability of therapies, CAMHS and community paediatrics.

Mitigation is through strengthened joint governance via the SEND & AP Systems Leadership Group and SEND Health Forum, ensuring health partners are fully embedded in planning and oversight. Joint commissioning and shared datasets will enable aligned decision-making, supporting early intervention, inclusion and improved outcomes.

Local Government reform and system capacity Wider corporate transformation, financial pressures and potential organisational change present risks to workforce capacity, programme delivery and pace of reform.

Bcp will manage this through strengthened programme governance, prioritisation of SEND reform within corporate plans, and investment in delivery capacity and programme management. A continued focus on value for money will ensure alignment with High Needs Block sustainability alongside improved outcomes.

Children’s Social Care reform Reforms linked to Families First and earlier help are critical to building a preventative, integrated SEND system. Dependencies include alignment of thresholds, pathways and workforce practice across education, health and care.

These will be managed through integrated family support models and shared leadership across SEND and Children’s Social Care, aligning early help, safeguarding and SEND pathways to reduce fragmentation, crisis response and statutory escalation.

Best Start in Life and Family Hubs The development of Family Hubs is a key enabler of early identification and intervention, particularly for children aged 0–5. Delivery is dependent on achieving scale and consistency across the system.

Bcp will align SEND delivery with Family Hub development, embedding SEND expertise within early years systems, strengthening multi- agency working and improving data sharing. Co-production with families will ensure early pathways are accessible, inclusive and effective.

Curriculum and Assessment Review National changes to curriculum and assessment will influence inclusive practice in mainstream settings and how outcomes are measured.

The partnership will work with schools, trusts and system leaders to respond to changes, maintaining a focus on inclusion, workforce confidence and consistent implementation through sector-led improvement and ongoing engagement.

Across all dependencies, the partnership will take a proactive approach to management through clear governance, regular review and defined escalation routes. This ensures wider reforms are aligned to local priorities and that delivery remains coherent, integrated and sustainable. Through adaptive planning and strong partnership working, Bcp will meet the core minimum requirements and maintain

Section 3 – Monitoring and Evaluation

• How will the local area partnership know delivery is on track?

Delivery is monitored through an integrated performance framework linking operational oversight, strategic governance and the DfE quarterly return. A monthly multi-agency dataset underpins the SEND & AP scorecard reviewed by the SEND & AP System Leadership Group to provide trend analysis, assurance and decision-making across education, health and care. This is complemented by service-level dashboards used by operational leads to track milestones, identify emerging pressures, target support and manage risks.

How we will use data to track progress/demand We use a shared, multi-agency dataset to track both demand and progress across the system. This includes monitoring EHCP requests and referrals, demand by need type (including Semh and neurodevelopmental), and pressure points in key pathways to strengthen forecasting and sufficiency planning. We will triangulate operational intelligence with the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and develop partnership commissioning data (bringing together education, health and care activity, outcomes and costs) to support a shared understanding of need and the impact of current provision. In parallel, we track delivery measures such as timeliness and throughput across assessments and reviews, specialist support activity (SaLT/Ot/Ep) and progress against delivery-plan milestones (including workforce actions and places created). We triangulate this with quality and experience indicators (e.g., themes from Qa activity, complaints, mediation/tribunal and engagement) and outcome measures such as attendance, exclusions/unauthorised absence, placement stability and post-16 participation/Neet, to test whether actions are improving outcomes over time. We will use these insights, alongside developing partnership commissioning data, to inform joint commissioning decisions (including service redesign and targeted investment), prioritise capacity where need is rising, and decommission or adapt approaches that are not improving outcomes or value for money. A High Needs Block (Hnb) Board has been established to provide strategic financial oversight for SEND funding. The Board will scrutinise, identify and monitor costs to track demand and oversee the recovery plan.

The partnership also uses the multi-agency Dorset Intelligence and Insight Service (DiiS) SEND dashboards which provide health care data for the SEN Support and EHCP population which together with demographic insights provides a rich picture of the needs of this cohort. This allows to maintain a shared baseline and monitor trends across Bcp and Dorset. The wider roll-out of the SEND flag across the DiiS platform will improve cohort tracking and support more consistent segmentation and evaluation.

Finance and value for money will be monitored alongside activity and outcomes, including High Needs Block position, placement mix and unit costs, and key cost drivers (including transport). This will inform prioritisation, commissioning and the shift of resources toward early intervention and inclusive practice.

Feedback and adaptation mechanisms

Co-production and engagement: Review structured feedback from Cyp, parents/carers and settings alongside performance data to test lived experience and whether changes are improving access and confidence.

Quality assurance: Use themed audits, case reviews and multi-agency assurance to triangulate data and identify variation.

Learning and escalation: Use themes from Sendiass enquiries, complaints, mediation and tribunals to drive improvement, with clear escalation where risks arise.

Plan–do–review: Where delivery is off track, agree corrective actions (e.g. reallocate capacity, revise pathways, target support, adjust commissioning) and track impact in the next cycle.

12. Reporting to DfE

Using the attached data template, the local area partnership is required to provide quarterly data returns to DfE against selected key metrics.

DfE will, in turn, provide quarterly data reports with visualised analysis and benchmarking that will support your local delivery, monitoring and evaluation. This will include data the department holds on Attendance, Exclusions, and Unauthorised absence.

Please use the attached data template to upload your initial data return to DfE.

Document attached to email submission

Section 4 – Governance

• How will the local area partnership ensure delivery of plans remain on track?

and young people aged 0–25 with SEND. Strategic Parent Carer Forum for Dorset and Bcp Place

agree collective recommendations and actions on health related SEND pathways and escalate these for decision via the Integrated Commissioning Board and relevant SEND partnership governance boards.

Committee, AP & SEND Systems leadership group

Designated Clinical Officer SEND. NHS Dorset Icb

Associate Designated Officer SEND. NHS Dorset Icb

Designated Nurse for Children in Care. NHS Dorset Icb

All Age Continuing Care representative, NHS Dorset Icb

Strategic Commissioner representative NHS Dorset Icb

Children and Young People Service Lead representative for Dorset Healthcare (Children, Young People and

Family services. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Speech and Language and

Intellectual Disability team).

Children and Young People Service Lead representative for

University Hospital Dorset (Therapies, community nursing, community Paediatrics)

Children and Young People Service lead representative for Dorset County Hospital. (Therapies, community

nursing, community Paediatrics)

Clinical representative from University Hospital Dorset

Clinical lead representative Dorset County Hospital

Icb Clinical lead representative

Head of Programmes Bcp Public Health

Inclusion Steering Group

Brings together oversight of the model alongside key inclusion workstreams, including targeted funding and internal alternative provision. It identified emerging trends, ensures alignment, hold the offer to account and evaluates impact to drive

6 weekly Make decisions on staffing, support, whole cluster resource, funding and training.

Expert at Hand Lead SEND and AP board Head of Education Inclusion Leads Team Leader (this is a new group and will be established to oversee experts at hand) Principal Educational Psychologist Occupational Therapy Team Manager continuous system improvement.

Speech and Language Lead

School and setting representatives

Early Years Lead Post 16 Lead Parent/Carer Representation SEND Sufficiency Board Provides strategic oversight of the SEND Sufficiency Strategy, acting as a decision making gateway to ensure SEND provision projects are prioritised, affordable, and delivered to agreed timescales, budgets and quality standards Director Education & Skills, Learning and Skills (chair) Monthly Approve or reject proposals for inclusion in the SEND programme, make decisions on escalated risks and issues, and authorise actions to ensure delivery against agreed timescales, budgets and quality standards.

Cabinet, Cmb, Head of Place Planning, Admissions and Capital Programme Manager – Capital Headteacher – Secondary Headteacher – Primary SEND Finance SEND Service Manager Head of Cs Commissioning Pct representation Joint Commissioning Partnership The Joint Commissioning Partnership (Jcp) for Bcp Place will establish and embed a collaborative framework through which partner organisations—Bcp Director of Commissioning, Resources and Quality, Bcp Council quarterly Whilst not an internal local authority or partners decision- making Group, the Group will receive proposals and make recommendations for key commissioning SEND and AP System Leadership Group Deputy Director, NHS Dorset Council, NHS Dorset, Dorset HealthCare, Parent Carers Together and other relevant stakeholders—work together to plan, fund, and deliver integrated services that improve outcomes for children, young people, and families.

Designated Clinical Officer for SEND, NHS Dorset

issues identified across the partnership taking into account inspections, peer reviews and other external monitoring processes. The group will monitor progress, including receiving relevant performance management information across the system.

Head of Service - Children’s Commissioning, Bcp Council

Head of Children’s Services, Dorset HealthCare

Bcp Public Health The aims of the group are to: Deputy Director Bcp Place

1. Improve Outcomes and Experiences for Children Young people and Families

The expectation is that decisions of the partnership will be agreed through consensus or if necessary, the Chair will carry a casting vote

2. Maximise Use of Resources

3. Support Strategic Planning and Integration

4. Strengthen Governance and Accountability

5. Enable Innovation and Flexibility

Education and Skills Quality and Performance Group

To provide assurance that Children’s Services Education and Skills is delivering high standards, with effective governance, and

Director of Education and Skills (Chair)

Monthly The group can agree, by consensus, required improvement actions and risk mitigations, confirm or amend

Where required, the group can escalate performance concerns, risks and any decisions requiring higher-

Head of Education Effectiveness

Section 5 – Central Government Support

Specialist advisory and implementation support Ongoing access to SEND and financial advisers to review emerging delivery, test assumptions and provide challenge will support robust implementation of our roadmap and enable early identification of risks or gaps against the Qa framework.

Workforce development and national programmes Support to develop and scale the specialist and mainstream workforce, including access to national training programmes and recruitment initiatives (e.g. educational psychology, therapies and SEND leadership), will be essential to building sustainable capacity and delivering inclusive practice at scale.

Data, benchmarking and digital tools Continued development of national data sets, dashboards and benchmarking tools will support more consistent tracking of demand, outcomes and value for money across local areas. Alignment of data definitions and reporting requirements will further strengthen our ability to meet monitoring and reporting expectations.

System leadership and partnership development Facilitation of peer learning opportunities, regional networks and sector-led improvement will support system leaders to share effective practice, strengthen delivery and accelerate improvement.

Policy clarity and alignment across reforms Clear and timely guidance on the interaction between SEND reform, Children’s Social Care reform, NHS priorities and education policy will support coherent local implementation and reduce duplication or conflicting expectations.

Through this support, Bcp will be better positioned to deliver a coherent, inclusive and financially sustainable system that meets the expectations of the SEND reform programme