Hertfordshire to Lead New SEND Pilot for East of England

Living Magazines Herts County Hall

The Department for Education has selected Hertfordshire County Council to lead the East of England Regional Partnership for its £70 million change programme to improve outcomes and experiences of children and young people with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) or in Alternative Provision (AP).

The East of England RP is one of nine regional partnerships in the country. As part of the change programme, the partnership will work with the Department for Education to implement, test and refine longer-term plans – including new digital requirements for local authority EHCP processes and new national inclusion standards.

During the summer months, the county council will work alongside the Department of Education to develop a working partnership in the East of England. In the role of lead local authority, Hertfordshire County Council will be responsible for:

  • Providing leadership across the RP
  • Driving change and sharing practice and learning
  • Delivering and monitoring progress

Caroline Clapper, Executive Member for Education, Learning and Libraries at Hertfordshire County Council said: ‘We want to give every child the best possible start in life. We know that, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the current SEND system can be confusing and frustrating for parents.

‘We welcome the government’s ambition to make the system clearer and simpler, to restore families’ trust and consistently deliver for children and young people with SEND. Although it will take some time, we look forward to working with the government to build an inclusive system with excellent education at its heart, and which is financially sustainable and built for long term success.’

SEND is a key priority for Hertfordshire. It is owned strategically and politically across the system by senior leaders who are collectively ambitious for our children and young people with special needs and disabilities and their families. Indicative of this ambition is the council’s commitment to invest an additional £5 million into the SEND services on an ongoing basis. The impact of this will be an improvement to the quality and effectiveness of support for children and young people with EHCPs and their families.

The investment will allow the county council to:

  • Build capacity in the statutory SEND Service to reduce caseloads by around 30%.
  • Recruit up to 80 new frontline staff
  • Improve the quality of EHCPs and the support provided as a result
  • Develop a strong and consistent approach to decision-making about EHCPs with our partners
  • Develop trusted relationships with families and partners and improve communications

This work is happening alongside other ambitious transformation programmes across SEND services, and together, these will allow the council to develop a new delivery model that enables it to better support all children and young people in the right way, at right time and in the right place, through a truly inclusive system.