Central Bedfordshire Council’s Executive has backed plans to improve support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with a greater focus on early help and inclusion in mainstream education.
The Local SEND Reform Plan brings together our existing improvement work with schools, health services, families and other partners into one programme designed to provide children with the right support at the right time.
At the heart of the plan is a proposed Experts at Hand model, which will give schools and education settings more coordinated access to specialist professionals.
This will include educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, mental health practitioners, SEND advisory teachers and parent navigators.
These professionals will work more closely with schools to identify emerging needs, provide specialist advice and help put support in place before difficulties escalate.
We expect to receive approximately £2.2 million of government funding for the first year of the programme. The ringfenced funding will support the development of Experts at Hand, workforce capacity, programme management and partnership delivery.
The reform programme will focus on four main areas:
• Developing and implementing Experts at Hand;
• Improving alternative provision and supporting more children to return successfully to mainstream education;
• Strengthening the involvement of children, young people and families in the design and delivery of services; and
• Recruiting, developing and retaining a skilled SEND workforce.
Central Bedfordshire currently has over 4,480 active Education, Health and Care Plans, with the number of plans having increased by 157% since January 2019.
The reforms will be delivered over several years in partnership with education, health and care organisations. Progress will be monitored through performance measures, quality assurance and feedback from children, families, schools and practitioners.
A further report, including detailed performance measures and key performance indicators, is expected to be considered by our SEND Sub-Committee in November 2026.