(1 day, 23 hours ago)
Written StatementsRead Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)
Every child and young person should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, whatever their needs or circumstances. This Government inherited a SEND crisis, and we are determined to fix it. The Government programme of SEND reform is intended to deliver a more inclusive system that delivers for children and families—one that identifies needs early and provides the right support at the right time. Local leadership and strong partnership working will be central to achieving that ambition. It was against this backdrop that, in March 2026, this Government commissioned all local area partnerships to develop and submit a local SEND reform plan jointly with education, health and care partners.
I want to express my thanks to all local partners for the engagement and dedication that they have demonstrated through this process.
The Department for Education, working with Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England, has reviewed all submitted plans against a consistent quality assessment framework shared with local area partnerships at the point of commission.
Today I am confirming the outcome of that process.
The plans of 139 local area partnerships have been approved upon first submission. This includes both areas with a strong track record of SEND delivery and those where improvement is still needed to secure better outcomes for children and young people. Approval of a plan is not an endorsement of current performance; it reflects the Government’s assessment that the plan has met the required threshold for approval and provides a credible foundation for accelerated delivery. Over 90% of local area partnerships—covering almost every part of the country—have now set out how they will improve support for children and young people with SEND in their local area.
Approval of a local SEND reform plan is a condition of payment of a local authority’s high needs stability grant allocation. The grant will meet 90% of each local authority’s high-needs-related dedicated schools grant deficit and forms a central part of the Government support for local authorities as we move to a reformed SEND system.
Local area partnerships with approved plans must now move swiftly from planning to delivery, implementing their commitments with pace and securing tangible improvements for children and young people with SEND and their families. Approval is a starting point for delivery, not an indication that that further improvement is not still required. Where performance remains inadequate, we will take decisive action. I will shortly publish improvement notices for a number of local areas, setting out the improvements required to strengthen delivery and secure better outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
Twelve local area partnerships’ plans were originally deferred pending revision and resubmission. We have made enhanced, hands-on support available to these areas, focused on helping the partnership to respond to the identified areas for improvement within their plans. We expect these local areas to resubmit their plans by 30 November 2026. Two local areas have already done so, and their revised plans have subsequently been carefully assessed and approved.
Government officials, together with SEND and financial advisers, will continue to engage closely with local partnerships throughout this process. Local areas whose plans have been approved, but where concerns about their delivery capacity and existing performance remain, will receive closer oversight and support focused on helping the partnership translate their plan into sustained improvement and better outcomes for the children and young people with SEND in their care.
As local areas move into accelerated delivery, officials from the Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care and relevant NHS England teams, working alongside expert advisers, will continue to support and challenge local authorities and integrated care boards. Local delivery will be kept under regular review through the Department’s local area SEND performance and delivery framework. The framework brings together evidence on outcomes for children and young people with SEND, local partnership readiness and capacity, and progress in delivering each local SEND reform plan. We will publish this framework later in the year, setting out transparently how local performance and improvement will be assessed.
Each area’s overall assessment will determine the level of monitoring, engagement and support it receives and, where necessary, the intervention required. All local areas will attend a quarterly review with officials to consider progress against their commitments, the steps that they are taking to strengthen partnership maturity and early evidence of improved experiences and outcomes for children, young people and families. My Department will also use quarterly data on local area progress and dedicated resources to closely monitor performance across the country. We will not hesitate to intervene where local delivery is failing to secure the outcomes children and families should expect.
Delivering this ambitious reform will require sustained collective effort across local government, the NHS, education providers, central Government and the wider sector. We will work alongside local area partnerships—providing the support, investment, challenge and national leadership needed to turn local plans into lasting change—and continue to put the experiences of children, young people and their families at the heart of delivery. Together, we can build a more inclusive, responsive and sustainable SEND system that earns the confidence of children and young people with SEND and their families, and enables every child to achieve and thrive.
Full details of high needs stability grant allocations have been published on the Department for Education section on the gov.uk website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-stability-grant-2026-to-2027
Areas with approved local SEND reform plans
Barking and Dagenham and NHS North East London ICB; Barnet and NHS West and North London ICB; Barnsley and NHS South Yorkshire ICB; Bath and North East Somerset and NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB; Bedford and NHS Central East ICB; Bexley and NHS South East London ICB; Birmingham and NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB; Blackburn with Darwen and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB; Blackpool and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB; Bolton and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and NHS Dorset ICB; Bracknell Forest and NHS Thames Valley ICB; Brent and NHS West and North London ICB; Brighton and Hove and NHS Surrey and Sussex ICB; Bristol and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; Bromley and NHS South East London ICB; Buckinghamshire and NHS Thames Valley ICB; Bury and NHS Greater Manchester ICB.
Calderdale and NHS West Yorkshire ICB; Camden and NHS West and North London ICB; Central Bedfordshire and NHS Central East ICB; Cheshire East and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Cheshire West and Chester and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Cornwall and NHS Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly ICB; County Durham and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Coventry and NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB; Croydon and NHS South West London ICB.
Darlington and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Derby and NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB; Derbyshire and NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB; Devon and NHS Devon ICB; Doncaster and NHS South Yorkshire ICB; Dorset and NHS Dorset ICB; Dudley and NHS Black Country ICB.
Ealing and NHS West and North London ICB; East Riding of Yorkshire and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB; East Sussex and NHS Surrey and Sussex ICB; Enfield and NHS West and North London ICB; Essex and NHS Essex ICB.
Gateshead and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Gloucestershire and NHS Gloucestershire ICB; Greenwich and NHS South East London ICB.
Hackney and NHS North East London ICB; Halton and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Hammersmith and Fulham and NHS West and North London ICB; Hampshire and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB; Haringey and NHS West and North London ICB; Harrow and NHS West and North London ICB; Hartlepool and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Havering and NHS North East London ICB; Herefordshire, County of and NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB; Hertfordshire and NHS Central East ICB; Hillingdon and NHS West and North London ICB; Hounslow and NHS West and North London ICB.
Isle of Wight and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB; Islington and NHS West and North London ICB.
Kensington and Chelsea and NHS West and North London ICB; Kent and NHS Kent and Medway ICB; Kingston upon Hull, City of and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB; Kingston upon Thames and NHS South West London ICB; Kirklees and NHS West Yorkshire ICB; Knowsley and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
Lambeth and NHS South East London ICB; Lancashire and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB; Leeds and NHS West Yorkshire ICB; Leicester and NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB; Leicestershire and NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB; Lincolnshire and NHS Lincolnshire ICB; Luton and NHS Central East ICB.
Manchester and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Medway and NHS Kent and Medway ICB; Merton and NHS South West London ICB; Middlesbrough and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB.
Newcastle upon Tyne and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Norfolk and NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB; North East Lincolnshire and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB; North Lincolnshire and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB; North Northamptonshire and NHS Northamptonshire ICB; North Somerset and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; North Tyneside and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; North Yorkshire and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB; Northumberland and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Nottingham and NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB; Nottinghamshire and NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB.
Oldham and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Oxfordshire and NHS Thames Valley ICB.
Peterborough and NHS Central East ICB; Plymouth and NHS Devon ICB; Portsmouth and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.
Reading and NHS Thames Valley ICB; Redcar and Cleveland and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Richmond upon Thames and NHS South West London ICB; Rochdale and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Rotherham and NHS South Yorkshire ICB; Rutland and NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB.
Salford and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Sandwell and NHS Black Country ICB; Sefton and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Sheffield and NHS South Yorkshire ICB; Shropshire and NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB; Solihull and NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB; Somerset and NHS Somerset ICB; South Gloucestershire and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB; South Tyneside and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Southampton and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB; Southwark and NHS South East London ICB; St Helens and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Staffordshire and NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB; Stockport and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Stockton- on-Tees and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Stoke-on-Trent and NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB; Suffolk and NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB; Sunderland and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB; Surrey and NHS Surrey and Sussex ICB; Sutton and NHS South West London ICB; Swindon and NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB.
Tameside and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Telford and Wrekin and NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB; Torbay and NHS Devon ICB; Tower Hamlets and NHS North East London ICB; Trafford and NHS Greater Manchester ICB.
Wakefield and NHS West Yorkshire ICB; Walsall and NHS Black Country ICB; Waltham Forest and NHS North East London ICB; Wandsworth and NHS South West London ICB; Warrington and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Warwickshire and NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB; West Northamptonshire and NHS Northamptonshire ICB; West Sussex and NHS Surrey and Sussex ICB; Westminster and NHS West and North London ICB; Westmorland and Furness and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB; Wigan and NHS Greater Manchester ICB; Wiltshire and NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB; Windsor and Maidenhead and NHS Thames Valley ICB; Wirral and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB; Wokingham and NHS Thames Valley ICB; Wolverhampton and NHS Black Country ICB; Worcestershire and NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB.
York and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB.
Areas with approved local SEND reform plan following revision and resubmission
Cumberland and NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB; Liverpool and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
Areas with deferred local SEND reform plans pending revision and resubmission
Bradford and NHS West Yorkshire ICB; Cambridgeshire and NHS Central East ICB; Lewisham and NHSE South East London ICB; Milton Keynes and NHS Central East ICB; Newham and North East London ICB; Redbridge and NHS North East London ICB; Slough and NHS Thames Valley ICB; Southend-on-Sea and NHS Essex ICB; Thurrock and NHS Essex ICB; West Berkshire and NHS Thames Valley ICB.
[HCWS431]