Wigan Local SEND Reform Plan 2026

Wigan SEND Reform Plan Name of Local Authority: Wigan Council Name of Integrated Care Board: Greater Manchester Icb Local SEND Reform Plan Sro: Cath Pealing – Director of Education and Inclusion Signatories:

Executive Summary Wigan’s Inclusion and SEND Plan sets out a clear and ambitious three-year programme to respond to the current pressures in services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Demand has increased rapidly, with 10,935 children and young people identified with SEND in Wigan schools. Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans have risen by over 40% since 2023. Needs are emerging earlier and increasing in complexity, while inclusion and attendance, particularly in secondary schools, remain key challenges. These pressures are driving spend, variability in outcomes, and reduced confidence among families and partners. Despite our challenges, Wigan has a strong foundation on which to build on. Relationships with schools, settings and Wigan’s Parent Carer Forum are well-established – coproduction arrangements are maturing and insight from partners shapes decision-making at the highest level. There is a strong culture of doing the right thing, supported by value-led leadership, a willingness to learn, and an openness to transform the way we work. There is a clear, shared commitment across partners to inclusion and earlier intervention, grounded in the Council’s and Icb’s Progress with Unity missions:

• Mission 1: Creating fair opportunities for all
• Mission 2: Enabling towns and neighbourhoods to flourish.

To build an inclusive and responsive system, over the next three years, Wigan will:

• Improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including better attendance, reduced exclusions, improved attainment and stronger preparation for adulthood. This will include a strengthened boroughwide approach to post-16 pathways, ensuring young people progress into sustained education, training, employment and independent living.
• Improve workforce capacity and capability: A strengthened Inclusion and SEND Workforce Strategy will expand training, supervision and peer learning across education and partner services. Clearer expectations for Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision will ensure professionals are better equipped to identify and meet need early, aligned with Wigan’s ways of working.
• Strengthen inclusive practice across all settings: Inclusive mainstream provision will be the default. This will be supported by earlier identification, a consistent graduated response and improved inclusion. The Experts at Hand model will provide timely specialist input within mainstream settings, reducing reliance on statutory pathways and specialist placements. Support will be targeted equitably, guided by local intelligence on need and demand.
• Strengthen the confidence of children, families and partners: The plan prioritises stronger communication and more consistent support. Success will be reflected in improved feedback, fewer disputes, and greater confidence among families, schools and stakeholders.
• Stabilise finances and improve value: By shifting investment towards early intervention, local inclusion and workforce development, Wigan aims to stabilise the exponential growth in EHC Plans, reduce reliance on independent placements, and improve children and young people’s outcomes. Progress will be measured through improved inclusion, placement patterns and financial sustainability.

Collectively, these changes will be a core contributor to Wigan’s Progress with Unity ambition to deliver fair opportunities, support thriving neighbourhoods and inclusive, sustainable public services.

Section 1 – Vision and Goals

• What the local area partnership is trying to achieve?

Our vision: Children and young people with SEND in Wigan will achieve positive life outcomes. Their needs will be identified early, met confidently in local inclusive settings, and supported through strong partnership arrangements. By 2029, most of our children and young people with SEND in Wigan will:

• Attend and participate successfully in education, with an increased proportion supported in a mainstream setting close to home
• Feel like they belong, are valued, safe and included in their schools and communities
• Experience improved health, wellbeing and emotional resilience
• Progress into adulthood with skills, independence and sustained participation in education, training, employment or meaningful occupation.

Children and young people with SEND, and their families will experience a system they trust, where decisions are timely, transparent and focused on outcomes that matter. This vision reflects Wigan’s missions under Progress with Unity:

• Creating fair opportunities for all
• Enabling towns and neighbourhoods to flourish.

In Wigan, SEND reform will be central to building inclusive communities where children grow up supported, feel connected and able to thrive. Our Goals: 1. Improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND - Needs will be identified and supported earlier resulting in:

• Improved attendance and narrowing of the gap to peers
• Increased proportion educated in mainstream settings
• Improved attainment at school
• Reduced suspensions and exclusions
• Increased participation and sustained engagement in post-16 education, training and employment.

2. Increase confidence of parents, carers and young people - Families will experience a more responsive and transparent system, evidenced by:

• Improved parental satisfaction and confidence in mainstream provision
• Reduction in complaints, mediation and tribunals
• Improved timeliness of EHC processes

3. Secure financial sustainability and value for money - Services will operate within a sustainable financial framework, resulting in:

• Reduced spend on independent and out of area provision
• Increased investment in mainstream inclusive provision
• Slower growth in EHC Plans
• Stabilisation of the high needs’ deficit trajectory
• Delivering support and service within the Partnership’s financial envelope.

Section 2 – Strategy

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

Over the next three years, Wigan will build on strong partnership working, high levels of primary inclusion, and well-established education support services to deliver a confident, inclusive and needs led model of support. Children and young people with SEND will have their needs identified at the earliest opportunity and met successfully within mainstream provision where this is appropriate, supporting improved participation, attendance and progression. The changes will expand and strengthen early help and inclusive practice across all settings and providers. Mainstream early years settings, schools and further education colleges will be increasingly confident to respond to a wide range of needs, supported by timely access to specialist expertise and clear expectations of ordinarily available inclusive provision. Families will experience earlier support, stronger relationships with professionals and greater assurance that needs can be met close to home, reducing the need for escalation to EHC pathways and specialist assessment and diagnostic services. This approach reflects Wigan’s commitment to inclusive education as the default and aligns with the national vision set out in the Schools White Paper, reinforcing our ambition to build a SEND system that is trusted, effective and shaped by the strengths of children, families, communities and the workforce. Our strategy will be underpinned by the following building blocks:

Wigan’s SEND & Inclusion Plan

Building block Ambition by 2029 What this looks like in

Key system shifts

practice

Early identification of need is Needs are identified at the embedded High-quality universal and targeted support in mainstream Inclusive mainstream provision is the default response for most earliest opportunity Ordinarily available inclusive Strengthening inclusion across children and young people with provision in all mainstream education settings settings Preparation for adulthood embedded from Year 9 onwards settings Reduced reliance on EHC plans SEND across all phases of education and specialist pathways Children and young people

Wigan’s SEND & Inclusion Plan

Building block Ambition by 2029 What this looks like in

Key system shifts

practice

pathways and strong Consistent, needs-led decision relationships making across the system A Fully Fledged Experts at Hand Offer in Wigan Wigan’s Experts at Hand offer will be built on our existing Education Support Services, strengthening and reshaping what already works rather than creating an entirely new system. This includes services currently delivered through both universal and traded offers, notably Educational Psychology, Targeted Education Support Services (Tess), Emtas, Early Years, Attendance Support and Specialist Sensory Education Support, alongside strong alignment with our social care services and health teams including; Family Hubs, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Mental Health Support Teams and Health Visiting Teams for younger children. The fully fledged Experts at Hand model will bring these services together into a coherent, needs led and evidence informed offer, providing early specialist advice, consultation and coaching to mainstream settings without automatically triggering diagnosis or statutory assessment. Support will focus on what works best to improve outcomes for children and young people, not on historic service boundaries or ways of working. Experts at Hand will operate primarily through a strengthened universal core offer, ensuring all mainstream early years providers, schools, colleges, alternative provision and family hub and family help services can access timely specialist advice. Traded activity will be reviewed and rebalanced, recognising its current importance to council finances, but aligned more closely to system priorities, equity of access and workforce capacity building. Any change to traded arrangements will be phased, evidence led and subject to impact and affordability. Deployment of Experts at Hand will align with Progress with Unity neighbourhood ways of working, in addition to our strategies for Family First Partnership, and Best Start in Life, --up responses in communities where needs are greatest. Experts at Hand will act as a key system enabler: building mainstream confidence, reducing unnecessary escalation, and ensuring specialist expertise is used earlier, more consistently and with greatest impact. Wigan will not rely on historic models of support, but will continuously adapt practice based on evidence, outcomes and the lived experience of our children and families. Bridging the gap Across all four building blocks, Wigan will bridge the gap between its current position and future ambitions through sustained focus on Oaip, Experts at Hand delivery, neighbourhood-based working, and robust outcome tracking. By 2029, the system will demonstrate reduced, unnecessary escalation, improving outcomes for children and young people, stronger parental confidence and a more sustainable use of resources - delivering inclusive education by design rather than exception.

Building Block 1: Strengthening inclusion across education settings

classroom inclusion rather than separation, is still emerging. Alignment with Oaip expectations, the effective use of teaching supports (including teaching assistants), and clear reintegration pathways mainstream classrooms will strengthen participation in mainstream learning. Emotional Wellbeing, Attendance and Engagement – Developing There is a strong system-wide commitment to promoting emotional wellbeing and inclusion. Mental Health Support Teams are established across a growing number of schools and colleges and are supporting access to timely intervention. Ebsa pathways are clearly defined and supported by educational psychology. Progress is evident through the Engagement Centres in reducing exclusionary practice. However, attendance, particularly at secondary phase, remains a challenge. Further development will focus on strengthening preventative approaches, improving integration between services and sustaining impact over time. Partnership with Families and Parental Confidence – Emerging Parental confidence in mainstream provision is beginning to strengthen as inclusive practice becomes clearer and more consistent through Oaip and improved early support pathways. Sendiass, the Parent Carer Forum and Family Hubs are playing an increasingly important role in building trust, improving communication and supporting early resolution. Parental confidence is expected to continue to grow as mainstream inclusive practice improves and reliance on reactive statutory intervention reduces. Maturity Matrix Assessment (March 2026):

• Pillar 4: High Quality Service Delivery – Developing

Building Block 2: System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production

Outcomes are increasingly referenced across strategic documents and performance discussions; however, there is not yet a concise, system-wide set of jointly owned outcomes consistently driving collective accountability, monitoring and improvement. Workforce confidence in system leadership and collaboration – Developing There is strong workforce commitment to partnership working, supported by embedded supervision, SEND workforce development planning and stable leadership. Confidence is growing, though role clarity, shared language and consistent cross-system collaboration require further strengthening to achieve full maturity. Maturity assessment (March 2026):

• Pillar 1: Coproduction with families – Maturing
• Pillar 2: System Leadership & Governance – Maturing
• Pillar 3: Accurate understanding of needs and experiences - Developing

Building Block 3: Access to specialist support and local placements

secondary and 13 medical needs places. Ongoing review focuses on quality, outcomes, but further alignment with reintegration and has been agreed for KS3 pupils from September 2026.

• Engagement Centres: Maturing

Engagement Centres are a well-embedded early intervention offer, providing short-term, targeted support for children and young people at risk of disengagement. They are effectively supporting stabilisation, attendance, inclusion and reintegration, with strong links to mainstream schools and SEND pathways.

• Alternative Provision Free School: Emerging

Development of a Wigan-based Alternative Provision Free School is at an early stage, with clear strategic intent to increase high-quality local capacity and strengthen reintegration pathways and long-term outcomes.

• Fair Access Protocol: Developing

The Fair Access Protocol is established and increasingly effective in securing timely and equitable placements for vulnerable children and young people. Consistency of application and shared ownership across schools continues to strengthen. Fair Access principles need to be extended to SEN pupils.

• Pre-diagnosis, needs-led pathways for neurodivergent

children and young people: Emerging There is a growing shift towards needs-led support prior to diagnosis, improving early access to strategies, adjustments and advice. Further work is required to ensure consistent understanding and confidence across all partners and settings.

• Alignment to Progress with Unity ways of working:

Maturing The principles of prevention, collaboration and accountability are well-embedded across specialist support and placement planning. These ways of working support shared ownership, inclusive practice and long-term system sustainability by design. Maturity Matrix position (March 2026):

Pillar 4: High Quality Service Delivery: Developing

Pillar 7: Use of Resources – Developing

Building Block 4: Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

• What is the local area partnership’s strategy for delivering on the above?

Wigan’s strategy is underpinned by an evidence-led Theory of Change, providing a shared framework across education, health and social care. It reflects a collective understanding that current pressures - rising demand for EHC plans, diagnosis-led pathways, reliance on specialist provision, workforce constraints and uneven outcomes - are driven by system design and experience rather than isolated service failure. The approach is grounded in lived experience and a strong evidence base, including:

• SEND JSNA
• SEND and Alternative Provision Scorecard
• SEND self-assessment
• Parental and young person annual surveys
• Local Partnership Maturity Assessment.

These confirm Wigan’s strengths with maturing arrangements in governance, partnership working and co-production, while identifying key areas for development where focused reform activity is required. In response, the partnership has prioritised a small number of high-impact system changes targeting root causes. At the heart of this strategy is a shift towards earlier intervention and shifting resources upstream. This includes strengthening early identification, particularly in early years, to reduce escalation and improve confidence in mainstream pathways. Alongside this, the partnership is building inclusive capacity through Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision, expansion of SEN units and resourced provision, wider deployment of specialist expertise, and workforce development - enabling more children to be supported locally and reducing reliance on specialist placements. The strategy also addresses diagnosis-led escalation by embedding needs-led, pre-diagnosis support. In secondary phases, the focus is on improving attendance, reducing exclusions, and strengthening alternative provision and reintegration pathways. Strong leadership, shared accountability and workforce confidence underpin delivery. Progress is monitored through robust use of data and lived-experience insight, ensuring leaders understand both performance trends and how the system is experienced by families. Overall, Wigan’s strategy is to deliver SEND reform through disciplined, partnership-owned system change: investing earlier, strengthening inclusion, reducing unnecessary escalation, and using evidence and lived experience to drive continuous improvement and better outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

Attachment 1: Wigan’s Theory of Change

Wigan%20SEND%20 Reform%20Plan%20-

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

Attachment 2: Wigan’s Maturity Matrix Assessment

Maturity%20Matrix% 20Assessment.xlsx

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

Attachment 3: Key Milestones and Deliverables – 3 Year Roadmap: Key%20milestones% 20and%20deliverable Local Roadmap for the next 3 years:

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

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

Wigan has robust organisational arrangements to ensure the Plan is delivered with pace, coherence and assurance, while maintaining statutory compliance during a period of sustained demand. Delivery will be driven through clear accountability, protected capacity and the right expertise at key stages of implementation.

• The Director of Education and Inclusion will act as the Sro, providing visible strategic leadership, oversight and assurance on delivery of the Plan.
• The Sro will be supported by the Head of SEND, ensuring sustained focus on reform, prioritisation and alignment with Progress with Unity and wider system transformation priorities.
• Day-to-day programme grip will be provided by a dedicated SEND Transformation Manager, responsible for sequencing delivery, managing risks and dependencies, and ensuring disciplined implementation.

Delivery capacity will be strengthened through a clear inclusion-led approach to increasing mainstream capacity and capability. This includes targeted workforce development, adaptive practice and the rollout of the Experts at Hand model to enable earlier intervention and reduce reliance on EHC pathways and specialist placements. This will include Educational Psychology, Specialist Teaching, Speech and Language (including contribution to an Advanced Practitioner role across Greater Manchester) and other specialist input where required. Expansion of SEND provision will be evidence-led and targeted, with universal access to support bases and specialist bases in mainstream schools for pupils with EHC Plans. This will be complemented by a planned improvement programme to the mainstream estate, aligned to the Council’s Accessibility Strategy (i.e. targeted adaptations, enabling environments and capital investment) to increase inclusive capacity within mainstream schools. Growth in the special school estate and AP will only be progressed where plans are already mobilised in line with Wigan’s SEND and AP Sufficiency Strategy. Dedicated data, analytics and finance capacity will underpin delivery, enabling robust forecasting, sufficiency planning, benefits realisation, financial sustainability and transparent reporting to governance boards and the DfE. Together, these arrangements ensure the Partnership has the capacity, capability and assurance required to deliver effectively.

• Other funding Local Authorities.

Block Transfers

Wigan has approved a block transfer of £1,419,000 from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block for 2026/27. This investment is a key enabler of the Year 1 SEND Reform Plan and is aligned to the partnership’s strategy to shift resource upstream, strengthen inclusion, and stabilise demand and cost. The funding will be used to accelerate delivery of the reform programme, specifically targeting the system changes set out across the four building blocks as follows: Strengthening Inclusion in Mainstream (Building Block 1) A proportion of the transfer will support:

• Delivery and rollout of Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision (Oaip) across all phases
• Early intervention capacity, including Early Health Notifications and pre-statutory support (ISPs).

This directly supports the strategic ambition to ensure that needs are identified and met earlier in mainstream settings, reducing escalation into statutory and specialist pathways. System Leadership and EHC Pathway Improvement (Building Block 2) Funding will contribute to:

• SEND programme governance, data and dashboard infrastructure (“one source of truth”)
• Additional operational capacity to improve EHC timeliness, backlog reduction and consistency of decision-making.

This aligns with the plan’s focus on faster, more consistent EHC pathways and reduced inappropriate demand, improving experience for families and reducing legal and financial pressures. Workforce Capacity and Demand Management (Building Block 4) Funding will support:

• Delivery of the SEND Workforce Strategy, including training in Slcn, Semh and neurodiversity
• Embedding reflective supervision, the graduated response and SEND Support as the default
• Increasing workforce confidence to reduce reliance on statutory escalation.

This is critical to achieving the long-term ambition that SEND is everybody’s business, with needs met earlier without defaulting to EHC plans. Capital funding High Needs Capital funding will deliver a step change in SEND provision in Wigan, with inclusion at the heart of sufficiency planning. Planned future investment prioritises mainstream SEND provision including inclusion support bases, specialist bases and mainstream adaptations, enabling more children and young people with SEND to be supported locally, earlier and within mainstream settings. This

approach aligns with the national reforms and our Inclusion and SEND, which sets out a system shift from reactive, high-cost provision to early intervention, inclusive practice and local capacity building. Our approach is underpinned by:

• Inclusion first: mainstream provision as the default
• Local sufficiency: reducing out-of-borough and independent placements
• Graduated support: a continuum of provision.

Inclusion Support Bases Capital funding will support a significant development of Support Bases across primary, secondary and post-16 settings, creating a borough-wide network aligned to need. The first wave will be agreed with schools and trusts by June 2026, with further phases planned to ensure consistent coverage across all neighbourhoods. Provision will prioritise:

• Slcn, Semh and neurodiversity
• Engagement pathways in secondary
• Post-16 inclusion and preparation for adulthood pathways.

These bases will provide flexible, time-limited support within mainstream schools, enabling children to remain in their local community while accessing enhanced provision. This delivers:

• Inclusion at the core of sufficiency
• Access to an inclusion support base for all who need it
• Reduced need to travel for specialist input.

Expansion of Specialist Bases (SEN Units and RPs) Capital funding will also support the expansion of Specialist Bases within mainstream schools, addressing currently low levels of capacity in Wigan schools. These provisions will:

• Support children with more complex needs within mainstream environments
• Provide structured, specialist input while maintaining links to mainstream learning
• Enable step-up and step-down pathways within a graduated system of support.

This reflects Wigan’s commitment to moving away from a binary mainstream versus special school model, towards a balanced continuum where needs are met proportionately. The expansion of Specialist Bases will:

• Increase the proportion of pupils with EHCPs educated in mainstream settings
• Reduce transitions into special school placements
• Improve placement stability and outcomes.

Specialist Capacity and AP Within Wigan’s Sufficiency Plan, investment has been committed to expand and modernise the special school estate for children with the most complex needs. Construction is already underway at Hope School, with a new, larger facility opening in September 2027. Rowan Tree School is also being fully rebuilt, replacing its current poor-condition accommodation, with completion scheduled for September 2028. These developments will increase capacity, provide high-quality learning environments, and reduce reliance on temporary buildings and independent provision. An Alternative Provision Free School has also been approved by the Department for Education, and this will be used as part of a short- term, reintegration-focused pathway, supporting turnaround and preventing escalation rather than creating long-term placements. Alignment with SEND Reform Delivery Capital investment is fully aligned to the SEND Reform Plan workstreams:

• Building Block 1 (Inclusion): supports Oaip and inclusive environments
• Building Block 3 (Sufficiency): enables expansion of Inclusion and Specialist Bases
• Building Block 4 (Workforce): ensures environments support inclusive practice and workforce confidence.

This combined investment in reform delivery and capital infrastructure will address the primary drivers of EHCP growth, reduce escalations into special school and use of the independent sector, increase local mainstream capacity aligned to demand and strengthen mainstream inclusion. This ensures capital funding acts as a direct enabler of system transformation, not just capacity growth.

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

Wigan’s SEND Reform Strategy and Plan has been developed through early, structured and meaningful engagement across the borough, ensuring key stakeholders, including families and providers, have been active contributors to both the design and future delivery of reform. This approach supports Wigan’s readiness for transition into implementation and delivery. Engagement undertaken to support readiness for submission: In preparation for submission to the Department for Education, Wigan has delivered a comprehensive programme of engagement:

• A whole-system Local Partnership Maturity Matrix Assessment workshop (March 2026): Education, health, social care, and the Parent Carer Forum collectively reviewed strengths, gaps and priorities across all seven maturity pillars, shaping Wigan’s shared “change story” and reform priorities.
• Targeted Parent Carer Forum (Pcf) coproduction events (27 April, 6 and 8 May 2026): These sessions were open, transparent and reassurance-focused, enabling families to understand what is changing, what is not, and how Wigan intends to shape local

implementation. Parent and carer feedback has been used directly informed priorities around earlier intervention, mainstream inclusion and communication.

Stakeholder engagement with education settings (1 May 2026): Early years (including Pvi, maintained and childminders), mainstream and special schools, alternative provision, Fe, post-16 and independent providers, as well as health and care partners were invited to sense-check the outcomes of the maturity assessment, contribute to the theory of change and commit to next steps. Future engagement and co-production – next steps for delivery As Wigan moves from planning into delivery, engagement and coproduction with our key stakeholders will be a core mechanism for implementing the strategy, not a parallel activity. Collaboration will focus on translating reform intentions into day-to-day practice and building shared ownership of inclusion outcomes. The partnership will:

Use established forums (Sendiass, Pcf and Embrace), SENCO networks and Partnership Boards across education, health and social care as delivery channels, ensuring all partners understand reform expectations, implementation milestones and their role in system change.

Deliver the planned “Experts at Hand” co-design session (June 2026) as a practical implementation step, enabling early years settings, schools, colleges and alternative and specialist providers and education and health support services to shape specialist deployment, inclusive practice models and workforce development that directly support delivery.

Embed structured feedback loops so that implementation is continuously tested against frontline experience and the lived experience of children and families, with learning used to refine approaches, remove barriers and improve impact. This delivery-led engagement and coproduction model will support partners understanding of the evolving roles under the Schools White Paper, including trust-led system leadership, shared accountability for inclusion and collective responsibility for children and young people with SEND across all schools. This approach will ensure Wigan’s SEND reform plan is co-produced, clearly understood and collaboratively delivered, driving improved outcomes for children and young people within a more inclusive, needs-led system. Attachment 4 – Coproduction with families:

Pcf%20Coproductio n%20Events.docx

10. Risks and Mitigations

• Dependencies

Wigan’s Inclusion and SEND Reform Plan sets out a future state focused on earlier identification, inclusive mainstream provision, and reduced reliance on statutory processes. Delivery of this vision is dependent on several national and local reforms, which may affect both the pace and sequencing of implementation, the delivery of key milestones, and the achievement of success measures. NHS reforms (Integrated Care Systems): Effective SEND delivery requires timely access to health services and robust joint commissioning. Current pressures in Speech and Language Therapy and neurodevelopmental pathways already create delays, increasing reliance on EHCPs and limiting progress towards early intervention milestones. Further NHS reform may impact workforce capacity, commissioning arrangements and decision-making timelines. This will be mitigated through a formal joint commissioning framework with agreed decision timelines, multi-agency panels with clear escalation routes, and shared workforce plans aligned to sufficiency targets. A needs-led model enabling access to support without diagnosis will be implemented, supported by shared performance dashboards to monitor timeliness and recovery. Local Government Reorganisation: This may affect governance structures, accountability and funding flows, potentially disrupting delivery of inclusion frameworks and sufficiency planning and delaying key decisions within the roadmap. To mitigate this, Wigan will formalise SEND partnership governance with clearly defined delegated authority, maintain decision-making continuity through agreed protocols, and protect delivery through place-based models such as Family Hubs and school clusters. A shared outcomes framework and co-production charter will ensure consistency, alongside a defined transition plan for SEND functions. Reforms to Children’s Social Care (Families First): These align with SEND priorities around early intervention and family support. However, without alignment, there is a risk of duplication or gaps, particularly in attendance, emotional wellbeing and Ebsa, undermining delivery of a consistent graduated response. Mitigation will include developing a shared threshold framework and joint decision-making protocol, integrating SEND within Family Help pathways, ensuring SEND representation in panels, and using shared data to track outcomes and inform commissioning decisions. Best Start in Life and Family Hubs: Delivery of early identification is highly dependent on this programme. Changes in funding, workforce or delivery models may reduce capacity to deliver Asq and Early Health Notifications, delaying identification and increasing later demand on specialist services. This will be mitigated by embedding SEND requirements within Family Hub specifications and KPIs, co-locating SEND, health visiting and early years practitioners, and implementing a standardised early years Oaip offer. Delivery will be monitored through agreed early identification metrics. The Curriculum and Assessment Review: This is a key dependency, particularly at secondary phase. Changes to curriculum breadth or accountability may increase exclusions and demand for specialist provision, impacting sufficiency planning and inclusion targets. Mitigation includes implementing Oaip through targeted workforce training, introducing structured inclusive curriculum support for

schools, expanding vocational and alternative pathways, and using data on attendance, exclusions and attainment to adjust delivery. Additional dependencies include Ofsted/CQC inspections, funding reforms, workforce capacity (including Educational Psychology), attendance policy, post-16 transitions and data integration. These may impact delivery of workforce expansion, early intervention capacity and transition outcomes. Mitigation will include aligning delivery milestones with inspection and funding cycles, implementing a detailed multi-agency workforce plan with clear capacity targets, embedding a consistent Ebsa graduated response, strengthening Year 9–post-16 transition pathways through joint commissioning, and delivering a shared multi-agency data framework with agreed reporting responsibilities. Together, these mitigations ensure the reform programme remains resilient, partnership-led and deliverable, focused on improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

Section 3 – Monitoring and Evaluation

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

Wigan will build on its current scorecard to provide a clear line of sight from SEND Reform priorities to activity, performance and outcomes. The scorecard will be reviewed and refreshed to ensure it reflects reform critical milestones, statutory duties and locally agreed outcomes. It will include clearly defined baselines, milestones and trajectories to track delivery in year one and beyond, with a focus on ensuring progress remains on track. The scorecard will include a balanced set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) spanning:

• Demand: EHC referrals for assessments, timeliness of statutory processes, and needs trends by cohort.
• Service delivery: deployment and capacity of Speech and Language Therapy and wider specialist teams, delivery of early intervention offers, and progress in creating additional specialist and AP places.
• Service quality: parental and young people satisfaction, complaints and feedback themes, and service response times.
• Outputs and outcomes: attendance, suspensions and exclusions, reintegration from AP, and indicators linked to preparation for adulthood.

Performance measures will be analysed over time against established baselines to assess both progress and the impact of reforms on outcomes for children and young people, ensuring a clear link between activity, outputs and longer-term outcomes. Data from education, health and council systems will continue to be drawn together into a central operational dashboard. Partners will continue to strengthen data-sharing arrangements to ensure a comprehensive, partnership-wide dataset, particularly in relation to health performance metrics. The dashboard will support timely, near real-time insight and will be routinely used by operational and service leads (at least weekly) to monitor pressures, identify emerging trends, and inform responsive conversations with schools, settings and delivery providers. A consolidated view of scorecard performance and dashboard intelligence will be reviewed monthly by Wigan’s SEND and AP Strategy and Performance Group, with quarterly reports provided to the Partnership Board. This will support timely decision-making on prioritisation, resource deployment and system-wide problem solving. Areas of underperformance will trigger focused deep dives and agreed recovery actions, which will be tracked through the Board to ensure delivery remains on course. Measures within the scorecard will align with the partnership’s agreed success measures and SEND reform priorities, ensuring coherence between strategic intent, delivery and evaluation. Feedback and adaptation mechanisms

Coproduction and lived experience: Feedback from parents, carers, children and young people will be gathered through surveys, engagement forums and service-level feedback and reported alongside quantitative performance data to test progress against lived experience. Operational and service leads will work in close partnership with Sendiass, Embrace and the Vcsfe to ensure feedback is gathered impartially and reflects borough-wide lived experience, including the voices of seldom heard and hard-to-reach groups. Insight from these partners will be used to sense-check performance data, identify gaps or inequities in provision, and inform targeted improvements across the borough. Practitioner and system feedback: Regular dialogue with SENCOs, school and college leaders, early years settings and health practitioners will provide a structured feedback loop to understand implementation challenges, capacity pressures and system barriers, enabling timely adjustments to delivery. Continuous improvement: The SEND and AP Partnership Board will use triangulated quantitative data and qualitative stakeholder insight to review progress, refine measures within the scorecard, and adapt delivery where required. Together, these monitoring and feedback mechanisms create a continuous cycle of insight, action and review, supporting effective implementation, agile decision-making and sustained improvement in outcomes for children and young people.

• Reporting to DfE:

Attachment 5: DfE Reporting template

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Section 4 – Governance 14. How will the local area partnership ensure delivery of plans remain on track?

Cross-cutting Assurance, Transparency and Reporting in Wigan:

A formal programme assurance framework is in place including:  Risk and issue logs  RAG-rated delivery reporting  Exception reporting and escalation protocols.

A Programme Management Office (Pmo) coordinating performance reporting across all governance tiers.

Standardised dashboards and reporting packs providing consistent data on outcomes, finance, and delivery.

Decisions, actions, and risks are formally recorded and shared across the partnership.

Regular reporting is provided to:  Health and Wellbeing Board  Council Cabinet and scrutiny functions.

Engagement with parents/carers, schools, and partners ensures transparency and co-production.

Attachment 6a – Wigan SEND and AP Partnership Arrangements: Wigan%20SEND%20 Partnership%20Gover Attachment 6b – NHS Greater Manchester: Icb SEND Governance: NHS%20GM%20SEN D%20Governance%20 Section 5 – Central Government Support

• How can we help you?

To implement Wigan’s SEND Reform Plan effectively and at pace, partners would welcome targeted and practical support from central government that complements our strong local foundations. Access to specialist expertise and advisory support: We would benefit from time-limited access to national SEND Reform expertise, particularly in areas such as alternative models of specialist delivery within mainstream settings and evidence informed practice which enable mainstream inclusion. External challenge and facilitation would support the partnership to test assumptions in our theory of change, strengthen learning where complex whole-scale change is required. Workforce development and recruitment support: National support to address workforce shortages across Educational Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy would be valuable. Access to national recruitment pipelines, training capacity, and system-wide workforce planning tools aligned to SEND and AP reforms would enable the partnership to address workforce challenges in a constrained labour market. Peer learning and regional collaboration: Facilitated peer learning opportunities with statistically similar areas, both within Greater Manchester and nationally, would enable the partnership to identify ‘what works’ elsewhere, test emerging models and avoid reinventing solutions. The ability to participate in structured, reform-focused peer learning would support our improvement trajectory. Policy clarity: Clear national guidance to support coordination across education, health and care – particularly where accountability, commissioning and funding responsibilities span multiple agencies. This includes clarity on navigating regulatory and policy constraints that can unintentionally reinforce escalation or diagnosis-led pathways to be initiated.

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