Wolverhampton Local SEND Reform Plan 2026
Classification: Official
Appendix 1
All Means All - Wolverhampton's Local SEND Reform Plan
March 2026
Annex A: All Means All - Wolverhampton SEND Reform
The expectation is that this plan is discussed, agreed, and signed off at your relevant SEND Governance Board. As a minimum, the plan must be formally signed off by the Local Authority Chief Executive (Ceo), the Integrated Care Board (Icb) Chief Executive, the Local Authority Director of Children’s Service (Dcs), the Integrated Care Board NHS Place Director, and the Local Authority Chief Financial Officer (Cfo/Section 151 Officer). We encourage other colleagues and partners who have contributed to also review and sign-off the plan, particularly early years, school, college and trust leaders.
Name of Local Authority: City of Wolverhampton Council Name of Integrated Care Board: Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country Integrated Care Board (Icb) Local SEND Reform Plan Sro: Alison Hinds, Executive Director of Families Signatories
| Role | Name | Signature | Email contact | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Authority Chief Executive (CEO) | Tim Johnson | Tim.Johnson@wolverhampton.gov.uk | ||
| Integrated Care Board (ICB) Chief Executive | David Melbourne | David.Melbourne@nhs.net | ||
| Local Authority Director of Children’s Service (DCS) & (SRO) | Alison Hinds | Alison.Hinds@wolverhampton.gov.uk | ||
| Integrated Care Board NHS Place Director | Pip Mayo | Pip.Mayo@nhs.net | ||
| Local Authority Chief Financial Officer (CFO/Section 151 Officer) | Mark Taylor | Mark.Taylor@wolverhampton.gov.uk |
Full guidance document The Local SEND Reform Plan - March 2026.docx
Executive Summary
Our clear three‑year change story shows how the partnership will respond to rising demand, complexity and financial pressure to deliver earlier, more inclusive and sustainable support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The plan aligns with national SEND reform priorities and builds on strong local foundations, including the SEND & Inclusion Strategy, Families First Programme, Best Start in Life, and wider council strategies.
SEND demand continues to rise, with needs becoming more complex, leading to increased pressure on specialist provision, alongside a growing school-age population. While many educational and skills settings demonstrate strong inclusive practice, this remains inconsistent across phases and settings. At the same time, workforce capacity pressures across education, health and care, offer inconsistent access to specialist advice resulting in escalation onto statutory pathways and pressure on the High Needs Block.
The Maturity Assessment highlights strong multi-agency leadership, governance and strategic co-production, with emerging improvements in collaboration, inclusive practice and workforce engagement. It also sets clear priorities to strengthen early intervention, mainstream confidence and system-wide consistency, which are expected to address current system pressures, including high rates of persistent absence and exclusions for pupils with SEND, continued reliance on specialist placements, and ongoing pressure on therapy pathways.
Wolverhampton will build a clearer, inclusion led 0–25 system by 2029, where needs are identified earlier and met locally. A co-produced Universal Offer and graduated response will set shared expectations across all education and skills settings, supported by clear transition and preparation for adulthood pathways. Mainstream inclusion will be strengthened through increasing access to Support Bases, while specialist provision will be targeted at children and young people with the most complex needs. Even stronger partnership working and aligned commissioning will improve consistency. Whole-system workforce development, peer-led learning and aligned guidance will build capacity for universal, targeted and targeted-plus support. The Experts at Hand model will strengthen early years, school-age and post-16 settings through timely specialist education and health input, enabling earlier identification and reducing escalation to statutory pathways. Confidence will grow through transparency, consistency and meaningful co-production. A re-established Parent Carer Forum, strong youth voice and a co-production toolkit will support consistent participation. Clear pathways, accessible information and visible feedback will build trust as reforms are embedded alongside statutory delivery.
By investing earlier, strengthening mainstream inclusion, and aligning capital, workforce, and commissioning decisions, we aim to reduce High Needs Block costs and slow high-cost escalation, while meeting statutory duties; although pressures remain short term, this plan sets a clear path to stabilisation.
Progress will be tracked through improved attendance and reduced exclusions for pupils with SEND, reduced escalation from SEN Support to statutory assessment, improved post-16 outcomes, stabilised demand for specialist and independent placements, improved therapy access and timeliness, strengthened parental confidence, and improved financial trajectories.
By 2029, Wolverhampton aims to have more confident, inclusive and financially sustainable SEND systems, delivering better experiences and outcomes for all children and young people, including those with care experience, and their families.
Section 1 – Vision and Goals
An inclusive, sustainable SEND system where all Children and Young People (Cyp) receive the right support, at the right time, in their local communities wherever possible, to be safe, achieve, belong, and thrive.
Goals
- Improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND Strengthen early identification, inclusive practice and access to timely specialist support, Cyp with SEND will improved attendance, educational outcomes and preparation for adulthood, with narrowing gaps by 2029, including those in youth justice, children in need, child protection and care‑experienced.
- Increase confidence of families and Cyp in the SEND system Demonstrate increase Parental/carer confidence levels (survey-based) and reduction in complaints, disputes and tribunal activity by 2029
- Build a confident and capable mainstream workforce Workforce confidence and capability, evidenced through workforce audit, training uptake and self-assessment by 2029
- Improve value for money and financial sustainability Reduction in reliance on independent/specialist placements and improved High Needs budget position from the existing baseline by 2029
- Strengthen partnership leadership and accountability Maturity of partnership governance, evidenced through use of shared outcomes framework, joint commissioning and performance reporting
| Section 2 – Strategy: Where we expect to be in 3 years | ||
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| Local blueprint for the next 3 years | Where we are | Where we will be in the next 3 years |
| Building Block 1 – Strengthening Inclusion Across Education Settings | 1.1 Embedding the Universal Offer and Graduated Response • A graduated approach is established across early years and most mainstream schools, but consistency and confidence vary, particularly around thresholds, escalation and unmet need, contributing to exclusion in some phases. • Post‑16 graduated response and SEN Support pathways remain less developed and are a priority for improvement, including clearer expectations for inclusive practice. • Expert support at SEN Support is increasing through ‘Experts at Hand’ offers (e.g. Educational Psychology, outreach, consultation), enabling earlier advice and problem-solving. • A universal SEND offer is in place across 0–19 through the SEND Team; however, a fully defined universal SLT offer is not yet in place due to capacity and funding constraints, with expansion planned through Family Hubs and service redesign. • Post‑16 inclusion and transition pathways are emerging, with growing provider engagement, but consistency in practice, access to specialist advice and support for preparation for adulthood remain variable. | 1.1 Embedding the Universal Offer and Graduated Response • More children and young people will have needs identified and met earlier within mainstream, reducing escalation through improved early identification, behaviour and attendance support. • Transitions across early years, schools and post‑16 will be supported by clear pathways and shared planning, ensuring continuity of support and reducing re‑assessment and delay. • Practitioner confidence will support consistent SEN Support, with statutory processes used appropriately and schools retaining responsibility for inclusion before AP is considered, particularly for vulnerable groups. • Post‑16 providers will be fully embedded within the 0–25 SEND system, with consistent expectations for inclusive practice, SEN Support and access to specialist advice. • Preparation for adulthood pathways will be clearly understood and routinely used, improving progression into employment, training, independent living and adulthood. |
| 1.2 Workforce Capability and Confidence in Inclusive Practice • Workforce confidence in inclusive practice is improving, particularly among SENCOs and key leads. • Access to professional advice is increasing, supporting earlier intervention alongside a coordinated training offer. • Variability remains across phases and settings, and confidence is not yet consistently translated into practice. | 1.1 Workforce Capability and Confidence in Inclusive Practice • A confident, skilled multi‑agency workforce will deliver consistent inclusive practice, with shared understanding of thresholds and support pathways applied in day‑to‑day decision‑making. • Improved practitioner confidence will lead to consistent SEN Support, with statutory processes used appropriately and schools retaining responsibility for inclusion before AP is considered. | |
| Building Block 2 – Access to Specialist Support and Local Sufficiency | 2.1 Access to Specialist Support – Experts at Hand (EAH) • Early intervention and targeted support are increasingly delivered through multi‑agency pathways and strengthened outreach, with improved access to specialist advice. Established partnership working across education, health and care provides a strong foundation for the EAH model. • Elements of the EAH model already exist, with current outreach and specialist support being formalised, aligned and scaled rather than replaced • Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy services are relatively stable, with consistent delivery and waiting times, and are monitored through dashboards to maintain alignment with demand. • Coordination of advice, coaching and modelling across services is not yet consistently structured, and capacity pressures (particularly in Educational Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy and wider health pathways) continue to impact timeliness. The EAH model is not yet fully established. • Advanced practitioner roles (OT and SaLT) will be established, with agreed role profiles, commissioning approaches and system‑wide professional governance to strengthen clinical leadership within EAH. • The local area has a well‑established Family Help offer, providing coordinated early intervention and multi‑agency support, strengthening early identification and reducing escalation. | 2.1 Access to Specialist Support – EAH • Access to the EAH model will be simple and consistent across all settings, including post‑16 and AP, with clear routes aligned to the Universal Offer and graduated response to enable early support and reduce unnecessary escalation. • Family Help will support early intervention through coordinated, multi‑agency delivery. • Navigation of support will prioritise advice, coaching, peer‑to‑peer and whole‑setting approaches, with access to individual intervention where needed, refined through implementation and feedback. • Multi‑agency working will be embedded in routine practice, enabling timely, shared decision‑making and reducing escalation. |
| 2.2 Local Sufficiency and Inclusion Provision • Inclusive practice in mainstream is strengthening, but capacity to deliver formal inclusion base provision remains variable, with further work needed on consistency of staffing, training, funding and operational models. • A clearer strategic sufficiency direction is emerging, supported by improved understanding of provision, stronger collaboration on inclusion and reintegration (including AP), and growing peer‑led models and communities of practice. • The evidence base for sufficiency planning is improving, with better visibility of provision and demand; however, demand continues to outstrip capacity, and reliance on specialist and independent provision remains while local capacity grows. • The AP sector is well-established, but further alignment to a short‑term, intervention‑focused model is underway, alongside more flexible commissioning and improved demand planning. | 2.2 Local Sufficiency and Inclusion Provision • Local provision will better reflect need, with strengthened mainstream inclusion in line with the All Means All Charter, supported by sufficient local specialist capacity. • Mainstream expertise will be embedded to support delivery of resources and inclusion provision, underpinned by a confident and skilled workforce. • Settings will be supported through clear models, practical guidance and peer‑to‑peer learning to deliver inclusive environments and adaptable curricula safely and sustainably. • A strengthened Universal Offer (Tier 1) and graduated approach will be implemented consistently across early years, schools and post‑16, with clear pathways supporting inclusive practice. • The AP Framework will be fully developed in line with the three‑tier model and APST best practice, improving quality, early intervention and reintegration, and reducing reliance on specialist and independent placements over time, with flexible re-opening of tender aligned to EHCPs and multi‑agency support. • Providers across early years, schools and post‑16, including out‑of‑area colleges, will be engaged through locality networks, shared training and partnership governance, ensuring collective responsibility for inclusive practice and delivery of the Universal Offer. | |
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| Building Block 3 – System Leadership, Governance and Co‑production | 3.1 System Leadership and Partnership Ownership • System leadership and governance are strong, with clear structures, shared priorities and increasingly robust performance oversight. • Designated Social Care, Clinical and Medical Officer roles provide strategic oversight and strengthen alignment across education, health and care, including support for multi‑agency decision‑making and complex case management. • Integrated governance arrangements are in place, with a Joint SEND Commissioning Group feeding into the Integrated Commissioning Group to support joint commissioning. • Mediation and dispute resolution are well established, with independent mediation and WIASS providing accessible support, and outcomes monitored to inform early resolution and system improvement | 3.1 System Leadership and Partnership Ownership • System leadership and governance will be fully mature, with shared accountability, transparent decision‑making and clear oversight of outcomes and resources. • Partnership working across education, health and care will be embedded in day‑to‑day practice, supporting long‑term system sustainability. • A shared SEND dataset and partnership dashboards will support consistent reporting, performance monitoring and data‑informed decision‑making. • Joint commissioning will be embedded as standard practice, aligning needs analysis, planning, investment and performance oversight across partners. • Decision‑making, mediation and dispute resolution will be applied consistently, enabling timely, transparent resolution and reducing escalation. |
| 3.2 Co‑production and Participation with Children, Young People and Families • Strategic co‑production is developing to maturing, supported by a re‑established Parent Carer Forum, strong youth voice and improving feedback mechanisms. • A co‑produced toolkit has been developed to support consistent practice and is awaiting formal approval for wider implementation . | 3.2 Co‑production and Participation with Children, Young People and Families • Co‑production will be fully embedded at individual and strategic levels, supported by a shared toolkit informing strategy, design, delivery and evaluation. • Lived experience will directly shape SEND priorities, supported by transparent “You Said, We Did” feedback and an expanded, inclusive Youth Voice influencing governance. • VCSE partners and trusted voices will shape engagement approaches, extending co‑production into education and community settings through sustainable participation routes. • A confident workforce will support high‑quality participation, with strong training uptake contributing to improved trust, experience and reduced challenge across the system. | |
| Building Block 4 – Encouraging Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and Continuous Improvement | 4.1 Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and System Expectations • A shared inclusive narrative is increasingly embedded across education, health and care, supported by leadership messaging, the Inclusion Charter and aligned strategies. • Inclusive practice is strengthening, with growing workforce confidence and improved early intervention in many settings. • Consistency remains variable, particularly at transition points and within some post‑16 provision. • Escalation to statutory processes remains evident in parts of the system, reflecting ongoing inconsistency in practice. | 4.1 Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and System Expectations • A shared culture of inclusion is embedded across education, health and social care, underpinned by consistent leadership and shared values. • Inclusive practice and early intervention are the norm across the system, including at key transition points. • Escalation to statutory processes is the exception, supported by confidence in non‑statutory routes and understanding of the graduated approach. |
| 4.2 Quality Assurance, Insight and Continuous Improvement • Quantitative data is increasingly shared across partners, supported by developing dashboards, JSNA alignment and benchmarking. • Qualitative insight, lived experience, predictive modelling and integrated data use are less embedded, and quality assurance is not yet consistently driving system‑wide learning and improvement. | 4.2 Quality Assurance, Insight and Continuous Improvement • Quality assurance, quantitative data and lived‑experience insight are routinely integrated to drive continuous improvement across education, health and social care. • The system consistently learns and adapts, with clearer alignment between need, provision and outcomes, including improved access, timeliness and consistency of support | |
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| Enablers (Capital, Workforce, Data) – System Position | • Capital: Clear sufficiency priorities are in place, with feasibility and planning progressing, but delivery has not yet caught up with demand. • Workforce: Workforce capacity remains under pressure across education, health and care, with improving skills and confidence but inconsistent coverage and sustainability. • Data: Strong quantitative data is available, with qualitative insight increasing, but data is not yet fully integrated or routinely driving decisions across the system. Work is underway to improve the consistency and reliability of data on mainstream inclusion, internal resource provision and future capacity, supporting more robust demand forecasting, while recognising that a complete system-wide picture is still being finalised. • System impact: Capital, workforce and data are more aligned, with improved visibility and coordination, but to fully operate as enablers for delivery additional system change across the partnership is taking place to integrate planning, commissioning and delivery at system level. • Finance: SEND expenditure pressures are well understood, with a largely established financial baseline across the High Needs Block, independent and non-maintained provision and wider SEND-related budgets. This is supported by the accompanying SEND Reform Plan Data Template, with alignment to Section 251 baselines continuing to be strengthened. Sustainability risks remain due to reliance on high-cost placements, with planned mitigations including strengthening early intervention, increasing local provision and reducing reliance on high-cost placements. | • Capital: Investment increasingly aligned to sufficiency priorities, accessibility and inclusive provision across early years, schools and post‑16. • Workforce: A multi‑agency workforce will be developed through a collaborative Year 1 planning process, aligning capacity, development and deployment to support the EAH model. Delivery will be phased and monitored through partnership governance.. • The Families First Programme and Best Start Family Hubs provide a complementary early-help framework that supports SEND reform objectives by strengthening early intervention, family support and multi-agency working. • Data: A shared and trusted data picture, combining quantitative data and lived-experience insight to inform decision-making and track progress, supporting consistent financial and demand-led decision-making and improved alignment across datasets. • System impact: Capital, workforce and data operating together as core enablers of a more sustainable, responsive SEND system. |
| Success measures Drawing on metrics from the accompanying data template E.g. • Improve attendance of pupils in all maintained schools (mainstream and special) with SEN • Reduce reliance on independent special school places Mainstream settings with increased access to Education Psychologists/SaLT/OT • Reduced NEET rates for SEND YP at age 16 | • Demand and need are understood through EHCP trends, SEN Support patterns, early identification and population modelling, informing financial forecasts and placement planning. • Mainstream sufficiency is assessed through inclusion, attendance, exclusions, outcomes and schools’ capacity to meet need, including workforce confidence and access to support. • Specialist and AP sufficiency is monitored through capacity, occupancy, waiting lists, and reliance on independent and out‑of‑area provision. • Health sufficiency is assessed through waiting times, service performance and system metrics, alongside outcomes such as access, continuity and user experience. • Social care sufficiency is measured through assessments, waiting times, access to support, short breaks and preparation for adulthood. • Outcomes and performance are tracked through attainment, post‑16 pathways, EHCP timeliness, tribunal activity and parental confidence. • Financial sufficiency is assessed through High Needs Block trends, cost analysis, transport pressures and DSG recovery progress. • Workforce capacity is reviewed through SENCO capacity, caseload pressures, workforce stability and confidence in inclusive practice. • Early intervention is assessed through availability, access, timeliness and consistency of outreach, specialist support and professional advice. • Lived experience is captured through feedback and engagement, informing understanding of confidence, experience and impact. • Data is drawn from multiple sources, though maturity and integration vary; an outcomes framework and measurable indicators will be in place by Q2 2026/27 to strengthen consistency and track improvement. | • Metrics act as system‑level indicators to support learning and improvement, interpreted alongside qualitative and contextual evidence rather than as absolute targets. • Delivery maintains a clear line of sight from activity to impact, with measurable outputs linked to improved outcomes, including reduced waiting times, lower escalation and improved timeliness and experience. • Shared dashboards and practice reports are used within governance to identify variation, inform decision‑making and track progress; a full outcomes framework with baselines and measures will be in place by Q2 2026/27. • Increasing evidence of earlier identification and response through the graduated approach, including reduced variation, earlier intervention and fewer repeated escalations, informed by QA and lived‑experience insight. • Growing confidence in local provision supports inclusion, with increased use of shared practice and local placements, and slower growth in new specialist and independent placements. • Greater consistency across services, with reduced waiting times in key pressure areas and increased confidence among settings, families and practitioners, evidenced through feedback and system data. • Reductions in exclusions, suspensions and part‑time timetables, alongside increased parental confidence and improved experiences at SEN Support and within local provision. • Decreased use of tribunal, mediation and complaints processes, with issues more often resolved earlier and collaboratively. • Improved attainment, progress, participation and destinations for children and young people with SEND, including vulnerable groups, supported by quantitative and lived‑experience evidence. • More sustainable financial position driven by earlier support, appropriate use of specialist provision and reduced reliance on high‑cost escalation. |
What is the local area partnership’s strategy for delivering on the above? Our strategy is to ensure all education and skills settings are confident, inclusive and supported by timely specialist expertise so needs are identified and met earlier, reducing reliance on statutory and specialist provision and improving outcomes. This requires a shift from reactive to proactive support, with clearer expectations, stronger mainstream capability, shared accountability with statutory partners, alignment with wider social care reforms, locality-based delivery and earlier whole-family engagement to prevent escalation.
Partnership delivery will embed a Universal Offer with clear expectations for inclusive practice across the 0–25 system, aligned to national inclusion standards and the All Means All Inclusion Charter. Best Start Family Hubs will be a key platform for early identification, integrated support and workforce alignment, supporting the Universal Offer, graduated response and Eah model.
Eah will provide whole-setting and group-based access to specialist education and health expertise, jointly commissioned by the LA and Icb and delivered by partners. It will strengthen mainstream practice and reduce escalation through clear access routes, thresholds and workforce models refined through phased implementation. This will be co-produced and tested with education settings, families and partners, informed by maturity assessment priorities for consistency, early intervention and partnership delivery. Governance, roles and performance oversight will be formalised through a Section 75 agreement and Memorandum of Understanding.
Statutory duties will continue to be managed to avoid destabilising core services. Reform will prioritise early intervention, stronger decision-making and workforce capability, while protecting essential specialist capacity and embedding learning through data-led monitoring, quality assurance and continuous improvement.
What is the local area partnership roadmap for the next 3 years?
This roadmap has been developed directly from Wolverhampton’s refreshed Local Partnership Maturity Assessment and targets the specific gaps identified across the seven pillars. Timescales and sequencing will be refined as national SEND reform expectations and associated funding arrangements are confirmed. The roadmap sets out a credible, phased and deliverable pathway from a developing to a maturing SEND system.
| Local roadmap for the next 3 years | 2026/27 Define and stabilise core system infrastructure | 2027/28 Scale and standardise delivery, reducing variation | 2028/29 Embed and sustain as business as usual |
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| Building Block 1: Strengthening inclusion across education settings | 1.1 Embedding the Universal Offer and Graduated Response • A refreshed, co-produced Universal Offer and graduated response, aligned with the All Means All Inclusion Charter and SEND reforms, is developed, tested and agreed in principle across early years, schools and Further Education (FE), and applies regardless of education setting, setting clear, shared expectations for inclusive practice, early identification and timely support. • Transitions (early years to school, school to post‑16, and education into adulthood) and post‑16 pathways are mapped to clarify ownership and enhanced to include a co‑designed, multi‑agency pathway supporting preparation for adulthood, including progression into employment, training or independent living, up to age 25. • Health partners will play a defined role in Preparation for Adulthood pathways, including timely transition from children’s to adult health services, alignment with adult commissioning arrangements, and continuity of clinical oversight for young people with ongoing health needs up to age 25 where appropriate. | 1.1 Embedding the Universal Offer and Graduated Response • The Universal Offer and graduated response are rolled out across early years, maintained, academy and FE settings, and promoted and encouraged within independent provision, driving greater consistency in inclusive practice while applying expectations proportionately to provider governance and statutory remit. • Clearly owned transition (early years to school, school to post‑16, and education into adulthood) pathways are rolled out and used in practice, improving continuity of support and reducing disruption at key transition points. | 1.1 Embedding the Universal Offer and Graduated Response • A robust, evidence‑based improvement approach is embedded, using agreed data, qualitative feedback, research‑informed practice and local case studies to refine the Universal Offer and graduated response and drive continuous improvement. The Universal Offer and graduated response are consistently understood and applied across the 0–25 education, health and care system, supporting sustained inclusion and positive outcomes into adulthood. • Clearly owned and sustainable transition and post-16 pathways are embedded across the system, supporting effective transitions from early years to school, school to post-16, and from education into adulthood. |
| 1.2 Workforce Capability and Confidence in Inclusive Practice • Workforce development priorities are identified, with wholesetting Continuing Professional Development (CPD) pathways developed to build mainstream confidence in meeting a wider range of needs, across all education settings include AP and Post 16 providers. | 1.2 Workforce Capability and Confidence in Inclusive Practice • CPD pathways are in place across all settings, with emerging evidence of improved mainstream confidence and competence in meeting a wider range of needs. | 1.2 Workforce Capability and Confidence in Inclusive Practice • Mainstream settings are confident and capable of meeting a broader range of needs, with statutory and specialist pathways used appropriately rather than by default. |
| Building Block 2: Access to specialist support and local placements | 2.1 Access to Specialist Support – EAH • The EAH model will be shaped by needs analysis and a commissioning framework that prioritises high-impact, whole-setting early intervention, while maintaining timely targeted and specialist support where needed. Locality pilots, aligned to workforce capacity and linked to Families First Programme and Best Start in Life pathways, will support whole-family early help and access to professional advice, with response times and reach monitored through partnership performance measures. • Support will be delivered through a tiered model (universal, targeted and specialist) aligned to the graduated approach, providing whole setting support, targeted advice and group interventions, and time limited specialist input where required. Access will be via locality based, multi-disciplinary teams with clear routes, enabling timely and equitable access and reducing unnecessary escalation. • Access will be coordinated through clear, proportionate routes aligned with integrated neighbourhood teams, ensuring support is targeted based on need and not disproportionately accessed by more proactive settings, with consistent application across all education settings. • Delivery will also be aligned to education, integrated neighborhood and Families First Programme pathways, ensuring complementarity with statutory services and existing therapy provision, with demand, reach and impact monitored through partnership governance to support consistency and continuous improvement. | 2.1 Access to Specialist Support – EAH • EAH model and commissioning structure is established, with increased reach across settings and stronger integration between education, health and early years pathways. • Clear navigation, access routes and escalation principles for EAH are agreed and communicated to education settings, setting consistent expectations for earlier intervention and clarity on how and when more specialist support is accessed, with alignment to Families First Programme pathways to support coordinated, whole‑family responses across education, health and care | 2.1 Access to Specialist Support – Experts at Hand • Experts at Hand is fully embedded as a preventative, early‑intervention model, embedding new and consistent ways of working across the system, supporting workforce capability, confidence and sustainability, reducing unnecessary escalation, and operating as part of an integrated system with Families First Programme and Family Help, to deliver whole‑family support. |
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| 2.2 Local Sufficiency and Inclusion Provision • Initial local sufficiency plans are agreed, with support provision and inclusion bases prioritised as the primary route for increasing capacity within 0–25 mainstream settings (early years to post-16), supported by clear, proportionate models for inclusion spaces and a phased approach to design and delivery recognising capital lead-in times. • Delivery timelines will be informed by a shared assessment of workforce capacity and demand pressures across education, health and care, ensuring change is phased, supported and sustainable rather than reliant on unmanaged escalation, with mitigation actions agreed through joint commissioning and phased mobilisation. • The AP Framework is re-procured and aligned to a three-tier model, with clearer pathways, improved understanding of capacity and demand, strengthened reintegration expectations, and the development of a commissioning dashboard to support more strategic sufficiency planning and delivery. | 2.2 Local Sufficiency and Inclusion Provision • Inclusion bases move from design into build and early operation, reflecting planned, phased capital delivery and agreed models for inclusion spaces, increasing local capacity within mainstream provision. • The three-tier AP framework is fully operational, with increased use of short-term Tier 2 placements, more flexible commissioning approaches, improved provider capacity across phases, routine use of data to inform decision-making, and stronger alignment with EHCP pathways and multi-agency support. | 2.2 Local Sufficiency and Inclusion Provision • Local sufficiency is stabilised, with inclusion bases and specialist provision aligned to need, reducing travel distances and reliance on independent provision, alongside a mature AP system operating as a short-term, intervention-focused model with stable capacity, demand-led commissioning, strong reintegration outcomes and full integration within the wider inclusion system. |
| Building Block 3: System leadership, partnership collaboration and co-production | 3.1 System Leadership and Partnership Ownership • Governance and partnership arrangements are strengthened, with Multi Academy Trusts, early years, AP, Post 16, health partners and the PCF actively shaping delivery and priorities. • Shared dashboards developed and used across education, health and care partners, enabling joint commissioning arrangements and partnership boards to access consistent, real-time performance information to monitor reform progress and service delivery. | 3.1 System Leadership and Partnership Ownership • Joint commissioning arrangements are embedded, using shared outcomes and data to align education, health and care investment decisions. • Performance, variation and delivery risks will be routinely reviewed through partnership governance, with agreed escalation routes and corrective action where progress is off-track. | 3.1 System Leadership and Partnership Ownership • Partnership governance operates at full maturity, with shared accountability for outcomes, finance and lived experience. • Progress will be monitored through governance reporting, SEND performance dashboards and Quality Assurance processes to assess maturity and drive continuous improvement. |
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| 3.2 Co‑production and Participation with Children, Young People and Families • A focus will be placed on improving the consistency of co‑production practice across agencies and education settings, with clear expectations and checkpoints within workstreams to evidence co‑production with children, young people and parent carers. • A co‑production self‑assessment will be completed to review the effectiveness, accessibility and impact of current mechanisms, including feedback loops to CYP and parents, and to identify areas for strengthening and improvement (including agreed timescales). | 3.2 Co‑production and Participation with Children, Young People and Families • Service review and improvement activity across education, health and care will be shaped by insight from children, young people and families, including children, young people and families educated in mainstream settings, AP, elective home education and education other than at school, ensuring reform reflects a full range of lived experience, with regular, accessible “You Said, We Did” feedback demonstrating how their involvement has coproduced system change. | 3.2 Co‑production and Participation with Children, Young People and Families • Co‑production will be sustained, resourced and embedded as business as usual, with children, young people and parent carers including funded and supported SEND Experts by Experience, actively shaping strategy and service design. All boards and workstreams will be fully accessible, with appropriate resources, support and meeting structures enabling meaningful participation. | |
| Building Block 4: Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours | 4.1 Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and System Expectations • A shared definition of inclusive culture, behaviour and expectations is agreed across education, health and social care, aligned to the Inclusion Charter and SEND reforms. • Consistent leadership messages and a system-wide communication plan reinforce expected inclusive behaviours and early intervention as shared responsibilities, not role-specific tasks. • Expectations for inclusive behaviour at key transition points (early years to school, school to post-16, education to adulthood) are clarified and communicated. • The local authority remit in relation to maintained, academy, FE and independent (non-section 41) settings is clarified to support confidence and transparency. | 4.1 Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and System Expectations • Inclusive behaviours and early intervention expectations are increasingly reflected in day-to-day practice across leadership and frontline roles. • Partners work collaboratively to embed inclusive responses at transition points, supporting reduced disruption and reliance on escalation. • Evidence of behaviour change begins to emerge through practice examples, case studies and feedback from children, young people and families. • Post-16 and preparation-for-adulthood pathways increasingly reflect inclusive culture and shared expectations across providers. | 4.1 Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and System Expectations • Inclusive culture and behaviours are consistently experienced by children, young people and families, regardless of setting, phase or pathway. • Early intervention and inclusive responses are the default across the system, sustained through leadership, workforce confidence and partnership working. • Transitions between early years, school, post‑16 and adulthood are experienced as coherent and supportive, not fragmented or reactive. |
| 4.2 Quality Assurance, Insight and Continuous Improvement • A shared approach to quality assurance and improvement is agreed across education, health and social care, explicitly framed as learning and support rather than judgement. • Baseline benchmarking is established using a combination of quantitative data, qualitative feedback, case sampling and early case tracking where survey data is limited. • Clear processes are developed for gathering lived experience, including for services that do not currently collect routine feedback. • Agreed approaches identify variation, friction points and priorities for improvement, including at transitions and post-16. | 4.2 Quality Assurance, Insight and Continuous Improvement • Quality assurance, data and lived‑experience insight are routinely used together, drawing on insight from early years and Best Start Family Hubs to inform service development and practice improvement. • Case tracking and thematic case reviews are embedded as tools to understand how pathways operate from a child, young person and family perspective. • Evidence shows improving alignment between need, provision and outcomes, with reduced variation across settings and phases. • Findings from QA activity are actively shared and used to adapt practice, commissioning and support models. | 4.2 Quality Assurance, Insight and Continuous Improvement • Continuous improvement is embedded as business as usual, with the system routinely learning, adapting and responding to evidence. • Integrated insight demonstrates improved access and timeliness, more consistent experience across phases (including post-16) and clearer links between support provided and outcomes achieved. • Lived experience, practice evidence and performance data together inform strategic decision-making and future system development. |
| Enablers (describe how each enabler will support delivery of the building blocks each year) E.g. • Capital – investment strategy across Early Years (EY), mainstream, FE • Workforce • Data/digital systems | • Capital - Feasibility, scoping and prioritisation work progresses for inclusion bases and accessibility adaptations, aligned to the sufficiency strategy and focused on highest-need areas across early years to post-16 mainstream settings. • Workforce - Recruitment, commissioning and CPD planning align to the project and broader programme delivery including project development, design, Universal Offer and EAH model, supporting multidisciplinary and whole setting approaches rather than individual escalation. • Data and digital - Baseline performance measures and lived experience feedback are aligned to the maturity matrix across all service areas, establishing a shared starting point for reform and enabling consistent performance reporting. Early phases of reform will prioritise embedding SEND specific data sharing arrangements with education partners, recognising existing variation in readiness across schools and trusts. | • Capital - A phased programme of inclusion bases and accessibility adaptations moves into delivery in priority areas, with some schemes progressing to build and early operation, aligned to available funding, sufficiency priorities and geographic need. • Workforce - Multidisciplinary working models operate at scale, with EAH supporting whole setting and preventative approaches rather than individual escalation. Workforce development shifts from design to practice and quality improvement. • Data and digital - Performance dashboards mature, enabling routine monitoring of attendance, exclusions, escalation and placement trends. Data is used consistently by the partnership board to challenge variation and target support. | • Capital – Delivery continues on a phased basis, with inclusion bases and accessibility adaptations increasingly embedded within the mainstream estate, though development remains constrained by funding, capacity and delivery timelines, with capital planning aligned to longer-term sufficiency and place-planning priorities. • Workforce – The workforce is stabilising, with a skilled workforce embedded, stronger retention, stable capacity and continuous professional development focused on quality improvement and innovation. Delivery has transitioned from time‑limited reform activity to business‑as‑usual commissioning, governance and performance management. • Data and digital – Advanced SEND analytics support predictive modelling, early risk identification and longterm planning, embedding dataled decisionmaking and iterative learning from delivery, lived experience and performance data across the threeyear period. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Success measures Drawing on metrics from the accompanying data template E.g. • Improve attendance of pupils in all maintained schools (mainstream and special) with SEN • Reduce spend on ISS places • Increase # children and young people supported by Education Psychologists/SALT/OT in maintained provision • Improve overall effectiveness of provision • NEET data Leading indicators | 1. Strengthening inclusion across education settings • Universal Offer and graduated response formally agreed, published and communicated, with evidence of adoption across early years, schools and FE (e.g. signed up settings, briefing sessions completed). • Majority of settings engaged in initial Universal Offer briefings and training (e.g. SENCO networks, MAT (Multi Academy Trusts) sessions, early years forums). • CPD framework designed and launched, with priority cohorts identified (early years, mainstream SENCOs, post-16 leads). • Early evidence of reduced variation in practice, shown through Quality Assurance (QA) activity, SEN Support audits or case sampling. • Post-16 and transition pathway agreed and piloted within at least one Post 16 Setting. | 1. Strengthening inclusion • A majority of settings demonstrate application of the Universal Offer, with QA activity and SEN Support audits focused on learning and quality improvement, not compliance or judgement. • The graduated approach is implemented using research-informed practice, with evidence captured through shared case studies and practitioner learning that demonstrate what works, for whom, and why. • Independent and non-maintained settings engaged in Universal Offer briefings and EAH access routes, with agreed expectations documented. | 1. Strengthening inclusion • Measurable improvement in mainstream confidence reported through workforce feedback and inspection intelligence. • Sustained improvement in attendance and engagement for children and young people with SEND across phases. • Reduced variability in outcomes between CYP in different settings. • The post‑16 and transition pathway is embedded across the system, delivering improved outcomes, smoother transitions and more independent, fulfilling lives. |
| 2. Access to specialist support and local placements • EAH model agreed, including scope, access routes, eligibility, escalation principles and commissioning framework, clearly setting out the balance between universal, targeted and specialist support in line with national reforms. • Initial EAH delivery operating in a defined number of settings or localities, focused on testing pathways, workforce models and impact (not full rollout). • Increase in whole‑setting and group‑based support approaches delivered by education settings, informed and advised by EAH professionals, strengthening early identification and reducing inappropriate individual referrals. • Existing expertise within schools, outreach services and specialist provisions is mapped and actively utilised as part of the EAH model, ensuring the approach builds on current strengths rather than duplicating provision. • Local sufficiency strategy agreed, with inclusion bases identified as the preferred route for increasing capacity in mainstream over time. | 2. Access to Specialist support and local placements • More education settings routinely accessing EAH, with consistent use of whole‑setting and group‑based approaches, supported by timely access to targeted and specialist advice where individual needs require it. • Clear reduction in inappropriate referrals and escalation, evidenced through improved thresholds, earlier resolution at SEN Support, and reduced churn through specialist pathways. • Inclusion bases move into build and early operation, contributing to increased confidence in local provision, though not yet at full planned capacity. • Independent specialist placement demand shows improved flow, with reduced waiting times and better alignment between need, placement decisions and local capacity, rather than absolute reductions alone. • Agreed multi-agency mitigation plans in place for priority health pathways (e.g. SLT, Occupational Therapists (OT), Neurodivergent (ND)), recognising Black Countrylevel dependencies and demonstrating shared ownership, monitoring and realistic planning. | 2. Access to Specialist support and local placements • EAH is an embedded, business-as-usual model, with predictable, timely access routes and consistent use of whole-setting, group-based and targeted approaches across education settings. • Sustained and demonstrable reduction in inappropriate escalation, with statutory and specialist pathways used appropriately rather than by default, evidenced through multi-year trends and case review. • Inclusion bases are operational and contribute to increased local capacity and confidence, with planned growth occurring through natural churn and phase transfer rather than rapid displacement. • Independent specialist placement demand is stable and well-managed, with transparent waiting lists, improved decision-making and placement sustainability, rather than expectations of significant volume reduction. • Multi-agency mitigation plans for priority health pathways are embedded and routinely reviewed, demonstrating shared ownership, realistic planning and system resilience. |
| • Independent specialist placement demand is stabilised, with improved visibility of waiting lists and flow, rather than expectations of immediate reduction. | • Quality assurance and benchmarking evidence shows improved confidence, consistency of practice and lived experience for children, young people and families, triangulated through data, case studies and feedback. | |
|---|---|---|
| 3. System leadership, partnership collaboration and co-production • Governance changes are embedded with regular attendance and active contribution from MATs, early years, FE, health and the PCF. • Co-production self-assessment completed, with priority actions agreed and published. • Evidence that PCF and CYP voice influences decisions (e.g. changes made following feedback). • Shared dashboards or performance reports used routinely at partnership boards to track reform progress. | 3. System leadership, partnership collaboration and coproduction • Joint commissioning decisions routinely informed by shared dashboards and outcomes data. • Clear evidence that co‑production influences system decisions, with “We Said, We Did” reporting demonstrating measurable changes to pathways and provision in response to parent and CYP feedback. | 3. System leadership, partnership collaboration and coproduction • Partnership demonstrates shared ownership of outcomes and financial sustainability, supported by mature governance and commissioning. • Experts by Experience role fully embedded as part of the feedback loop for a constant Youth Voice presents • HY5! sustainable and fully embedded youth Voice forum and Parent Group at all levels of Co-production. |
| 4. Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours • A system-wide communication plan is agreed and delivered, reinforcing inclusive expectations and early-intervention behaviours across education, health and social care. • Clear evidence of consistent leadership messaging across the local authority, MATs and partner organisations (e.g. briefings, communications and engagement events). • Early benchmarking evidence from schools and settings shows increasing confidence in meeting needs through the graduated approach without default escalation. • Early indications of reduced “default to EHCP” behaviours, interpreted through panel intelligence, case sampling and SEN Support–to-EHCP request patterns as direction-of-travel signals, not performance targets. • Initial case studies and case tracking used to understand how inclusive behaviours and early intervention are experienced by children, young people and families. | 4. Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours • Sustained improvement in professional decision-making at SEN Support, with benchmarking evidence showing reduced variation in escalation patterns between settings and phases. • Early, consistent improvements in attendance and exclusion patterns for pupils with SEND, interpreted alongside qualitative evidence to ensure improved figures reflect positive experience, not masking unmet need. • Quality assurance and case-based learning demonstrate that inclusive behaviours are increasingly embedded in daily practice, particularly at key transition points (early years to school, school to post-16). • Lived-experience feedback and case reviews show improved clarity, confidence and continuity of support for families. | 4. Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours • The partnership brings together education and skills providers, health partners, social care, Best Start Family Hubs, VCSE organisations, WIASS and wider local authority services through the SEND and Inclusion Partnership Board, thematic workstreams, multi-agency panels, young people’s participation groups and the SEND Wolves Forum. • WIASS provides independent, impartial advice to help children, young people and families understand their rights, participate confidently and give informed feedback. • Strengthened through collaboration with established health-led co-production arrangements, including Black Country Healthcare’s co-production group, to support shared engagement, learning and co-design. |
| What will the local area partnership deliver in the first year? | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 Local delivery plan | Q2 (Jul-Sep 26) | Q3 (Oct-Dec 26) | Q4 (Jan-Mar 26) | ||||
| Workstream outline | Responsible lead | Milestones | Target trajectory | Milestones | Target trajectory | Milestones | Target trajectory |
| Building Block 1 - Strengthening Inclusion Across Education Settings (Workstream 1.1 Embedding the Universal Offer and Graduated Response) Outcome: Universal Offer and graduated response defined, agreed and operationally ready for consistent use across early years, schools and FE. Success measure: Early evidence that needs are identified and supported more consistently at SEN Support, demonstrated through QA activity, SEN Support audits and case sampling, alongside SEN Support cohort data. Trends in EHC needs assessment requests are monitored and interpreted contextually, rather than used as a standalone measure of system success. | Head of SEND and Inclusion | • Undertake a structured, partnership-led evaluation of existing SEN support services, engaging education providers, children, young people and families to assess effectiveness, consistency, outcomes and alignment with the Universal Offer and graduated approach • Confirm and clearly articulate how the existing All Means All Inclusion Charter is reflected within current Universal Offer and graduated response expectations. • Review existing graduated response guidance and tools for clarity and alignment with agreed inclusion principles, identifying where practice support is required rather than new guidance. | • Improved shared understanding of variation in education support practice across settings, with agreed expectations clarified and used diagnostically to inform priority areas for support and improvement activity. | • Use findings from the evaluation to identify priorities for improvement and variation across the system, informing development of the Universal Offer and targeted support. • Following review of existing Universal Offer and graduated response guidance restructure and improve the navigation within the Wolverhampton Inclusive Schools for Everyone (WISE) website, so practitioners can find and apply the material more easily in day‑to‑day practice, with LA, ICB, MAT and PCF partners. • Refreshed Universal Offer to be taken through the SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board for approval, in line with local governance arrangements. • Actively embed Universal Offer expectations through existing engagement, support and improvement mechanisms (e.g. SENCO networks, MAT forums, early years partnerships and post-16 forums). | • Majority of settings demonstrate practical engagement with the Universal Offer, with early signs of reduced variation in SEN Support decisionmaking. | • Begin implementation of identified improvements, including strengthening SEN Support practice, commissioning adjustments and alignment to the EAH model. • Publish consolidated and clarified Universal Offer and graduated response guidance on Wolverhampton Inclusive Schools for Everyone (WISE) website, explicitly building on existing All Means All Inclusion Charter principles. • Align specialist and advisory services so their advice, thresholds and pathways reinforce day-to-day application of the graduated response in mainstream settings. • Support consistent implementation of the Universal Offer and graduated response through targeted support, peer learning and challenge. • Monitor impact on early intervention, consistency of practice and use of statutory routes. • Use feedback from settings, children, young people and families to refine guidance and support arrangements, with QA activity focused on learning and improvement rather than performance management. | • Early evidence that support is being accessed earlier and more consistently at SEN Support, with EHCP needs assessment trends interpreted alongside SEN Support cohort data, QA evidence and livedexperience feedback, rather than as a standalone measure of success. |
| Building Block 1 - Strengthening Inclusion Across Education Settings (Workstream 1.2 Workforce Capability and | Head of Service Educational Excellence | • Develop a clear understanding of current variation in SEN Support practice across early | • Baseline workforce confidence established, with priority capability gaps clearly identified. | • Communicate agreed Universal, Targeted and Targeted Plus and Specialist expectations to settings, including what | • Growing workforce confidence evidenced through training uptake and increased use of | • Monitor changes in Universal, Targeted, Targeted Plus and specialist practice and | • Early, demonstrable improvement in targeted support quality, with more confident professional decision‑making and reduced reliance on |
| Confidence in Inclusive Practice) Note: This workstream focuses on strengthening current SEN Support practice within existing statutory arrangements and does not assume or pre-empt the introduction of future Individual Support Plans. Outcome: Education workforce confident and equipped to consistently implement inclusive practice and the graduated response at SEN Support level, focusing on day‑to‑day practice rather than compliance processes. Success measure: Improved confidence and consistency in SEN Support practice, with early needs increasingly addressed within mainstream settings and specialist advice accessed proportionately. | years, schools and post-16 settings. • Agree what consistent, effective Universal, Targeted, Targeted Plus and specialist practice looks like, aligned to the Universal Offer and All Means All principles, including clarity on the range of needs expected to be met within mainstream settings and when escalation is appropriate. | support should be in place before escalation. • Provide targeted leadership support for secondary and post-16 settings, focusing on curriculum design, timetabling flexibility and qualification pathways to sustain inclusive practice. • Align advisory, improvement and support services to focus on reducing identified variation. • Introduce targeted support, challenge and peer learning to improve consistency in SEN Support practice. | inclusive practice at targeted levels. | consistency across settings. • Review impact on early identification, support at Universal, Targeted and Targeted Plus, and demand for statutory assessment. • Refine expectations and support approaches based on data, feedback and learning from implementation and workforce development audit findings. | escalation and specialist referrals for needs that can be met within mainstream settings. | ||
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| Building Block 2: Access to Specialist Support and Local Sufficiency (Workstream 2.1 Access to Specialist Support – EAH) Outcome: Targeted specialist support accessible earlier through clear routes, increasing whole-setting interventions and reducing escalation. Success measure: Targeted and specialist professional support accessible earlier through clear routes, enabling whole‑setting and group‑based approaches while maintaining access to individual specialist input where needs require, and reducing inappropriate escalation. | Head of SEND and Inclusion | • A joint Local Authority– ICB interim delivery model for EAH is agreed, defining a minimum viable Year 1 scope for test‑and‑learn delivery. • A Memorandum of Understanding is in place, setting out roles, responsibilities, governance and performance oversight, with flexibility for in‑year adjustment and protection of statutory services. • Dedicated operational capacity is in place to lead analysis, coordination and system readiness, including cost modelling and multi‑agency alignment. • A needs‑led mapping of existing capacity is completed, identifying protected statutory provision and what cannot be funded through EAH. | • Clear baseline established for referrals, waiting times, escalation patterns and workforce capacity, informing realistic, targeted deployment of specialist expertise within pilot delivery. | • Sign the EAH MoU and establish joint governance and reporting arrangements. • Launch an intensive, pilot across six identified settings, including a further education and AP setting, prioritising depth, quality and system learning, aligned with scoped workforce capacity to ensure safe delivery without impact on statutory services, with any future expansion requiring a corresponding uplift in resource. • Implement simple, transparent and proportionate access routes aligned to agreed escalation principles for early years, schools and Post-16 (including out-of-area FE settings). • Implement agreed training, coaching and modelling activity as part of EAH pilot delivery and use feedback | • Increasing reach of group-based and whole-setting approaches supported by EAH, with earlier resolution of need at SEN Support and clearer thresholds for appropriate individual specialist escalation. | • Review outcomes of pilot, workforce sustainability, cost effectiveness, and access equity using data and feedback from settings. • Refine the EAH delivery model, thresholds and access routes to simplify delivery, protect specialist capacity and maximise impact. • Embed effective training and development activity into ongoing EAH delivery and confirm workforce development priorities and investment for Year 2. • Agree a conditional, phased scale-up approach for 2027/28, aligned to confirmed funding, workforce capacity and evidence from Year 1 delivery. • Subject to Year 1 learning, begin feasibility work on regional or sub-regional delivery models where this | • EAH operating routinely in pilot settings, with stabilisation of escalated referrals, clearer access to specialist expertise where required, and improved timeliness of support. |
- Co‑production with
education providers and parent carers shapes design, access and priorities, aligned to workforce capacity and outcomes.
and activity data to refine training content, format and investment.
could strengthen specialist resilience or value for money, without destabilising local provision or compromising access for Wolverhampton settings.
- Begin routine collection of
activity, reach, outcomes and feedback data from pilot settings, including early indicators of workforce sustainability, impact on statutory demand and equity of access.
- Confirm priority
commissioning intentions for Year 2.
- Workforce requirements
for Year 1 pilots are defined, including redeployment and targeted recruitment, with realistic assumptions on capacity and backfill.
- Produce a Year 1 Learning
and Readiness Report summarising delivery activity, outcomes, workforce implications, costs, and co-production feedback to inform Year 2 design and DfE assurance.
- Finalise the role profile
and commissioning approach for the Ot Advanced Practitioner, aligned to national expectations and local professional governance arrangements, and recruit or appoint to the role to provide professional and clinical leadership for Occupational Therapy within Early Access and Help (Eah).
- SaLT Advanced
Practitioner, based on the role profile and delivery model agreed through the Black Country multi- agency approach. This includes the role profile developed in collaboration with Slt Designated Clinical Officers (DCOs), providers and Higher Education partners, and agreement on system- wide professional governance arrangements, ensuring strategic professional and clinical leadership for Speech and Language Therapy across the system, including within Eah
- Initial Eah access
principles are agreed, prioritising whole‑setting, equitable access and proportionate escalation.
- Workforce development
priorities are agreed, with indicative costs aligned to phased delivery.
| Building Block 2: Access to Specialist Support and Local Sufficiency (Workstream 2.2 Local Sufficiency and Inclusion Provision) Outcome: Local sufficiency strengthened over time through mainstream inclusion and inclusion bases, increasing local capacity and confidence while reducing reliance on specialist and independent placements as capacity becomes available. Success measure: A clearly baselined and agreed local sufficiency plan is in place, with confirmed priorities and phased plans for increasing local specialist and inclusion base capacity over subsequent years, alongside improved understanding and management of demand for independent and nonmaintained placements. | Head of School Business and Support | • Refresh of 0–25 SEND sufficiency and demand analysis, including drivers of out-of-area placements, waiting lists and statutory placement pressures. • Agree scope, principles and constraints for the planned development of inclusion bases, recognising variation in estate suitability and capital lead-in times. • Identify priority capital needs for mainstream adaptation and inclusion. • Approve capital programme for mainstream SEND provision, subject to funding availability and delivery timescales. • Complete a full mapping of current AP provision across all tiers and define the Tier 2 operating model, including clear pathways, entry and exit criteria, and expectations for reintegration. Align AP pathways with EHCP processes and establish a multi-agency design group to shape wraparound support for children and young people. • Agree commissioning principles with partners and begin aligning provision to the national three-tier model, ensuring clear links between universal, targeted and specialist support, and embedding a short-term, intervention-focused approach to AP. | • A clear placement and capacity baseline established, with shared confidence across partners in the phased direction and feasibility of future local capacity growth within mainstream and specialist provision. | • Publish an agreed, updated inclusion base model covering early years to post‑16, setting out scope, expectations and alignment with the existing rolling programme. • Develop and prioritise plans for inclusion base expansion, informed by capacity, data and capital constraints. • Co-produce the Tier 2 intervention offer with AP providers and mainstream schools, pilot referral and reintegration pathways, and develop commissioning specifications across all three tiers. Align AP pathways with specialist and EHCP provision, and agree multi-agency wraparound processes, including health and social care input for children and young people with complex needs. | • Placement decisions increasingly favouring local and inclusive solutions, with improved consistency, transparency and flow in placement decisionmaking, even where independent placements remain necessary. | • Embed the capital‑led sufficiency shift within the Local SEND Reform Plan and associated delivery programmes. • Commence delivery where feasible of inclusion bases and mainstream capital adaptations, in line with approved phasing and funding. • Implement ongoing monitoring of capacity growth, estate suitability, placement pressures and travel impacts. • Launch the commissioning process for the three-tier AP framework, formalise Tier 2 delivery arrangements, and publish clear AP pathways and guidance for mainstream settings. Embed multi-agency wraparound support across education, health and care, and establish monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track demand, outcomes, reintegration, safeguarding, and impact on exclusions and attendance. | • A credible, longterm local sufficiency position is agreed and owned by the partnership, with improved visibility and management of independent and nonmaintained placement demand rather than expectations of immediate reduction. |
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| Building Block 3: System Leadership, Governance and Co-production (Workstream 3.1 System Leadership and Partnership Ownership) Outcome: Strong system leadership and shared accountability embedded across | Executive Director of Families | • Re-affirm existing partnership governance arrangements, roles and decision-making responsibilities. • Review and confirm SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board membership to ensure full representation across | • Improved partnership operations, evidenced by clearer ownership, attendance and shared understanding of priorities. • Outcomes framework and measurable indicators in place to track progress. | • Strengthen partnership oversight of delivery through existing governance forums by developing and piloting shared dashboards that integrate agreed datasets across education, health and care, testing data quality and flows, and embedding routine use to | • Partnership routinely using shared dashboards and information to shape delivery and make effective commissioning decisions. | • Review effectiveness of partnership governance and system leadership in supporting delivery and managing pressure points. • Embed dashboards as a core tool for monitoring performance, variation and impact across the | • Stronger shared accountability and confidence in leadership, reflected in more stable forecasts and decision-making. • Well-established joint commissioning operating consistently, with shared outcomes informing decision-making. |
| education, health, care and parent carer partners. Success measure: Partners across education, health, care and lived-experience stakeholders demonstrate shared ownership through clear governance, timely joint decision-making and meaningful co-production at system level. | education, health, care and training providers, including strong post-16 and employment-based providers, aligned to SEND reform expectations. • Ensure clear system ownership of the SEND Reform programme across education, health and care partners. • Agree priority leadership actions to support delivery of the first-year plan and manage identified system risks and dependencies. • Recruit or commission dedicated programme and project support to support coordination, reporting and delivery of Year 1 SEND reform actions. • Agree a core shared dataset across education, health and care, aligned to SEND reform outcomes and the national data template, with clearly defined data ownership and responsibilities across partners (LA, ICB and providers) and an agreed reporting schedule to support consistent data collection, quality assurance and partnership reporting, strengthening shared accountability and fostering a collective focus on improving outcomes. • Agree Joint commissioning priorities and outcomes (LA and ICB) | inform decision-making, alongside qualitative and lived-experience insight. • Embed joint commissioning arrangements across education, health and care to support integrated, outcome-focused delivery. • Clarify and agree partnership-wide decision-making and dispute resolution arrangements across the SEND system, including statutory SEND mediation, multi-agency decision-making routes, and escalation processes for resolving disagreements that affect inclusion and access to support. • Ensure co-production with children, young people and families is consistently embedded within leadership and decision-making processes. | SEND system, using data to identify areas of pressure, inequity or delay to inform targeted support and commissioning decisions, while refining reporting processes and aligning with DfE returns to ensure consistent, timely data and shared accountability. • Communicate agreed routes consistently across partners to support early resolution and reduce avoidable delay for children, young people and families. • Use learning from year one delivery to refine joint commissioning priorities and partnership working arrangements. • Maintain shared accountability for outcomes, ensuring system leadership continues to support inclusive practice and early intervention. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Block 3: System Leadership, Governance and Co-production (Workstream 3.2 Co-production and Participation with Children, Young People and Families) Outcome: Children, young people and parent carers meaningfully influence SEND priorities, | • Re‑confirm shared co‑production principles and expectations across the partnership, building on existing PCF and CYP arrangements. • Agree priority areas where co‑production will most strongly inform first‑year delivery, including Universal Offer, SEN Support, EAH and sufficiency planning. | • Trusted and accessible participation routes in place, with clearer feedback loops for families and young people. | • Apply co-production approaches consistently across priority workstreams, with clear feedback loops to participants. • Use lived experience insight to inform joint commissioning, service design and pathway development. • Strengthen accessibility and inclusivity of | • Increased and more representative participation, with lived experience visibly influencing priorities and decisions. | • Review how effectively co‑production has influenced delivery, decisions and outcomes across the first‑year plan. • Share learning and impact from participation activity with partners, settings, children, young people and families. • Refine coproduction approaches to support delivery priorities and | • Improved confidence among children, young people and parent carers, alongside more consistent co-production practice across the partnership. |
| decisions and service improvement. Success measure: Co‑production arrangements are strengthened and embedded, with children, young people and families consistently influencing priorities, service design and improvement activity, reflected in improved trust and confidence in decision‑making and pathways. | • Ensure children, young people and family participation is clearly embedded within programme governance and decision‑making routes. | participation approaches to ensure diverse voices are represented. | system maturity in subsequent years. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Block 4: Encouraging Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and Continuous Improvement (Workstream 4.1 Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and System Expectations) Outcome: Consistent inclusive behaviours and early-intervention expectations are understood, modelled and increasingly applied across leadership, practice and decision-making. Success measure: Early evidence of improved confidence and consistency in inclusive decision-making, demonstrated through benchmarking, case sampling, lived-experience feedback and panel intelligence, with trends in EHC needs assessments monitored contextually rather than used as a performance target. | Head of Service Educational Excellence | • Complete analysis of partnership-wide Workforce Development audit to create baseline to inform planning for development of workforce development framework to develop inclusive culture, leadership behaviours and system expectations. • Clarify and agree shared expectations for inclusive culture and behaviour, aligned to All Means All principles and existing graduated response guidance. • Identify a small number of priority leadership and system behaviours that have the greatest influence on early intervention and inclusive decision-making. • Agree proportionate approaches to gathering lived experience, including feedback and early case tracking where routine mechanisms are limited. | • Clear, consistent system-wide messaging reinforcing inclusive behaviours and early-intervention expectations. | • Develop a focused SEND Partnership workforce development framework to set out the approach to future workforce development planning and delivery. • Develop a partnership workforce development action plan to build readiness in preparation for SEND Reforms, informed by Q2 audit findings, with a focus on inclusive culture, leadership behaviours and system expectations. • Begin initial delivery of the universal and targeted support in accordance with the workforce development action plan. • Start using case studies and lived-experience insight to understand how inclusive culture is being experienced in practice by children, young people and families. | • Increasing confidence across the partnership workforce to meet needs through the graduated approach, evidenced through indications of early changes to behaviours, learning from decision making group processes and early qualitative feedback. | • Continuing delivery of the universal and targeted support in accordance with the workforce development action plan. • Repeat the partnershipwide workforce development audit to assess early impact and use learning from benchmarking, case tracking and lived experience feedback to refine expectations and workforce development priorities for future years. | • Early evidence of partners consistently reinforcing expectation of a graduated approach and appropriate escalations, evidenced through indications of changes to behaviours, learning from decision making group processes and early qualitative feedback. |
| Building Block 4: Encouraging Inclusive Culture, Behaviour and Continuous Improvement (Workstream 4.2 Quality Assurance, Insight and Continuous Improvement) Outcome: Robust, learning-led quality assurance and system insight drive continuous improvement, increased confidence and greater | • Confirm governance, roles and responsibilities for implementing the partnership Quality Assurance Framework, ensuring a shared focus on improving the quality and consistency of SEN Support and early intervention through the graduated approach. • Agree priority areas for year-one quality assurance activity, aligned to delivery risks, system pressure | • Shared understanding across partners of system strengths, priority improvement areas and the purpose of QA as learning and support. | • Implement the partnership Quality Assurance Framework across agreed priority areas. • Use quality assurance findings, data and lived experience insight to identify strengths, gaps and improvement priorities. • Triangulate quality assurance outcomes through established multi‑agency forum, using | • Early evidence that QA activity is informing corrective action, professional learning and improved consistency in practice across priority areas. | • Review the effectiveness of quality assurance activity in driving improvement, supporting inclusive practice and reducing unnecessary escalation. • Embed continuous improvement cycles, explicitly linking QA findings, lived-experience insight and case-based learning to action planning, system support and commissioning decisions. | • Demonstrable progress against baseline, with increased system confidence in the use of QA to support improvement, coherence and readiness for external assurance, without increasing workload pressure or undermining professional confidence. |
- Refine the Quality
Assurance Framework based on learning from year-one implementation, with particular attention to clarity, proportionality and impact.
consistency across the SEND system. Success measure: Clear evidence of improved alignment over time between identified need, support provided and outcomes achieved, demonstrated through quality assurance findings, benchmarking, lived-experience insight and case-based learning. Cost and placement data are used as contextual intelligence to support understanding and decision-making, not as standalone performance measures. .
points and SEND reform priorities.
practice reports to identify development opportunities and inform leadership, commissioning and delivery decisions.
- Confirm data, insight and
intelligence requirements to support quality assurance, including quantitative data, qualitative feedback and approaches to gathering lived experience where routine feedback mechanisms are limited.
- Improve data quality,
consistency and confidence, including aligning data definitions across partners, addressing known gaps, and improving the reliability of data on mainstream inclusion, early intervention and internal resourced provision, with agreed ownership across education, health and social care.
- Confirm Year-1 baselines
and data confidence levels, triangulated with lived-experience insight, and agree monitoring and reporting arrangements for Year-2 delivery.
- Agree principles and
methods for triangulating lived experience, including case tracking or thematic case reviews.
- Where complete or reliable
baseline data is not currently available, identify and begin establishing baselines using a combination of existing datasets, refreshed data collection and targeted analysis, to inform how future progress will be measured.
Projected Investment Spend per quarter Q2 Q3 Q4
£30,250 £30,250 £30,250 Programme oversight/additional leadership capacity.
Planned allocation within the 10% Local Authority transformation cap, supporting planning, coordination and assurance £50,000 £49,999 £61,030 Data / Digital (Qa, insight, lived-experience capture) Planned allocation within the 10% Local Authority transformation cap, supporting quality assurance, insight and learning £42,326 £816,618 £816,617 Workforce (direct Eah delivery) Planned allocation to direct Eah delivery, contributing to at least 80% of total grant spend £20,000 £20,000 £20,000 Recruitment (Eah delivery roles only) Planned allocation to recruitment of Eah delivery roles, supporting direct delivery £38,676 £130,000 £110,000 Workforce training and development Planned allocation to Eah linked training and development, supporting system-wide impact and sustainability £195,780 £28,000 £28,000 Administration of the Eah offer Planned allocation within the 10% administration cap, supporting coordination and delivery management
£377,032 £1,074,867 £1,065,897 Total £2,517,796 Planned allocation compliant with grant conditions
Planned allocations reflect the anticipated distribution of Experts at Hand and SEND Transformation funding for 2026/27 and are structured to fully comply with grant conditions, including allocation of at least 80% of funding to direct Experts at Hand delivery, with administration and Local Authority transformation costs each capped at no more than 10%. Final financial values will be confirmed following receipt of formal allocation letters and agreement of joint commissioning arrangements.
How will the local area partnership deliver the first-year plan?
We will deliver a phased and proportionate approach, recognising the capacity, workforce, funding and system dependencies identified in the risks and dependencies section of this plan. Delivery will take place alongside the delivery of statutory SEND duties and will focus on establishing foundations rather than system change in year one. Statutory responsibilities across education, health and social care will remain the priority. Activity will be sequenced and paced to avoid destabilising core services, with support staff capacity where feasible to enable progress on priority actions; recognising that elements of Eah will require new or expanded workforce roles, with recruitment phased in line with confirmed funding and readiness. Programme delivery will be supported by governance and coordination, using existing programme and partnership structures. This will enable prioritisation where capacity is limited, management of dependencies between workstreams, and timely escalation of risks. Time-limited specialist project support will be utilised, particularly for system redesign or capital-related activity. Delivery depends on support from commissioning, procurement, finance, legal and data functions. Targeted capacity from these services will be aligned to priorities to support commissioning activity, financial assurance, compliance and decision-making. Data and analytics capacity will be strengthened incrementally, including through alignment with wider children’s services and adults transformation resources, to support delivery monitoring, performance reporting and decision-making, without increasing burden on frontline services. Given funding uncertainty, delivery will remain flexible and scalable, with regular review of affordability, risk and capacity to ensure progress is sustainable and aligned to emerging national guidance and funding decisions.
Block Transfers No Schools Block to High Needs Block transfer has been made for 2026–27. Delivery of the Local SEND Reform Plan is therefore being supported through existing High Needs Block funding, national reform funding streams (including Eah and SEND Transformation funding), and targeted use of capital investment. This approach reflects the focus of 2026–27 as a preparation and early delivery year and avoids placing additional pressure on school budgets while inclusive practice, early intervention and system reform are embedded. Capital The School Place Planning Strategy outlines Wolverhampton’s approach to the introduction of SEND provision based on the following guiding principles:
- Transparent, choice of provision and providers
- Clear and consistent pathways are offered
- Broad range of high needs provision, including a comprehensive graduated response
- High quality, local solutions are developed to support a reduction in the required number of independent special school placements
- Solutions are developed to offer opportunities for students with SEND to attend mainstream provision, unless doing so would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education
The strategy will be refreshed through co-production with partners within the next 12 months. Wolverhampton will continue to increase mainstream SEND capacity, through expansion of existing provisions, the introduction of new inclusion bases for pupils requiring specialist support, and the adoption of adaptive technology where possible. This will strengthen inclusive practice (in line with the School Accessibility Strategy 2026-2029.pdf) within mainstream settings, providing a balance of provision across the City’s planning areas, enabling children to access local provision with reduced travel times. Co-production of a continuum of provision across phases will enable smoother transition, ensuring effective pathways are available. Nursery Schools in the city have existing commissioned SEND provision that enables our young children to learn in mainstream provision. Many primary schools have established or are setting up support bases to support those pupils requiring Targeted Plus support. We will continue to work with settings to advise and support the establishment and effective use of these bases. Strong partnerships with responsible bodies has led to the number of SEND places in mainstream steadily increasing in recent years. Pipeline schemes will potentially provide over 250 Inclusion Base places across 13 settings. This will help reduce reliance on independent specialist placements, meeting needs locally wherever possible. Commissioners will continue to work with local colleges and Fe providers to ensure sufficient provision is available for post-16 students. There are plans to expand four special schools, including the existing plan to rebuild, relocate and extend the age range of a primary special school to an all through provision. This targeted specialist expansion is informed by sustained demand for specialist provision for children and young people with complex needs that cannot be met effectively within mainstream settings or inclusion bases. This will
provide essential capacity, support continuity of provision across phases, and reduce the need for out-of-area placements, while remaining consistent with the ambition to maximise inclusion within mainstream education. Capacity in schools is extremely constrained due to significant demand for mainstream places (point of entry and in year) alongside rising births for Reception cohorts up to 2028/29. Opportunities for utilising existing space for Inclusion Bases are scarce, resulting in greater reliance on capital schemes. Capital allocations will be insufficient. Funding will be prioritised on schemes that reduce reliance on independent placements. However, as per the data return, a steady increase in mainstream SEND capacity is forecast. System partner and stakeholder engagement, and co-production.
We are committed to a model of co production that places children, young people and families at the heart of decision making. Our approach is guided by the Wolverhampton Co Production Charter, SEND & Inclusion Strategy, “Working Well Together” principles, and a Co Production Toolkit co-designed with parent carers, young people and professionals. These frameworks define expectations for trust, understanding, equal partnership, creative thinking and accessible communication. The partnership brings together education and skills providers, health partners, social care, Best Start Family Hubs, community organisations, Wiass and wider local authority services, with engagement coordinated through the SEND and Inclusion Partnership Board, thematic workstreams, multi-agency panels, young people’s participation groups and SEND Wolves Forum. This includes Wiass, which provides independent, impartial advice to support children, young people and families to understand their rights, participate confidently and share informed feedback. This is strengthened through collaboration with health led co-production arrangements, including Black Country Healthcare’s co production group, to support shared engagement and co design. Roles and responsibilities are defined in line with SEND White Paper expectations, with education, health and care each accountable for delivery, decision‑making and outcomes. The re-established Pcf plays a central role in shaping priorities, co-designing pathways and influencing system improvement. Co production is embedded in governance and practice, with parent carers and children and young people involved across working groups, decision making forums, service design, commissioning and consultation. This is supported by strong Cyp voice arrangements including HY5! Youth Forum, CAMHS Ambassadors, Young Inspectors and Best Start Family Hubs youth channels. Co production is supported by the Wolverhampton Co Production Toolkit and strengthened through partnership with community organisations, ensuring inclusive, accessible and responsive engagement across the SEND journey. Feedback will be strengthened through:
- Regular community conversations and focus groups delivered in partnership with community organisations
- Clear feedback shared through the Local Offer and participation networks
- Engagement activity linked to specific stages of the SEND pathway
The Local Offer provides a transparent platform for communication, updates, and reporting feedback, supporting ongoing dialogue and accountability. The plan has been developed through engagement with system partners and lived-experience representatives during co production of the maturity assessment. This has included multi agency workshops, a citywide survey aligned to the reform pillars, input from the Pcf, partner contributions, and insight from young people via HY5! Youth Forum and other participation groups. Workshops have refined priorities, tested assumptions and shaped the final plan against national requirements, ensuring alignment with JSNA findings. We will ensure Cyp and families can understand information and participate in decisions through accessible young communication and engagement options, including clear language, alternative formats, flexible virtual or face to face engagement, and tailored approaches for preverbal and non-verbal children and people. From 2026–29, co production will be embedded as standard practice across service design, commissioning, governance, pathway improvement and day to day activity, informed by lived experience and delivered in partnership with children and young people, including those with care experience, families, Best Start Family Hubs and community organisations. Reporting to the Department for Education (DfE) Principles
- Transparency: reporting provides updates on delivery activity and milestones.
- Consistency: consistent quarterly report, with any changes clearly explained and agreed.
- Assurance: evidence of delivery progress, key risks and dependencies, and the actions being taken to address issues.
| • Proportionality: reporting focuses on the information that best demonstrates progress and learning. DfE reporting will be delivered through a quarterly cycle aligned to national return requirements and the partnership governance schedule. A quarterly DfE assurance meeting will be supported by a locally agreed quarterly assurance report. The Reform Plan Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) will provide overall accountability for the accuracy and timeliness of reporting, supported by programme leadership and workstream leads. Where data maturity or completeness varies, the partnership will be explicit about data limitations and will report a confidence rating alongside key metrics. Each quarterly submission will include a short data quality and improvement update. Any material risks to delivery will be escalated through partnership governance and reflected in quarterly DfE reporting. Where the partnership proposes changes to scope, sequencing or anticipated trajectories, these will be documented in the assurance report with clear rationale, impact assessment, and the agreed decision-making route. DfE reporting will include proportionate assurance on the use of reform funding, demonstrating compliance with grant conditions, the partnership’s decision-making and commissioning arrangements, and how investment is supporting reform delivery alongside statutory responsibilities. Financial reporting will be aligned to programme governance, with any emerging pressures, reprofiling decisions or delivery impacts captured transparently through the quarterly assurance report. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Risks and Mitigations | |||||
| Risk | Impact | Likelihood | RAG | Mitigation | Residual RAG |
| 1. Changes to NHS England, Integrated Care Board and regional commissioning structures may impact joint commissioning arrangements, health pathway redesign and delivery of the EAH model, including clarity of commissioning and delivery responsibilities, ownership of decision-making, alignment of priorities and consistency of messaging across partners, potentially affecting pace, assurance and confidence in implementation. | High | High | Red | • Play an active role in the Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull ICB SEND forum, identifying common issues, sharing practice and promoting consistency of approach in relation to market development and management • Ensure SEND is considered within the emerging Place Committee arrangements to promote joint strategic planning and commissioning between health and care • Work with provider organisations to ensure inclusive delivery for children with SEND | Amber |
| 2. System capacity may be insufficient to deliver SEND reforms at pace and consistently, due to workforce recruitment and retention challenges, rising demand and complexity, competing statutory pressures and the cumulative scale and sequencing of national and local reforms. During periods of transition, this may slow delivery, weaken co-production and provider engagement, and undermine parental confidence, increasing the risk of families seeking private assessments or legal challenge, with associated financial and system pressures. | High | High | Red | • Phased and prioritised implementation, aligning reform activity with workforce capacity and known pressure points, and clearly sequencing delivery to protect statutory duties and business-as-usual activity. • Targeted workforce actions across education, health and care, including retention initiatives, shared recruitment approaches, supervision capacity planning and use of trusted partners to maintain safe, sustainable provision. • Strong communication and engagement with families, including clear expectations, consistent messaging and visible “You Said, We Did” feedback to maintain confidence during periods of change and transition. • Strengthened governance and grip, using performance, demand and risk intelligence to support early intervention, manage escalation and maintain focus on co-production and quality of delivery. • Ensure thresholds are clear for the AP for the three-tiered approach. | Amber |
| 3. Funding available for SEND reform may be insufficient to fully resource all required workforce, capital, commissioning and change management activity, or to deliver capacity growth at the pace required to meet rising demand, requiring prioritisation and phased delivery that may limit short-term impact and extend reliance on specialist or independent provision. | High | Medium | Red | • Prioritise reform activities and sufficiency investment against available funding, capacity and estate constraints, focusing resources on actions most likely to strengthen inclusion and reduce demand escalation. • Align and maximise use of existing funding streams, workforce capacity and capital programmes to support delivery, recognising that some capacity growth will require phased implementation over multiple years. • Maintain regular financial, capacity and sufficiency monitoring, including scenario planning, identify pressures early and inform timely reprofiling, prioritisation or sequencing of activity. • Use strengthened data and sufficiency intelligence to guide transparent decision making on where inclusion base expansion and mainstream adaptations are most feasible and impactful. • Engage early with the Department for Education and system partners to seek clarity, flexibility or additional support where funding or capital constraints risk delivery of priority reforms. • Maintain clear, consistent communication with education settings and families about the phased nature of capacity growth, managing expectations while reinforcing commitment to local provision and statutory entitlements. | Amber |
| 4. Variable engagement, readiness, capacity and cultural consistency across education settings and partners may lead to uneven implementation of the EAH model, particularly in the absence of fully embedded national standards or sufficiently coordinated delivery arrangements, risking divergence in thresholds, responses and lived experience if expectations, roles and system messages are not consistently reinforced. | High | Medium-low | Amber | • Clear expectations set through refreshed governance and partnership agreements • Early engagement of partners in design and sequencing decisions • Consistent leadership messaging reinforcing the case for change • Transparent data and shared performance reporting to build confidence • Escalation routes via Partnership and Reform Programme Boards • Engagement with regional partners to ensure joint commissioning approaches. | Green |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Significant estate constraints may limit the ability to deliver mainstream adaptations or inclusion provision, necessitating capital investment in excess of the capital grant allocations received by the Local Authority. Rising demand for mainstream places and limited estate flexibility increase this risk, meaning local SEND capacity growth may need to be phased and prioritised alongside statutory sufficiency pressures. | High | Medium | Amber | • Take a phased, place‑led approach to capital and sufficiency planning, prioritising inclusion bases and mainstream adaptations where estate suitability allows. • Use area‑based solutions including clustering, shared facilities, outreach and assistive technology—where individual settings cannot host provision. • Maintain a targeted specialist provision route where needs cannot be met through mainstream or inclusion base models, supported by clear statutory evidence. | Green |
Dependencies
Best Start in Life Strategy Best Start Family Hubs will act as a key delivery platform for early identification, integrated support and workforce alignment for children with emerging or identified SEND. Through aligned workforce development, shared pathways and locality-based coordination, Family Hubs will support the Universal Offer, graduated response and Eah model, enabling earlier, joined-up support without waiting for diagnosis or escalation. Best Start in Life (including Family Hubs) Delivery of SEND reform will be supported by Wolverhampton’s Best Start Family Hubs, which provide integrated, inclusive support from pregnancy through early years and transition into school. Alignment with Best Start pathways, workforce development and shared data arrangements will enable children with emerging or identified SEND, including those not yet accessing early education, to access timely, joined-up local support. NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board – Joint Five-Year Forward Plan SEND reform delivery will align with the Icb’s Joint Five-Year Forward Plan, particularly priorities relating to early intervention, neighbourhood health, workforce sustainability and reducing inequalities. Reform activity, including Eah, will be delivered in partnership with the Icb to align health capacity, commissioning intentions and neighbourhood delivery models. Regional and Sub-Regional Health Pathways Delivery of SEND reform is partly dependent on the development of regional and Black Country-wide health pathways, including autism and neurodevelopmental pathways. The partnership will work proactively with regional governance to ensure local priorities and lived experience inform pathway development, while sequencing local delivery to align with agreed regional models. SEND Workforce Capacity and Supply The pace and scale of reform will be influenced by workforce availability across education, health and social care. This dependency will be managed through coordinated workforce planning, aligned commissioning, targeted recruitment and development, and phased implementation to ensure sustainability. Children’s Social Care Reforms Children’s Social Care reforms, including the Families First Programme, aligns to the SEND delivery through changes to focus on early identification and multiagency practice. These reforms will be delivered through shared governance and joint planning to ensure a clear and consistent experience for children and families. Curriculum and Assessment Review Curriculum and assessment reforms support SEND delivery by enabling earlier identification, consistent SEN Support and inclusive classroom practice. Alignment will be managed through existing education improvement and SEND governance arrangements. National SEND Reform Guidance and Funding Delivery and sequencing will be influenced by the timing and content of national SEND reform guidance and funding. The partnership will maintain a transition-ready approach, allowing plans to be refined and scaled as national expectations are confirmed.
Local Government Re-organisation Wolverhampton will not directly affected by Local Government Re-organisation but will continue to monitor national developments to ensure continued alignment.
Section 3 – Monitoring and Evaluation
How will the local area partnership know delivery is on track?
Programme management will ensure consistent project controls across all SEND reform activities. Core programme and workstream information will be maintained in Verto as a single auditable delivery plan, including milestones, stage plans, Raidd logs, benefits tracking and financial monitoring. This will provide timely, transparent oversight at programme and workstream level, enabling systematic progress tracking, early risk identification and proportionate issue management, supported by the Transforming Children’s Services Programme (Tcsp) Board.
Delivery will be structured around the four Building Blocks, with each workstream maintaining a clear delivery plan, milestones and success measures. Progress will be monitored through regular reporting, capturing progress against plans, key milestones, risks, issues and dependencies. Reporting will be supported by Rag status and agreed tolerance thresholds in line with Programme Management Office (Pmo) guidance, with escalation triggered where delivery forecasts indicate tolerances may be exceeded.
Performance dashboards will bring together key system indicators aligned to SEND reform outcomes, including attendance, exclusions, escalation routes, placement patterns, timeliness of support and lived-experience feedback. Dashboards will support reviews of trends and variation, enable understanding whether reform activity is delivering the intended impact and where baselines are still being finalised, support the development and tracking of trajectories over time.
Qualitative insight from surveys, participation groups and lived experience will be routinely triangulated with quantitative performance data through the SEND Quality Assurance Framework and practice reviews. This combined insight will demonstrate variations, inform decision-making and drive service improvement.
Monitoring will be undertaken more frequently when risk or complexity is higher, and less frequently when delivery is on track. This approach focuses on priority areas and can be adjusted in response to emerging pressures or changes in delivery context.
Feedback, learning and adaptation are integral to delivery. Alongside performance data, lived-experience insight from parents, carers and children and young people will be reviewed regularly to understand how services are working in practice. Co-production forums, engagement activity and established feedback reporting mechanisms will demonstrate how this informs ongoing system improvement.
Learning from delivery will be captured systematically through project reporting, review points and partnership reflection, drawing on lessons logged through established Pmo processes. Findings will be used to refine delivery approaches, adjust sequencing or target support, while remaining aligned to the overall reform trajectory.
Key dependencies that may affect delivery, including health workforce capacity, national SEND reform detail and wider workforce pressures, will be monitored through routine reporting and risk management processes. These dependencies will be reviewed collaboratively across partners to support shared ownership of risk and collective problem-solving.
Reporting and feedback arrangements provide transparency and assurance that SEND reform delivery is progressing as intended. Governance structures, decision-making authority, escalation routes and accountability arrangements are set out in Section 4 (Governance). In line with national requirements, the local area partnership will submit quarterly data returns to DfE using the national data template, with DfE benchmarking reports used alongside local dashboards to inform delivery oversight and continuous improvement.
Reporting to DfE
Principles:
- Transparency: reporting provides updates on delivery activity and milestones.
- Consistency: consistent quarterly report, with any changes clearly explained and agreed.
- Assurance: evidence of delivery progress, key risks and dependencies, and the actions being taken to address issues.
- Proportionality: reporting focuses on the information that best demonstrates progress and learning.
DfE reporting will be delivered through a quarterly cycle aligned to national return requirements and the partnership governance schedule. A quarterly DfE assurance meeting will be supported by a locally agreed quarterly assurance report. The Reform Plan Sro will provide overall accountability for the accuracy and timeliness of reporting, supported by programme leadership and workstream leads. Where data maturity or completeness varies, the partnership will be explicit about data limitations and will report a confidence rating alongside key metrics. Each quarterly submission will include a short data quality and improvement update. Any material risks to delivery will be escalated through partnership governance and reflected in quarterly DfE reporting. Where the partnership proposes changes to scope, sequencing or anticipated trajectories, these will be documented in the assurance report with clear rationale, impact assessment, and the agreed decision-making route.
DfE reporting will include proportionate assurance on the use of reform funding, demonstrating compliance with grant conditions, the partnership’s decision-making and commissioning arrangements, and how investment is supporting reform delivery alongside statutory responsibilities. Financial reporting will be aligned to programme governance, with any emerging pressures, reprofiling decisions or delivery impacts captured transparently through the quarterly assurance report.
Section 4 – Governance
How will the local area partnership ensure delivery of plans remain on track?
Delivery of the Local SEND Reform Plan will be overseen through a clear, shared governance structure aligned to existing SEND & Inclusion Partnership arrangements. The governance framework sets out defined accountability, decision-making authority and escalation routes, with the named Senior Responsible Officer (Sro) accountable for overall delivery. Performance, risk and progress will be reviewed routinely to ensure delivery remains on track and action is taken transparently where issues arise.
| Governance Mechanism | Purpose/ Responsibilities | Membership | Cadence | Decision Rights | Escalation Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Means All – SEND Reform SRO | Holds overall accountability for delivery of the All Means All - Wolverhampton l SEND Reform Plan, ensuring alignment with national SEND reform expectations, statutory responsibilities and partnership priorities. Responsible for delivery confidence, risk management, and ensuring corrective action is taken where delivery is at risk. | Individual role – Senior Local Authority Officer (SRO). | Ongoing accountability with formal reporting through established programme and partnership governance cycles. | Authority to oversee delivery, approve significant corrective action, and recommend strategic escalation where delivery or outcomes are at risk. | Transforming Children’s Services Programme (TCSP) Board; Children & Families Together Board (if systemwide escalation required). |
| All Means All – SEND Reform Delivery and Inclusion Lead | Provides senior operational leadership for delivery of the Local SEND Reform Plan, responsible for coordinating day-to-day implementation across workstreams, managing sequencing and system capacity, and ensuring reform activity aligns with statutory SEND delivery. Maintains delivery grip and reports progress, risks and issues to the SEND Reform Steering Group and SRO. | Individual role | Ongoing, with regular engagement with workstream leads, formal monthly reporting to the SEND Reform Steering Group, and additional oversight where delivery risk or complexity requires. | Can make operational delivery decisions within the scope of the agreed SEND Reform Plan | Escalates strategic risks, funding implications or delivery issues that exceed agreed tolerances to the SEND Reform Steering Group and SEND Reform SRO, with further escalation to the SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board or the TCSP Board where required. |
| All Means All - SEND Reform Project Manager | Responsible for the day‑to‑day coordination and planning of the Local SEND Reform Plan, ensuring agreed priorities, milestones and dependencies are managed effectively across the local system. | Individual role | Ongoing support will be provided through regular and ad‑hoc reporting, with increased oversight where delivery risk, complexity or emerging issues require more focused attention. | Can make day‑to‑day operational decisions on delivery, prioritisation and coordination of SEND reform activity, escalating strategic or financial decisions as required. | Issues or decisions are escalated to the SEND Steering Group and SRO, with further escalation to TCSP Board where required. |
| All Means All - SEND Reform Steering Group | Primary delivery and assurance body for SEND reform. Oversees progress against the roadmap, reviews performance, risks and dependencies, agrees mitigation and corrective action, and ensures alignment with system capacity and priorities. | Senior representatives from education, health (ICB), local authority services and PCF, with subject matter experts and system partners attending as required. Chaired by the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO). | Weekly during development of the Local SEND Reform Plan (up to June 2026), moving to monthly thereafter, with flexibility to meet more frequently on a risk-based basis. | Decisions are made by consensus where possible, with the Chair making the final decision where required. | SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board (with escalation via the SRO to Children's Executive Leadership Team (CELT) and relevant programme boards where required). |
| ICB SEND Reforms Working Group | The purpose of the group is to ensure a consistent and coherent strategic ICB response to the SEND Reforms across the geographical footprint which spans 6 Local Authority areas. This includes | • Head of SEND BC (Chair) | The meetings will be held once a week for 1 hour and the Chair will have the option to organise more | Authority to oversee delivery, approve significant corrective action, and recommend strategic | The SEND Reform ICB Working Group will report into the Joint Clinical Quality & Safety Committee and the Joint |
| the development of a clearly stated ICB strategic commissioning intent to support the improvement in SEND services. | • Associate Directors of Safeguarding ICB Cluster (deputy-chairs) • Head of Quality Programme Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) (programme lead) • Senior Planning Manager, Black Country (BC) Strategic Planning (programme support) • Director of Commissioning Finance BSOL & BC or deputies • Associate Director of Commissioning BSOL & BC or deputy • Senior Communications lead ICB Cluster • SEND Designated Clinical Officers BSOL & BC • Associate Directors of Contracting BSOL & BC • Associate Directors - Workforce BSOL & BC | frequent meetings if needed. | escalation where delivery or outcomes are at risk. | Strategic Commissioning Committee. Some reporting / submissions will be retrospectively updated at the Committee’s due to the tight deadlines for submission of plans that will require ICB Chief Executive sign off. The will report into the Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull (BBCS) Executive Team by exception. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board | Provides strategic oversight and shared accountability for SEND outcomes, lived experience, performance and reform delivery across education, health and care. Holds the partnership to account and provides constructive challenge. | Senior leaders from local authority, ICB, education (including schools/MATs/AP), training providers and PCF representation. | Quarterly. | Sets strategic direction, endorses priorities, challenges performance and agrees escalation or strategic change where required. | Children & Families Together Board / One Wolverhampton (where broader system resolution is required). |
| Transforming Children’s Services Programme Board | Provides corporate-level programme assurance for SEND reform, ensuring alignment with wider Children’s Services transformation activity, resource prioritisation and risk management. | Senior local authority officers and transformation leads. | Monthly / Bi-monthly (in line with corporate programme governance). | Provides assurance, challenge and approval of escalated mitigation actions or changes to programme delivery. | Families Joint Leadership Team (FJLT), Strategic Executive Board (SEB) and / or Project Assurance Group (PAG) |
| Building Block Workstreams (with Task & Finish Groups) | Responsible for operational delivery of reform activity across the four Building Blocks. Develop, implement and track detailed delivery plans, manage milestones and risks, and report progress upward. | Operational leads across education, health, LA services and partners. Task & Finish Groups include subject matter experts and practitioners as required. | Fortnightly / monthly (workstream specific). | Operational decisions within agreed scope and tolerances; recommendations to Steering Group for escalation or change. | SEND Reform Steering Group. |
| Experts at Hand (EAH) Delivery and Governance Workstream Group | Provides oversight of the design, commissioning, delivery and evaluation of the Experts at Hand (EAH) model. Ensures alignment with SEND reform priorities, workforce capacity and | Senior representatives from local authority, ICB, education providers and specialist services (including Educational Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy and | Monthly during implementation, with flexibility to meet more frequently during pilot and scale phases. | Recommends commissioning, workforce and delivery decisions in relation to the EAH model | SEND Reform Steering Group, with further escalation to the SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board and ICB governance |
system demand, and promotes consistent access, quality and impact across education, health and care. Oversees phased implementation, monitors performance and supports continuous improvement.
Occupational Therapy), alongside workforce and commissioning leads, with input from parent carers and children and young people where appropriate.
within agreed governance arrangements.
(including SEND Reforms Working Group) where required.
Parent Carer Forum
Ensures lived experience of parents, carers and children and young people informs design, delivery and evaluation of SEND reform activity. Provides challenge, insight and feedback to governance structures.
SEND Wolves Pcf; HY5! Youth Forum and other Cyp participation groups as appropriate.
Ongoing engagement with formal feedback into Steering Group and Partnership Board.
Advisory and influential role; informs decision-making rather than holding formal sign-off authority.
SEND Reform Steering Group / SEND & Inclusion Partnership Board.
and Cyp
Participation Mechanisms
Health and Wellbeing Board Black Country Icb Wm and National Careers & Enterprise Transforming Children's Services Children and Families Black Country Integrated One Wolverhampton SEND Assurance Schools Forum Together Board Commissioning Group
Strategic Decisions
Group Network Programme Board Children and Education Leadership SEND and Inclusion Autism Partnership Wolverhampton Integrated Partnership Board Board Commissioning Group Team
Planning, coordination and oversight of delivery
SEND Reform Board SEND Wolves Forum HY5! SEND Health Steering Group
SEND Local Offer Joint Strategic Commissioning Group Education, Skills and High Needs Block Ffcp – Strategic Outreach Advisory Complaints and Compliance Group Steering Group Employment Board Sub-group Education lead Board Cyp Ehwb Education Priority SEND Reform Building Icb SEND Reforms Block Workstreams Working Group Workstream
Operational Delivery Groups
SEND Reform Task and Finish Groups
Section 5 – Central Government Support
How can we help you?
- Develop national strategies for recruiting, retaining, and supplying specialist staff (e.g., Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists), using training routes, incentives, and Memoranda of Understanding.
- Set clear national guidance for; funding and the Eah model, standardising terminology, scope, and roles for consistent understanding and practice.
- Provide national tools, standards, and digital measures (like SEND National Standards) to unify local practices and thresholds across education, health, and care.
- Ensure access to commissioned evaluation and improvement support for robust assessment and ongoing learning in local models such as Eah and inclusion bases.
- Offer government guidance to enhance inclusive SEND estates through cost-effective adaptations, flexible use of shared resources, and clear design standards; allow greater funding flexibility and access to specialist advisers for phased estate improvements.
- Supply templates or guidance for phased SEND reforms, clarifying minimum delivery standards and workforce growth with limited funding.
- Establish flexible funding mechanisms to manage short-term costs during capacity building.
- Conduct independent evaluations to demonstrate financial and system impacts of models like Eah, supporting sustained investment and reducing high-cost reliance.
- Explicitly recognise children and young people with care experience as a priority group. Strengthen alignment between SEND, care and family help systems (including Best Start in Life, Family Hubs and Families First Programme)
- Address challenges such as placement instability, transitions and multi‑agency working
- Ensure data, accountability and outcomes frameworks include this group
- Recognising and addressing this cohort will be critical to improving outcomes and reducing inequalities.