Local SEND reform plan · City of Doncaster Council · Ask about this document

Doncaster SEND Reform Plan: three-year delivery roadmap 2026-2029

Doncaster’s SEND Reform ‘Three-Year’ Roadmap

The roadmap is organised around four connected building blocks. Delivery is supported by capital investment, workforce capacity and development, data and digital systems, national inclusion standards and Experts at Hand guidance, long-term funding, partnership governance and co-production.

1. Strengthening inclusion across education settings

Develop local places and inclusive environments; clarify ordinarily available provision; improve transitions and school-to- school learning.

2. Access to specialist support and local placements

Build a locality-based Experts at Hand offer, strengthen specialist outreach and therapy pathways, and improve access from early years to post-16.

3. System leadership, partnership and co- production

Embed shared governance, communication, family and young people’s voice, and fairer approaches to dispute resolution.

4. Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

Improve joint commissioning, financial oversight, workforce development and the use of data to assess impact and value for money.

Shared enablers

  • Capital investment across early years, mainstream education and further education.
  • Recruitment, retention, workforce development and access to specialist expertise.
  • Better shared data and digital systems to understand need, target resources and measure outcomes.
  • National Inclusion Standards and Experts at Hand guidance.
  • Sustainable funding and commissioning arrangements, including planning for delivery beyond 2028/29.
  • Clear governance, shared accountability, co-production and partnership-wide communication.

1. Strengthening inclusion across education settings

Focus: local provision, inclusive environments, consistent practice and better transitions.

Workstream 2026/27 Establish

2027/28 Expand

2028/29 Embed

Sufficiency and local specialist places

  • Deliver the current sufficiency plan to increase local

provision and reduce reliance on out-of-area and INMSS placements.

  • Develop four 12-place primary specialist bases (48

places); 10–25 post-16 special school places; and 20 commissioned post-16 specialist/AP places.

  • Review early years and wider specialist sufficiency using

current data, audits and mapping.

  • Continue the sufficiency plan: a 12-place intensive

needs hub; eight 12-place specialist bases (96 places); 146 special school places; and 175 commissioned post-16 AP places.

  • Begin the revised sufficiency plan and identify further

specialist-base places and capital needs across primary and secondary mainstream settings.

  • Deliver the revised sufficiency plan, including inclusion

bases in 100% of secondary schools and at least an equal proportion of primary places.

  • Invest in support bases, inclusive environments and

assistive technology where identified; keep provision under review against current demand.

Inclusive environments and audits

  • Mainstream schools undertake annual whole-school inclusive environment audits and create action plans.
  • Map existing inclusion bases and identify mainstream estate space that could support future specialist/support bases.
  • Undertake travel impact audits for new provision.
  • Complete a second audit in mainstream schools and extend audits into early years and further education.
  • Use audits and existing provision mapping to identify capital investment and improvement priorities.
  • Agree a local definition and expectations for inclusion bases, with KPIs and impact measures.
  • Embed annual inclusive environment audits across all providers as business as usual.
  • Review specialist-base expectations in line with new national packages of support.

Ordinarily available provision and inclusive practice

  • Review current OAP guidance and Doncaster needs

descriptors with schools and health partners, incorporating children’s, young people’s and parents’ voices.

  • Use peer reviews and pyramid SENCOs to support

inclusion and reduce reliance on 1:1 support/funding.

  • Co-produce revised OAP guidance and needs

descriptors aligned with national inclusion standards, including OAP for early years.

  • Expand peer-to-peer support and communities of

practice across pyramids and localities, targeted using needs data, SENIF/HNF awards and EAH demand.

  • Embed OAP, Doncaster needs descriptors and inclusion

standards across mainstream provision.

  • Embed the pyramid model and communities of practice

into business as usual; routinely review inclusive practice in schools.

  • Recruit four transition leads.
  • Co-produce transition protocols with stakeholders, children, young people and families.
  • Use EAH and data to target transition support; work with PfA and supported internship leads on post-16-to- adulthood pathways.
  • Roll out transition protocols.
  • Improve post-16 employment opportunities through supported internships.
  • Review post-16 NEET data and develop a transitions database to track key transition points.

Transitions from early years to adulthood

  • Apply transition protocols consistently, including routes

to work, in-year transitions and moves between inclusion bases.

  • Maintain a robust database tracking formal transition

points, in-year transfers, part-time timetables, elective home education and movement into specialist provision.

School support, learning and workforce confidence

  • Use whole-school CPD and audits to identify

improvement actions.

  • Begin Phase 1 of Doncaster PINS: 18 secondary and 10

primary schools through ELKLAN, alongside a My Happy Mind pilot in 18 primary schools.

  • Continue PINS activity, including Phase 2 involving 10

secondary schools; extend the offer to early years settings and develop an ELKLAN Communication Friendly Settings Gold community of practice.

  • Deliver Phase 3 of PINS to develop a further education

model; participating settings work towards ELKLAN Communication Friendly Settings Gold standards.

  • Evaluate the PINS project with stakeholders and embed

learning.

2. Access to specialist support and local placements

Focus: earlier access to expertise, integrated locality working and support closer to home.

Workstream 2026/27 Establish

2027/28 Expand

2028/29 Embed

Experts at Hand locality model and LISO

  • Launch the local-authority-led Experts at Hand locality

model, agreed through stakeholder co-design.

  • Establish locality teams bringing together school

pyramids, Family Hubs, Families First and Doncaster Parent Voice.

  • Agree working protocols, equitable resource allocation

and links between education-based and clinical Salt/Ot provision.

  • Review the model’s effectiveness and fit with local needs.
  • Extend locality working to post-16 to achieve 0–25 coverage.
  • Agree equitable access routes and communicate processes, criteria and service standards to all settings.
  • Finalise and embed EAH into business-as-usual

working.

  • Develop the model in line with funding available beyond

2028/29, adapting it to Doncaster’s needs.

  • Strengthen school-pyramid ownership and consider

longer-term locality commissioning and pooled budgets.

Specialist capacity, recruitment and commissioning

  • Map existing specialist, health and outreach capacity

and identify gaps.

  • Develop the LISO to combine existing resources with the

EAH offer.

  • Recruit EAH capacity including Salt, Ep, Ot, Locality

Inclusion and Learning Leads, communications/data leads, SEND transformation leadership and programme management.

  • Commission specialist/AP outreach, inclusion advisory

teachers, pyramid SENCO expertise and Salt/Ot leadership.

  • Use data to monitor EAH demand, usage, emerging themes, lived experience and value for money.
  • Refine the offer and allocate resources to meet locality- specific needs.
  • Align clinical and education pathways and evaluate regional/cross-border arrangements.
  • Embed a locality-led offer with data about children’s

lived experiences, sense of belonging, target metrics and value for money.

  • Continue planning for sustainable capacity and delivery

beyond 2028/29.

Therapies and earlier specialist support

  • Agree alignment between EAH and clinical Salt/Ot services.
  • Agree regional resources across the ICB footprint, including a SALT advanced practitioner.
  • Explore cross-border arrangements for schools and FE settings attended by Doncaster CYP.
  • Strengthen integrated pathways and use shared data to assess access, demand and impact.
  • Continue increasing the number of CYP without EHCPs supported by SALT and OT services.
  • Maintain integrated pathways and review the model’s

impact on access, lived experience and value for money.

Alternative provision and reintegration

  • Align commissioned AP providers with the EAH APST team and embed the three-tier AP model.
  • Realign services to increase APST delivery by 50% by the end of year two.
  • Continue alignment of outreach and AP support; use data and review to refine provision.
  • Embed effective APST and outreach arrangements as

part of the wider inclusive system, with continued focus on reintegration and preventing escalation.

PINS and communication- friendly settings

  • Begin Phase 1: 18 secondary and 10 primary schools

through ELKLAN, plus My Happy Mind activity in 18 primary schools.

  • Deliver Phase 2 involving 10 secondary schools; extend

the offer to early years and develop the ELKLAN CFS Gold community of practice.

  • Develop the PINS model for FE, evaluate impact with

stakeholders and support communication-friendly practice from early years to post-16.

3. System leadership, partnership and co-production

Focus: a joined-up system with clear accountability, meaningful voice and fairer resolution of concerns.

Workstream 2026/27 Establish

2027/28 Expand

2028/29 Embed

Governance and shared strategy

  • Embed the SEND Reform Plan in existing governance

and share it with stakeholders, including children, young people and families.

  • Strengthen education-provider representation and

review feedback/escalation routes.

  • Review the SEND strategy and identify improvements

with stakeholders; use the maturity assessment to target partnership development.

  • Review year-one delivery and develop the revised plan for years two and three.
  • Revisit the maturity assessment and review governance structures, membership and feedback loops.
  • Co-produce a new SEND strategy.
  • Review the reform plan, share learning and identify how successful changes will be sustained.
  • Revisit the maturity assessment and use governance to monitor the SEND strategy and outstanding actions.

Co-production and communication

  • Undertake a co-production self-assessment and

benchmarking.

  • Develop a co-production strategy and charter with

systematic feedback loops.

  • Co-produce a partnership-wide communications

strategy and update the Local Offer to reflect the emerging LISO/EAH offer.

  • Establish Doncaster Parent Voice co-production

agreements with 28 PINS schools.

  • Continue annual self-assessment and benchmarking;

embed the co-production strategy, charter and communications strategy.

  • Co-produce the year-one plan review and revised year-

two/three plan, embedding CYP and family voice.

  • Continue co-production agreements with 10 PINS

schools.

  • Review the effectiveness of the co-production strategy,

charter and communications strategy.

  • Co-produce the next review of the reform plan and the

plan for year four onwards, embedding CYP and family voice in evaluation.

  • Continue co-production agreements with 10 PINS

schools.

  • Review existing dispute resolution mechanisms.
  • Co-produce a three-year SEND dispute mitigation

strategy to prevent and manage costly, adversarial tribunals.

  • Promote SENDIASS, relational practice, restorative

communication and school training; strengthen joint working with Doncaster Parent Voice.

Dispute resolution and mediation

  • Establish locality-based Dispute Triage Hubs offering

neutral early evaluation and restorative case conferences where mediation is requested.

  • Train SENCOs and frontline caseworkers in conflict de-

escalation, active listening and interest-based resolution.

  • Use SENDIASS data and feedback to inform

improvement and outcomes monitoring.

  • Create co-produced feedback loops and joint review

panels with Doncaster Parent Voice to improve perceived fairness.

  • Review locality data monthly to identify systemic issues;

ensure SENDIASS insights inform planning.

  • Shift resources from legal defence towards sustaining

dispute mitigation and restorative practice.

Feedback and accountability

  • Review how concerns, feedback and learning move

through the partnership and ensure clear routes for escalation.

  • Test whether feedback loops are embedded and use co- production to assess effectiveness.
  • Ensure family and CYP feedback shapes service review

and future planning, with governance maintaining ongoing oversight.

4. Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

Focus: effective use of resources, evidence-led commissioning and a confident, coordinated workforce.

Workstream 2026/27 Establish

2027/28 Expand

2028/29 Embed

Joint commissioning

  • Develop a 2026–28 joint commissioning strategy

informed by the SEND JSNA, current commissioning activity and impact.

  • Align the strategy and three-year delivery plan with ICB

commissioning intentions, financial plans and place- based arrangements.

  • Monitor effectiveness through the Joint Commissioning

Resource Group (JCRG).

  • Review outreach commissioning from high-quality

specialist/AP providers in response to EAH demand.

  • Update commissioning to embed outreach from suitable specialist/AP providers.
  • Review whether commissioned services deliver measurable outcomes and value for money.
  • Monitor progress through quarterly JCRG updates and address gaps or areas of limited progress.
  • Develop a partnership engagement cycle to assess

commissioning impact, pathways, costs and outcomes.

  • Review the strategy with joint commissioners,

incorporating feedback from CYP and families.

  • Draft the next three-year strategy in line with SEND

reform beyond 2029, identified needs and an updated JSNA.

Data, evidence and shared dashboards

  • Establish local improvement planning using existing

data sources and review whether they meet planning needs.

  • Create locality benchmark data to identify trends and

service impact.

  • Review the SEND reform data template and confidence

measures; develop an action plan to improve reliability.

  • Deliver a data integrity plan to reduce dependence on

multiple systems and spreadsheets.

  • Create a shared data dashboard to support joint working

and accountability.

  • Expand interoperability between core systems.
  • Embed the DSG/HNB dashboard in outcome

monitoring, covering placements, transport, reintegration, experience, SEND Qa requests and PFP requests.

  • Embed a shared data framework and a single source-of- truth dashboard into business as usual.
  • Use collective data to support planning, accountability and improvement across partners.

Financial oversight and value for money

  • Introduce the first DSG/HNB bespoke dashboard,

covering OOA/INMSS, transport, banded top-up, pyramid panel funding and SEND Qa funding.

  • Embed financial reporting into SEND governance and

produce an end-of-year value-for-money/efficacy report.

  • Use the dashboard to assess whether expenditure,

placements and transport are stabilising and whether bespoke packages reduce.

  • Produce an end-of-year value-for-money/efficacy report

to assess impact to date.

  • Use the end-of-year report to assess impact and redirect

activity where results are not achieved.

  • The roadmap anticipates sustained stabilisation in

OOA/INMSS placements and transport costs, fewer bespoke packages, and improved attendance and inclusion.

  • Embed training offers into business as usual.
  • Develop monitoring tools to assess whether training improves outcomes, using data such as Eyfsp, KS2 SATs, GCSE and post-16 qualifications.

Workforce development and relational practice

  • Review education and training across Doncaster for

consistency, effectiveness and alignment with statutory expectations and local need.

  • Audit training across education, council services and

wider partnerships, including health and social care.

  • Gather feedback, roll out workforce development based

on relational practice and evaluate impact.

  • Develop a partnership-wide workforce development

strategy and coordinated training model, including multi-agency and role-specific training.

  • Improve communication and monitoring of training.
  • Embed relational practice with ongoing quality

assurance and develop an education workforce plan aligned to data and EAH support requests.