Local SEND Reform Plans · 40 documents asked · 14 answered · 26 not stated · run 11 September 2026
How many schools, settings or children does this council say its Experts at Hand offer will reach, and by when?
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Ask for a surveyMost councils' draft plans do not quantify how many schools, settings or children Experts at Hand will reach. Around two-thirds simply say "not stated in the pages retrieved," with the offer described only in general terms, if at all.
Among those that do engage with the question, most use percentages or coverage descriptions rather than hard totals. Cornwall talks of six multi-disciplinary teams reaching "every locality" within three years. East Sussex says all schools, colleges and settings will have access, becoming "fully embedded" over three years. Hackney and Hertfordshire similarly promise universal coverage, from early years to post-16 or FE, without numbers. Bath and North East Somerset, Reading, Cumberland and Kingston upon Thames all use percentage targets instead of counts, ranging from 20% of schools in Kingston's first year to 90% of settings in Bath and Reading.
A smaller group gives genuine figures. Somerset stands out for real specificity, targeting 2 local areas, 40 schools and 90 settings covered by 31 March 2027. Bristol commits to roughly 3.8 FTE specialist support per cluster across its 11 clusters by 2028/29. Nottingham and Hounslow both give child-level numbers with year-on-year growth: Nottingham rising from 440 children in 2025/26 to 4,000 by 2028/29, and Hounslow from 2,922 to 7,472 children by 2029. Isle of Wight gives a similar trajectory, from about 750 children to over 1,000 annually by 2029. Dorset gives a related figure, 3,706 pupils without EHCPs to be supported, but doesn't tie this explicitly to Experts at Hand reach or a full total.
Overall, the pattern is that few councils translate "Experts at Hand" into concrete reach figures. Where numbers appear, they tend to be either child-access counts with year-by-year growth (Hounslow, Nottingham, Isle of Wight) or coverage counts of schools/settings (Somerset, Bristol), while most others rely on vague universal-coverage language or omit the detail entirely.
Not stated: Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole; Brighton and Hove; Bromley; Bury; Cambridgeshire; Coventry; Leeds; Oxfordshire; Shropshire; Stoke-on-Trent; Wirral; Worcestershire; Barnsley; Durham; Harrow; North Northamptonshire; Richmond upon Thames; Rochdale; Slough; Solihull; South Gloucestershire; South Tyneside; Staffordshire; Wigan; Wolverhampton.
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The question was put to each document on its own, using up to six of its most relevant pages. Page numbers in the table link to the document itself.
Model claude-sonnet-5. How a survey is made.
Not stated (26)
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Brighton and Hove, Bromley, Bury, Cambridgeshire, Coventry, Leeds, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Wirral, Worcestershire, Barnsley, Dorset, Durham, Harrow, North Northamptonshire, Richmond upon Thames, Rochdale, Slough, Solihull, South Gloucestershire, South Tyneside, Staffordshire, Wigan, Wolverhampton
Every document's answer
Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole
Not stated in the pages retrieved.
Cornwall
Cornwall's Experts at Hand offer is designed to "reach every locality via 6 multi-disciplinary teams," providing equitable access to support across neighbourhoods p10. Within three years, the function and ways of working will be fully understood by staff and families and will operate effectively across settings from Early Years to Further Education p10. No specific numeric count of schools, settings, or children is given.
East Sussex
The plan states that "All schools, colleges and settings will have access to our new Experts at Hand offer" p6, with the model becoming "fully embedded and providing consistent support across the partnership" as part of the three-year vision p3. No specific numerical count of schools, settings, or children reached, nor a precise target date, is given in the excerpts provided.
Hackney
Hackney does not give a specific number of schools, settings or children that Experts at Hand will reach. It states that "every EY setting, primary school, secondary school, and FE setting" will benefit from evidence-based guidance and intervention from the Locality Inclusion Teams p15, but no target date or numerical figure is provided.
Hounslow
Hounslow expects growth in access to therapy and neurodevelopmental pathways (via Experts at Hand/Specialist Practice and Advice Team scaling) from 2,922 to 7,472 children and young people, including a 30% increase in support for mainstream pupils, by 2029 p5. The plan also states Experts at Hand will be "fully embedded" across all settings and phases within the next 3 years, though no separate specific number of schools/settings reached is given (page 8, page 12).
Norfolk
The plan does not give a specific number of schools, settings, or children the Experts at Hand offer will reach. Instead, it assumes the offer will have an impact on "80% of CYP at SEN Support without an EHCP or specialist placement," with growth building up towards that 80% metric over the next two years following initial recruitment in 2026/27 p192.
Reading
The plan does not give a specific number of schools, settings, or children reached by Experts at Hand. It states that a soft launch will offer support free-to-access for all schools, with a target of "≥75% of settings actively engaging" and later "90% or more of settings actively engaged" p27, aiming for full operational status across the local area, but no numeric total of schools/settings/children or a firm date is specified.
Bath and North East Somerset
The council targets "at least 90% of schools and settings" having access to the Experts at Hand support offer, alongside a "90% positive response" survey on settings' confidence to meet need, with 100% of settings involved in the Test and Learn pilot reporting improved outcomes p25. This appears as the Year 1 end-point success measure for the EAH building block p25.
Bristol
By 2028/29, each of Bristol's 11 mainstream school/setting clusters is planned to have access to a fully operational, needs-driven Experts at Hand model, providing approximately 3.8 FTE of specialist support per cluster p22. This builds from Year 1 (2026/27), where clusters have partially mobilised EAH workforce, and Year 2 (2027/28), where a fully operational model is reached p22.
Cumberland
The council sets a target that 50% of settings will be using the Experts at Hand offer and outreach from special school settings p15. It also expects the number and proportion of mainstream settings accessing Experts at Hand to increase year on year, with measurable system-wide impacts—such as reduced EHCP requests linked to unmet need—achieved by 2028–29 p15.
Dorset
Not stated in the pages retrieved. The excerpts describe the Experts at Hand (Expertise Offer) covering early years settings, mainstream schools and FE providers across the 0–25 age range p12, with a target that the number of pupils without EHCPs supported by key professionals increases to 3,706 p48, but no overall number of schools/settings/children reached, nor a specific target date for reaching that total, is given.
Hertfordshire
The excerpts describe Experts at Hand as providing timely, needs-led, multi-disciplinary support through Local Inclusion Hubs, available to settings "from early years through to post-16" once fully embedded by 2028/29 (page 4, page 17). However, the retrieved pages do not give a specific number of schools, settings, or children this offer is expected to reach.
Isle of Wight
The council states that the number of children and young people able to access specialist support without an EHCP through Experts at Hand will increase from a baseline of approximately 750 (across SALT and OT combined) to over 1,000 annually by 2029 p9.
Kingston upon Thames
In Year 1 (2026/27), approximately 20% of schools will participate in the TAS layer of the Experts at Hand (SEAH) offer, with a further 20% participating in the Cluster layer p26. This is described as an implementation and testing phase before wider scale-up in later years p26. No overall total number of schools, settings, or children is stated for the full reach.
Nottingham
The council targets increasing the number of children supported by Education Psychologists/SALT/OT in maintained provision (linked to the Experts at Hand offer) from 440 in 2025-26 to 1,400 by 2026-2027, 2,800 by 2027-2028, and 4,000 by 2028-2029 p43 p50.
Slough
Not stated in the pages retrieved. The plan describes Experts at Hand as a "0 to 25, area-wide cluster model" p27 with phased implementation starting in 2026/27 p43, but it does not give a specific number of schools, settings, or children it expects to reach, nor a target date for reaching a specified number.
Solihull
Not stated in the pages retrieved. The document says Solihull will begin offering education settings access to Experts at Hand specialists from September 2026, with special school outreach starting from January 2027 p4, but it does not give a specific number of schools, settings, or children this offer is expected to reach.
Somerset
By 31 March 2027, Somerset's Experts at Hand pilot is targeted to cover 2 Local Areas, 40 schools, and 90 settings supported p30.
Wigan
Not stated in the pages retrieved. The plan describes Experts at Hand being piloted in 2026/27 and expanded to additional school clusters "operating at meaningful scale" by 2027/28, and fully embedded by 2029 (page 33, page 20), but no specific number of schools, settings, or children reached is given.
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