Local Area SEND Partnership Board April 2026
Actions
The Board reviewed actions from past meetings.
One action is still open and is due in June 2026. This is about checking why some requests for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are refused.
One action is now complete following an audit of support for young people aged 16 and over.
What this means for families:
The Board is tracking actions and checking progress. They want clearer information and better checking of SEND services.
Our SEND Partnership - What We Talked About
SEND Reform
The Board discussed national and local SEND reforms. These are changes to how SEND support works.
Key points included:
Support should start early, not only after a diagnosis.
Children and young people should get help based on their needs, not diagnosis.
Parents, carers, children and young people should help design services. This is called co‑production (working together from the start).
Mainstream schools should be better supported to meet more needs.
Better use of data will help plan future services.
Clear and honest communication with families is essential.
The Board agreed on 9 key principles that will guide the Local SEND Reform Plan.
What this means for families:
Services aim to become easier to access, more joined up, and more focused on what children need to thrive close to home.
Priority Plan Group
The Board reviewed progress on the SEND Priority Action Plan. This plan responds to national inspection findings.
Key discussion points included:
Improvements in reducing waiting times for support.
Ongoing issues with communication across SEND services.
A review by Agent, a communications company, showed families often:
Do not get timely replies
Find information hard to understand
Do not know what the Board does
The Board agreed to:
Continue working with Agent to improve SEND communication.
Create clearer messages about how SEND support works.
Improve visibility of the Board and what it does.
What this means for families:
Clearer, kinder, and more regular communication is a priority. Families should find information easier to understand and easier to trust.
Impact Session – Speech and Language
The Board looked at how speech and language support has improved over the past year.
This included work across:
Early years
Schools
Health services
What has improved:
Waiting times are much shorter.
More children are helped earlier.
Schools feel more confident supporting children.
Fewer children need specialist appointments when support can happen in school.
Parents report positive experiences and clearer advice.
The Board discussed:
Sharing this progress with families.
Making information about speech and language support easier to find.
Making sure improvements continue when extra funding ends.
Fixing current problems with tongue‑tie services (a feeding issue in babies).
What this means for families:
Children are getting help sooner, and more support is happening without long waits. The Board will keep checking that this continues.
Next meeting: 19 May 2026