Brighton and Hove

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy

2021 – 2026

Contents Page

Introduction 3

What children, young people and young adults tell us 4

Our 2021 vision 5

Local context 6

What families tell us 8

Our ambition is that all children and young people with SEND and their families are able to say 9

Our priorities for the next 5 years 10

Profile of Need: Education 11

Profile of Need: Health 14

Profile of Need: Care 16

Priority 1: Inclusion 18

Priority 2: Early identification and intervention 21

Priority 3: SEND Pathways 23

Priority 4: Achievement and Outcomes 25

Priority 5: Transitions and preparing for the future 27

Priority 6: Sufficiency of SEND Services and Provision 30

Appendix 1: How we will make sure this is delivered. 32

Appendix 2: Links to other strategies 33

Appendix 3: SEND Partnership Board Members 34

Appendix 4: Adult Learning Disability Partnership Board Members 35

Appendix 5 – Funding and Risk Assessment 36

Appendix 6 - Covid19 37

Glossary of terms 38

Introduction

Welcome to the Brighton and Hove co-produced citywide strategy which has been developed to enhance the outcomes and life chances of children and young people with SEND and adults with Learning Disabilities across the city. Although the Local Authority (LA) and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are the leads for the strategy, its success will undoubtedly lie in the effectiveness of the partnership between all stakeholders, in particular our families. 

The strategy sets out our co-produced six key priorities and refers to the partnership between the LA, CCG, families, schools and settings, other agencies and services in Health and Social Care, including Adult Services and the voluntary and community sector. The new strategy will be steered by the SEND Partnership Board which is co-chaired by the Assistant Director for Health, SEN and Disability and the Commissioning Manager from the Clinical Commissioning Group (membership is listed in the appendices). The progress against the actions specific to adults with learning disabilities will also be monitored by the Learning Disability Partnership Board. All partners will be accountable for delivering on the actions that have been identified and agreed and the progress against each of the actions will be monitored through the relevant boards.

It is vital that this is a meaningful, accessible, engaging and thought-provoking document. The city’s Parent and Carer Council, (PaCC) and Amaze have worked very closely with the LA and the CCG to engage a wide range of stakeholders in order to ensure that the key priorities reflect the needs of the SEND community.  Central too is the voice of children and young people, in addition to those adults with Learning Disabilities. With this in mind, the use of graphic facilitation has enabled those who are not always able to express their thoughts to be visually represented: their views are therefore illustrated throughout this document.

We very much hope that you find our strategy ambitious, aspirational and a reflection of our core aim: to achieve the best outcomes for the city’s most vulnerable children, young people and adults with Learning Disabilities.

Deb Austin

Executive Director Families, Children & Learning

Georgina Clarke-Green

Assistant Director, Health, SEN & Disability, Families, Children and Learning

Fiona England, Chair of Parent Carer Council

Katie Chipping, Senior Partnerships Manager, Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group

What children, young people and young adults tell us

We worked with children, young people and young adults in three areas with a wide range of abilities and additional needs using graphic facilitation. Three questions were asked during this process and responses were captured in words, colours and images. These questions ranged from ‘What do you think about the 6 priority areas?’ to ‘What makes a good life?’

We also asked children, young people and young adults what images would be needed to make this strategy reflect Brighton and Hove. As young people shared their ideas, they were drawn in real time on a large piece of paper. The drawings were summarised to make sure nothing was missed and that the images made sense to the children and young people. These images were transferred to a digital format used in the SEND Strategy document.

We are committed to ensuring that the voice of children and young people continues to be heard throughout the delivery of this strategy. Therefore, each priority area will need to demonstrate how they are engaging with children and young people with SEND, young adults and adults with learning disabilities whilst implementing each of the action plans. This will be monitored through the SEND Partnership Board.

‘Better outcomes, better lives’

Local context

Brighton and Hove is proud to be an inclusive city. Our mainstream schools have a range of specialist facilities, both in the primary and secondary phases, that support children and young people with a variety of needs including: Autism; Sensory Impairment; Speech, Language and Communication Needs; Specific Learning Difficulties. We have an outstanding specialist nursery for young children with SEND at the Jeanne Saunders Centre and two outstanding special schools: Downs View and Hill Park within our three complex needs hubs. We also have a range of well-regarded support services such as Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Service.

The city is fortunate to have an active and representative parent carers’ forum – the Parent Carers’ Council (PaCC) which is hosted and supported by Amaze, a charity that is commissioned to provide the local Special Educational Needs Information Advice and Guidance Service (SENDIASS). Collectively, they reach a large proportion of families with children and young people with SEND and target their services and outreach support in order to meet the needs of the most vulnerable communities. Amaze holds data on about 70% of the eligible population on the city’s Children’s Disability Register, The Compass, which provides an easy mechanism for gathering views across the city or targeting specific communities. This is supplemented by additional consultations and specific engagement work undertaken by PaCC which has elicited a good response.

Our Social Care Specialist Community Disability Service supports our children and young people with SEND and the city’s adults with a Learning Disability. This is provided through three assessment and care ‘pods’ that are age banded as follows: 0-13, 14-24 and 25+ years. The model is designed to place focus on transition for young people between the ages of 14-24 to ensure they have consistent and seamless support in a time in their lives when they will experience many changes. This service works closely alongside our colleagues in Safeguarding and Care.

Brighton and Hove has good and outstanding in-house residential provision that supports our most vulnerable children, young people and adults with a disability. The city has two respite/short breaks homes for children and young people and nine residential homes that provide specialist residential care and supported living.

The Shared Lives scheme supports adults and young people over the age of 16 who are unable to live independently. The scheme currently offers 59 people the chance to stay in the community through being looked after within a family home.

The city’s day centre for adults with Learning Disabilities based at Wellington House provides an innovative range of activities for those service users who need a stimulating programme throughout the day and is greatly appreciated by the families of the service users it supports.

Sussex Community Foundation Trust (SCFT) provides health input for many children and young people with SEND. The health visiting team is key in the early identification of children with developmental concerns and provision of support for their families. Child Development Services in Brighton and Hove includes Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Community Paediatricians, Audiology, and Specialist Nursing The multidisciplinary team at Seaside View Child Development Centre comprises community paediatricians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, specialist speech and language therapists, a specialist nursing team and audiology and clinical psychologists.  They provide assessment and intervention for children and young people with a range of developmental concerns and disabilities including: Developmental Delay; Learning and Speech and Language Difficulties; Social Communication Difficulties; Physical Disabilities; Sensory Impairment.

Child Development Services are delivered in the child development centre, at special and mainstream schools, nurseries and at home. The community speech therapy team provides assessment and input for children in clinics, nurseries and schools. with a range of needs including dysfluency, autism, hearing impairment, complex needs

Neurodevelopmental assessment of those with suspected Autism over the age of 11 and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is undertaken by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) within the Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust. Here, there is close working within the teams and with hospital services (both local and tertiary), the community nursing team and General Practitioners (GPs).

Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust (SPFT) provide the CAMHS in our City. Services are available across locations such as GP surgeries, clinics, hospitals and schools. The specialist teams in CAMHS undertake assessment and provide treatment for children and young people up to age 18 who have emotional, behavioural or mental health problems. There is close working across the range of community and wellbeing support services.

We are also very lucky to have a strong voluntary and community sector within the city which provides families with a wide range of valuable services. In terms of Adult Learning Disability services, we have, amongst others, Speak Out which is an independent advocacy charity for people with Learning Disabilities and Grace Eyre which provides a wide range of services including day activities such as yoga, art and cooking, supported living and a Shared Lives Project. Our children benefit from other services such as Extratime which runs high quality, affordable clubs, holiday schemes and family events activities for children and young people with and without disability aged 4 – 25 years. Here, children and young people with SEND have an opportunity to have fun, try new things and socialise with their friends. Barnardos Link Plus also provides highly valued short breaks for disabled children.

What families tell us

The Brighton and Hove community is already providing some excellent provision and high-quality support, provision and services to many families with children and young people with SEND.

However, we also hear consistent themes when delivering our services and support to families, so we are keen that this new strategy provides an opportunity to address some of these worries. Families have told us that:

· They can feel lost and sometimes find it difficult to find out what is available for their child

· They can feel isolated and alone, stressed and exhausted

· They worry their child will struggle to ‘fit in’ or make friends

· There is too long a wait for some assessments and therapies

· Some feel that getting an EHC Plan is the only way of accessing the support their child needs

· Services are often not joined up, don’t always work together and families have to give the same information repeatedly, to different teams

· They worry the city hasn’t got the right range of educational provision to meet their child’s or young person’s needs

· They worry about how their children are supported in mainstream schools

· Their child with SEND, their siblings and themselves as parent carers, are facing increasing levels of anxiety and poor mental health

· Parent carers’ ability to maintain employment is affected and they are worried about not having enough money

· They are concerned about their child’s future, and the ‘cliff-edge’ of adult services

Our ambition is that all children and young people with SEND and their families are able to say

SEN

Priority 1: Inclusion

Vision:  We will ensure there is a city-wide commitment to services and support that will be inclusive to children, young people and adults with Special Educational Needs and or Learning Disabilities.

What are the outcomes?

· There will be a commitment from all schools and early years settings to a city-wide charter for Inclusion

· Co-production will be central to the design and development of all services and provision

· Adults with Learning Disabilities will be able to access health services more easily and there will be a significant increase in the number of Learning Disability Annual Health checks being undertaken

· The quality standard for inclusion must drive change

Action Reference	Priority 1: Inclusion Strategic Actions Workstream 2
Inclusion 1	Co-produce a city-wide charter for inclusion. This will be supported by a communication campaign on Inclusion that focusses on engaging with harder to reach communities and promotes a shared ethos and commitment to disadvantaged learners, Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups, those who identify as LGBTQ and those children, young people and adults with SEND.
Inclusion 2	Co-produce and promote, including with schools, a city-wide self-assessment tool for Inclusion to include best practice for children and young people with SEN and/or disabilities and across all categories of need.
Inclusion 3	Co-develop new services that intervene earlier to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs enabling inclusion and access to other services and opportunities.
Inclusion 4	Co-produce a multi-agency training package for Social Care staff on SEND and Inclusion and for SEND teams on Social Care, to enable better understanding and delivery of services to families across the system.
Inclusion 5	Enable a wider cohort of children and young people with SEN and/or Disabilities to access after school clubs, weekend and holiday schemes support to ensure equal access to many universal learning and leisure opportunities.
Inclusion 6	Deliver training on awareness of SEND, ethnicity and culture so that all staff across all settings can be supported to challenge cultural assumptions and improve their understanding of different cultures and backgrounds and how this may impact upon SEND needs. This will be co-produced with parent carers and accessible to diverse communities.
Inclusion 7	Co-produce the Hidden Children Missing Education action plan with parents/carers and other partners. The plan must have a focus on ensuring a full-time education and flexible location to meet the individual needs of children and young people.
Inclusion 8	Ensure that buildings that house services for children and young people are accessible for all types of SEN and Disability.
Inclusion 9	Develop a plan that focuses on providing support for young carers and siblings of those with Special Educational Needs.
Inclusion 10	Ensure that there is uptake of Learning Disability Annual Health checks for young people from age 14 years and adults with Learning Disabilities through the EHC Plan annual review process.
Inclusion 11	Develop further person-centred local medical/hospital passports considering the use of technology for children young people and adults with complex needs to ensure that their holistic needs are met during a hospital stay.
Inclusion 12	Promote on-line GP consultations in primary care as direct access online is more accessible for parents/ carers and adults with learning disabilities.
Inclusion 13	Parent/carers to be involved in co-producing training programmes on Inclusion with the LA and CCG
Inclusion 14	Develop specific support, activities, events and opportunities for BAME children and young people with SEND and their parent carers to come together, and for service providers to hear from and build relationships with these communities.
Inclusion 15	Key services, Children’s Committees and Boards to review their staff diversity profile and set targets to increase BAME % representation.
Inclusion 16	When communicating with families from the BAME community consideration must be given to translating written correspondence ie email or letter into their first language as well as in English.
Inclusion 17	Develop an accessible and simple support system for parents of children and young people with SEND that has clear signposting.
Inclusion 18	Develop a scheme that shares good practice between schools through the primary and secondary SENCo networks.
Inclusion 19	Improved access to assistive technology to enhance the voice and lives of children and young people with SEND and increase their independence.
Inclusion 20	Develop training for school staff to create more child-led and relationship led support for children with SEND.
Inclusion 21	Raise the profile of SEND in the wider community by developing a SEND Communications Strategy with partners that uses a values-based approach to engage with providers and the community on the positive impact disabled people can make on the workforce and society.

Priority 2: Early identification and intervention

Vision:  We will ensure that children’s needs are identified, assessed and supported both early in life and when issues arise. 

What are the outcomes?

· There will be a reduction in the number of families reaching crisis point through timely Early Help intervention

· There will be an increased awareness of Early Help, intervention and inclusion across the city

· There will be a consistent offer of mental health and wellbeing services across Sussex

Action Reference	Priority 2: Early identification and intervention Strategic Actions Workstream 2
EIAI 1	Review the early help offer in the city to reduce health and social care inequalities and to improve support for children and families with SEN and or Disabilities with a focus on hidden families and harder to reach communities.
EIAI 2	Develop guidance for delayed entry to school applications and applications to place children out of year group that fully considers the longer-term implications for children with SEND.
EIAI 3	Co-design with families the development of peer support schemes in the city that builds on what already exists.
EIAI 4	Implement the recommendations of the Pan Sussex review of Emotional Mental Health and Wellbeing Services and prioritise those recommendations that our most pertinent to the SEND community.
EIAI 6	Build on our SEND Guide for Professionals that promotes the parent/ child and young person voice and develop a tool kit for early years settings and schools so that SENCO’s can identify and support additional needs at an earlier stage. To compliment this a SEND accessible guide for families will also be co-produced with our parent groups to enable better understanding of the tools used by schools to identify and support additional needs.
EIAI 7	Achieve an increased awareness in early years, education, health and care settings of inclusion issues and strategies/interventions in order to support vulnerable children and young people and adults with Learning Disabilities. This will be delivered through an enhanced inclusion training offer from Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS) and Specialist Community Disability Service (SCDS).
EIAI8	Work with the city’s Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships (BAP) and other schools to ensure that children’s Special Educational Needs and care status are fully considered in relation to school policies including behaviour and safeguarding.
EIAI9	Strategic leaders will ensure that the whole-family approach is communicated effectively and embedded across all levels of the partnership and delivery teams. Supporting the needs of siblings of disabled children and young carers will be a key strand of this work.
EIAI10	Strategic leaders will give greater attention to evidencing impact alongside maintaining a focus on positive outcomes for families. This will enable best use of existing resources with a view to developing the business case for investment in preventative services.
EIAI11	Implement personalised care and social prescribing for children and young people with complex health and Special Educational Needs.
EIA12	Co-design with families the development of peer support schemes in the city that builds on what already exists and addresses the advocacy and support needs of all parent carers from diverse backgrounds
EIA13	Monitor and publish the ethnicity breakdown of key services to increase transparency and assess whether BAME families’ early help experiences are disproportionate to the wider SEND community
EIA14	Develop training for schools, parents and health professionals about the different way neurodevelopmental conditions can present including cross gender can present, pre-diagnosis and associated strategies for support.
EIA15	Ensure that early years providers and schools are equipped to identify and support children with high prevalence additional needs pre and post diagnosis through raising awareness, frequent and updated training and provision of appropriate teaching tools.

Priority 3: SEND Pathways

Vision:  We will ensure that children, young people and adults with SEN and or disabilities and their families can access the right support from services easily and quickly.

What are the outcomes?                                                            

· Our pathways will be clear, accessible and linked up across education, health and care for families

· A commitment to joint working and joint commissioning that recognises the value of working together to benefit the community and prevent children and young people falling through the gaps

· There will be a reduction in the duplication of meetings and families will only need to tell their story once

· There will be a short-breaks/respite service for children and adults that meets the needs of families

Action Reference	Priority 3: SEND Pathways Strategic Actions Workstream 3
Pathways 1	Implement a communication strategy (which includes data sharing agreements) across services to ensure better lines of communication exist for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and their parents and carers.
Pathways 2	Improve the timeliness of in-school triage for children and young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties to ensure the right needs assessments are being identified and acted upon.
Pathways 3	Ensure that all meetings about the child/young person are brought together where possible to save families and professionals attending multiple meetings and repeating the same information.
Pathways 4	Review our SEND decision-making systems and ensure that processes are transparent for families.
Pathways 5	Transform the Neurodevelopmental Pathway to increase capacity for Autism and ADHD diagnosis across both health and mental health providers to ensure integrated pathways, approaches and packages of support for all Neurodevelopmental conditions. This will include the roll out of integrated clinics for complex and co-morbid cases.
Pathways 6	Co-design services considering a ‘whole family’ approach for all pathways pre and post diagnosis.
Pathways 7	Work with families and multi-agency professionals to ensure robust pathways for those children “missing education” who are not eligible for support because they are not on a school roll. This must include electively home educated children and young people and those who are in custody.
Pathways 8	Review our offer for, children in care, children in need and children and young people previously in care to ensure that their needs are identified early, and they receive appropriate support in schools and colleges.
Pathways 9	Ensure that Children in Care Reviews and Annual Reviews are bought together once a year.
Pathways 10	Review the short break and respite policy and commissioning strategy for children, young people and adults with LD. This aims to provide a range of opportunities through the extended day opportunities, and short breaks in their community, ensuring it reaches more families and eligibility is equitable.
Pathways 11	Ensure that EHC Plans better reflect the Health and Social Care needs of children and young people. For example short breaks provision will link to identified need and have clear outcomes.
Pathway 12	Ensure the Local Offer and information, advice and guidance through the SENDIAS Service is clear and accessible so that families in Brighton and Hove know what the Health SEND offer is and how to access it. Information should include clear threshold criteria for accessing specialist services and provision.
Pathway 13	Develop with partners a Quality Assurance Framework for Education, Health and Care Plans with a focus on improved outcomes for children and young people.
Pathway 14	Co-develop a special schools admissions protocol.
Pathway 15	Deliver the agreed recommendations with parents/carers for the Home to School transport service cited within the Independent Review Report.
Pathway 16	Parent/carers to be involved in co-producing training programmes on Inclusion with the LA and CCG.
Pathway 17	Health and Mental HeMental and Physical health commissioners will review and co-develop, with families, the range of Child Development Centre Pathways, clarifying the offer and developing outcomes for ongoing monitoring.
Pathway 18	CCG will develop and implement an integrated commissioning model across Health and Social Care.
Pathway 19	Develop a more accessible and simpler support system for parents with clear signposting.
Pathway 20	Co-production with families at an individual level will be prioritised and monitored across pathways and services.

Priority 4: Achievement and Outcomes

Vision: We will ensure that all children, young people and adults with learning disabilities are able to achieve their full potential across Health, Education and Social Care.

What are the outcomes?

· Children and young people with Special, Educational Needs and/or Disabilities will have their achievements recognised and celebrated

· There will be a more flexible curriculum offer to provide more opportunities for success as recognised by Ofsted

· There will be a reduction in the attainment gap for children and young people at all key stages with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

· Adults with learning disabilities will engage in ‘lifelong learning’ pathways and increase their independence

Action Reference	Priority 4: Achievement and Outcomes Strategic Actions Workstream 4
AO1	Develop a city-wide approach to recognising and celebrating other outcome measures for young people with SEND and adults with LD. This needs to be embedded at an inter-agency/interservice level and done in partnership with the Local Authority, Voluntary Sector, children, young people and families.
AO2	Focus on aspirational and smart personalised outcomes across education, health and care in planning children, and young people’s EHC Plans and Social Care plans.
AO3	Encourage education settings to implement alternative qualifications that champion Life Skills such as RARPA (Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement) – a five stage process to measure the progress and achievement of learners on non-accredited learning programmes.
AO4	Work with schools to review the curriculum offer in the city for those with Special Educational Needs. This should include consideration for expanding the city wide vocational and alternative qualifications offer in secondary schools and consideration of appointing vocational champions.
AO5	Develop a framework for wellbeing outcomes that makes explicit milestones for Mental, Physical, Social and Emotional Wellbeing.
AO6	Develop an aspirational outcomes framework for both EHC Plans and those children and young people on SEN Support.
AO7	Implement a co-produced attendance strategy for SEND learners to support increased attendance in school.
AO8	Continue to challenge and support schools to close the progress and attainment gap for ‘disadvantaged’ learners and those with SEND.
AO9	The CCG will review current service specifications for Autism, Neurodevelopmental pathways and therapies such as Occupational health, Physiotherapy, Audiology and Speech and Language services and engage with children, young people and parent/carers to ensure that meaningful outcomes are defined and agreed.
AO10	Reduce the number of children and young people with SEND and those with SEND from a BAME background being excluded from education settings through an enhanced training offer and the allocation of additional resources to the School Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships (BAP).
AO11	Raise the profile of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service and the support it can provide to SEND EAL families.  A varied number of therapeutic interventions / subjects should be offered to BAME Children and Young People with SEND.
AO12	Schools to develop mentor systems to support children with SEND from the BAME community in developing effective individual plans around preparation for adulthood outcomes and thereby reducing the number of young people who become NEET (not in education, employment or training).
AO13	Raise the profile of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service and the range of interventions and support it can provide to SEND EAL families
AO14	More collaboration between mainstream and special schools to share assessment methodology and adapt it to mainstream settings for Children and Young People with SEND.

Priority 5: Transitions and preparing for the future

Vision:  We will ensure that moves between services or changes in provision and support across all ages are smooth, seamless and supportive.

What are the outcomes?       

· Transition for children going into reception and secondary schools will be well planned and supported

· A 14-25 co-produced pathway that includes Education and Care will be in place

· We will have increased employment and training opportunities for young people and adults with Special, Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

Action Reference	Transitions and preparing for the future Strategic Actions Workstream 5
TPF 1	Establish a multi-agency preparing-for-adulthood group which reports to the SEND Partnership Board to enable better transition into adult services and increase employment and training opportunities.
TPF2	Introduce person-centred planning reviews for young people in Year 9 to enable them to be more involved in all elements of their transition to adulthood.
TPF3	Develop and implement a co-produced 14-25 pathway for all young people with SEND to enable them to understand and navigate their next steps into adult life. This needs to include earlier consideration of post 16 options.
TPF 4	Develop city-wide training/practice-sharing activities focussed on Year 6 transition.
TPF 5	Implement a clear process for phase transfers (-1 to Reception, Year 6 to Year 7 and Year 11 to post-16) by working closely with families and statutory services such as School Admissions.
TPF 6	Increase the number of young people with SEND in employment through work experience, using the supported employment model alongside the development of supported internships and mentoring programmes with employers. Include a review of Information, Advice and Guidance available in the city for young people.
TPF 7	Review commissioning approaches within health and mental health services to ensure that children and young people up to the age of 25 experience a seamless service and age-appropriate care when transitioning from children’s services into adult services within community or acute hospital settings.
TPF 8	Develop and increase the opportunities for young people and adults with Learning Disabilities to enhance their life skills, interests and long-term outcomes particularly for those who have narrow interests and fewer life skills.
TPF9	Develop a range of tools for providers in the city to prepare our children for adulthood.
TPF 10	Provide training for foster carers and short breaks carers who can become shared lives carers. This will ensure consistency for young people with SEND who remain in family homes.
TPF 11	Expand the Move On project to enable more adults with learning disabilities to have greater levels of independent living.
TPF 12	Improve multi-agency working when planning the discharge of people with Learning Disabilities who are leaving their hospital placements.
TPF 13	Review the commissioning of services for young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 with SEND to ensure they experience seamless and age appropriate care. Young people will be included in commissioning decisions.
TPF 14	Develop an integrated, joined-up and multi-agency offer to support the transition of young people with SEND and complex health needs to adult services - even when there are no clearly identifiable adult services to meet their needs.
TPF 15	Commission services to ensure that providers of adult services actively contribute to the transitions care plan; this may include joint clinics held in a young person-friendly environment where a holistic approach can be readily adopted.
TPF16	Focus on developing children and young people’s independence, confidence and social skills so they can access education and their local community.  Ensure an independent travel training programme is developed within the city.
TPF 17	Build on the ‘What’s out there’ days for young people with Disabilities.
TPF18	Develop pathways that ensure a wide range of opportunities for young people enhance their skills sets and increase their independence (i.e. the focus is less on training/education providers, and more on there being a different options for different Young people).
TPF19	Ensure robust packages of support for those children and young people with SEND in custody who are returning to school, employment or training and planning for any transition is undertaken with social care.
TPF20	Ensure the effective use of the Access to Work fund to help young people enter the workplace.
TPF21	Work with the community and voluntary sector to identify opportunities that will enhance the statutory offer for post 16 and 19 young people with SEND.
TPF22	Review and improve the post 16 and 19 education and training opportunities for SEND learners in the city through engaging with 6th form colleges, FE colleges, Voluntary Community Sector, training providers and universities.

Priority 6: Sufficiency of SEND Services and Provision

Vision:  To ensure that the right provision is available at the right time for all children and young people with SEND which includes Early Years, Post-16, Post-10 and adults with a Learning Disability.

What are the outcomes?

· A commissioning strategy for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability and adults with Learning Disabilities will be in place

· We will have a clear evidence base that supports the allocation of funding to further develop our specialist provision and services

· We will have a clear and accessible Local Offer of support

Action Reference	Priority 6: Sufficiency of SEND Services and Provision Strategic Actions Workstream 6
SF1	Carry out a city-wide SEND sufficiency project to plan effectively how we will meet the prospective needs of our children and young people with SEND and adults with a Learning Disability.  The purpose of this project will be to identify what provision and services we will require for children and young people from different backgrounds in terms of Education, Health and Social Care for a range of needs
SF2	Continue to harness the reach/knowledge/input from the wide range of (parent/carer/advocacy) community support groups across the city which add value to all statutory services.
SF3	Establish an LA commissioning and brokerage team to ensure a wide range of activities and provision are accessible for all children and young people with SEND. This will keep children and young people in their local community and use resources efficiently.
SF4	Continue to build on the Local Offer information detailing provision available for children and young people with SEND across Education, Health and Social Care.
SF5	Develop our SEMH offer to support children to stay in mainstream provision. We will engage specialist support to work at an earlier stage with children to stabilise placements and prevent exclusion.
SF6	Be responsive to the changing needs of our local population through engaging with families, using data and intelligence, using local data sources such as the Disability Register.
SF7	Review how SEND is funded across the system at a local level and explore alternative ways to manage the High Needs Block allowance for EHC Plans.
SF8	Carry out a skills audit to identify where we need to target support to improve staff recruitment and ensure retention in services that support SEND.
SF9	Review our offer for children and young people with Disabilities with a view to increasing the quality and capacity of Personal Assistants (PA) for young people in the city by developing a recruitment and retention strategy and providing an infrastructure that includes specialist training and a support network.
SF10	The CCG will improve their data systems to predict need and to plan effectively how we will meet the needs of children and young people.
SF11	Equality and diversity must be considered as part of SEND Sufficiency planning and the associated design and delivery of all services.
SF12	Develop a joint commissioning protocol that ensures Commissioning decisions on specialist placements will be made with all agencies supporting the child or adult with LD. These placements will only be made on the evidence that the child or adult’s needs cannot be met locally.

Appendix 1: How we will make sure this is delivered.

We will deliver our strategy using a work-stream approach involving all key partners. Each work-stream will have named co-leads from Education, Social Care and Health and the Parent and Carer Council. The work-streams will meet bi-monthly and report directly to the SEND Partnership Board and the Adult Learning Disability Partnership Board on a bi-monthly basis.

Appendix 2: Links to other strategies

Brighton & Hove Council Corporate Plan 2020-2023

Adults Learning Disabilities Strategy

Hidden Children Strategy

Health and Adults Social Care Commissioning Strategy

Health and Wellbeing Strategy

NHS Long term plan

The Carers Strategy

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

Appendix 3: SEND Partnership Board Members

Joint Chairs: Assistant Director Health, SEN & Disability, Commissioning Manager, Clinical Commissioning Group

Parent Carer Council

AMAZE Charity that gives information, advice and support to families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Brighton & Hove

Head of Service-Early Years Youth & Family Support

Head of Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Services

Head of Service 0-24 Specialist Community Disability Service

Head of Service 25+ and Specialist Clinical Services

Service Manager – Policy & Business Support

Head of SEN Statutory Service

Head of School Organisation

Designated Medical Officer

Executive Head, East Hub

Executive Head, West Hub

Executive Head, Central Hub

Headteacher, Secondary School

Headteacher, Primary School

SENCO, Secondary phase

SENCO, Primary Phase

Performance Manager, Performance and Safeguarding Service

Appendix 4: Adult Learning Disability Partnership Board Members

Head of Service 25+ and Specialist Clinical Services

Head of Service 0-24 Specialist Community Disability Service

Representative from Grace-Eyre

Representatives from Speak Out

Lead Councillor for Adult Social Care

Representative from Healthwatch

Deputy Chair of Parent and Carers’ Council

Representatives from Amaze

Representative from the Carers Centre

Assistant Director for Health, SEN and Disability

Commissioning and Performance Manager

Learning Disability Health Facilitator

Representatives from Health & Adult Social Care:

Commissioning & Contracts Manager

Performance and Commissioning Manager (Engagement Lead)

Health Promotion Specialist

Representative from Brighton & Hove Clinical Commissioning Group:

Community Health Trainer, Healthy Lifestyles

Equalities Manager

Active for Life Sport & Physical Activity Worker

Employability Adviser, Employability Team

Representatives from Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Learning Disability Liaison Nurse Manager,

Appendix 5 – Funding and Risk Assessment

There are a number of actions identified within the SEND Strategy but much of the activity is focussed on better working between agencies; ensuring there is co-production with children, young people, adults with LD and their families when developing and designing services/provision; streamlining processes so they are more accessible to families and making systems more efficient so that children, young people and adults get the support they need when they need it. Training of the workforce by professionals and by families is also a key feature that threads through all priorities, although most of this can be delivered from within the current resources.

Much of this work will not require additional funding, only a different approach to the way we work together to achieve the objectives we have set ourselves. However, it is acknowledged nationally and locally that the public sector is under financial strain, a situation that has been further exacerbated by Covid19. Therefore, the local authority and partners will need to reflect upon how we use the current funding allocated to individual services and provision flexibly to respond to the different priorities identified by the community.  Where there is an identified need for some additional funding a business case with supporting evidence will need to be submitted to the relevant organisation. 

It is the outcome of Priority 6: SEND Sufficiency that will require detailed financial analysis alongside a complete review of the High Needs Block. Decisions will need to be taken collectively with stakeholders, including parents and carers, as to how the funding should be allocated in future, so that we can be assured the city has enough provision and services for children and young people with SEND and Adults with LD.

Risk assessment

Each priority will have an associated risk register. The register will identify the risks that may prevent the delivery of an objective and the impact on the community should it not be achieved. An officer from the relevant organisation will be responsible for managing the risk and a list of SMART actions to resolve/mitigate the risk will be monitored through the workstream leads and the SEND Partnership Board. The risk register will be presented alongside the progress report by the Priority Leads at each respective SEND Partnership Board

Appendix 6 - Covid19

The impact of coronavirus on children and young people with SEND and their families has been significant. The changes to children's daily routines, caused by the cessation of schooling and the reduced availability of therapeutic services, have caused many children with special educational needs and/or disability to struggle in adapting to new routines. This may have impacted negatively on their emotional and mental wellbeing and lead to increased anxiety, agitation and more challenging behaviours for some. Families have struggled as they have not been able to access their usual support networks and have often been confined to their homes, sometimes with little outdoor space.

We know that for some families, Covid19 has exacerbated challenges they were already facing and therefore it is critically important that we deliver this SEND Strategy. The public sector has learnt a great deal from the lockdown experience and specifically how to deliver services and support to families in different ways using a range of technology, social media and virtual platforms.  We need to continue to listen to families about their experiences and ensure services are responding. Some of our systems and processes have become more efficient and multi-agency working has become increasingly expedient as we are increasingly able to meet virtually. The local authority and CCG have maintained a close working relationship with the city’s SEND community and together we have managed to deliver a range of successful interventions that have supported families through this difficult time.

Many of the priorities in the strategy, such as:

• Reviewing of processes and policies
• Designing of pathways
• Delivery of training
• Effective communication between agencies and to the community
• Improving access to advice, guidance and support
• Data analysis to inform the commissioning of services and provision

can be delivered creatively using a variety of virtual platforms, social media or by the application of PHE guidance in settings/venues to maintain social distancing.

All partners are determined that Covid19 will not delay progressing the work contained within the strategy and are committed to driving this forward by whatever means possible.

Glossary of terms

SEND	Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities
LA	Local Authority
CCG	Clinical Commissioning Group
PACC	Parent Carers’ Council
SENDIASS	Special Educational Needs Information Advice and Guidance Service
SCFT	Sussex Community Foundation Trust
CAMHS	Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
BHISS	Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Service
BAME	Black Asian Minority Ethnic
EAL	English as an additional language
LD	Learning Disability
ADHD	Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ASC	Autistic Spectrum Condition
GP	General Practitioner
EHC	Education, Health and Care
BAP	Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships
SEMH	Social Emotional Mental Health
NHS	National Health Service

Accessible information

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