SEND Partnership Sets Out Long-Term Plan for Sustainable Improvements

The Wirral Local Area SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Partnership Board has shared its plan to keep improving support for children and young people who need extra help with learning or have disabilities.

This follows progress made under the Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme, which aims to give these children better opportunities while managing costs.

The DBV programme highlighted five key actions to make the system stronger:

• Using a Graduated Approach from early years to post-16 education – This means schools follow a simple cycle: assess what a child needs, plan support, put it in place, and review how it’s working.
• Creating clear health pathways that link with joint commissioning strategies.
• Adding more specialist places in mainstream schools to meet growing demand.
• Improving support for children moving into secondary school and beyond.
• Opening up more education and job opportunities for young people with SEND.

So far, over 280 new specialist places have been created, reducing the need for costly placements outside the area. Next, a five-year plan (due summer 2026) will make sure these places are in the right locations and for the right age groups.

Health partners are also working together through a Community of Practice to share ideas and improve collaboration across education, health, and social care. Parents and carers will have a bigger role in shaping services, with stronger co-production and peer support networks planned.

Helping children move smoothly through key stages remains a priority, with successful Year 6–7 transition projects now being extended to early years and post-16. Work is also underway to make school SEND Information Reports clearer and to provide an easy-to-search online guide to the Graduated Approach.