To report on the progress of delivering the Deficit Management Plan (DMP).

(Verbal Update)

The Service Manager Additional Needs (SMAN) informed the forum that the deficit management plan comprised four principal workstreams, primarily centred on intervention, inclusion support for schools, and increasing local sufficiency of complex places and resource?based provision.

Update on Intervention and Inclusion Work included;

• Harvest Project: Enrolments had increased, and recent impact reporting from schools demonstrated clear benefits for pupils.
• Commissioned Places: Short? and long?term commissioned SEMH places are being developed, with some new provision expected to open in the next academic year.
• Inclusion Outreach Service: Demand continued to rise, with referrals increasing. The service had expanded beyond SEMH to cover additional primary needs and is triaging support effectively. Advisory visits and crisis support remained a key feature, with intervention specialists deployed into schools to work alongside staff and pupils.
• Key Stage 3 and Me Workshops: Following co?production with young people, the redesigned programme is now successful and meeting needs more effectively.
• Inclusive Classroom Projects: These initiatives were running well and providing wider support across schools.
• Parent Workshops: In response to demand, new workshops had been created to help parents understand school?based strategies. The pilot at St Paul’s School received very positive feedback, and sessions will be offered more widely via the School Effectiveness Team.
• Support Staff Surgeries: A new model had been introduced whereby advisory teachers and intervention specialists spend a full day in schools, using a carousel format to address practice?based concerns and deliver structured activities for pupils. This is intended to strengthen inclusion expertise among support staff.

Updates on Sufficiency and Capital Projects included;

• The DfE confirmed that free school proposals for Herefordshire would not proceed. A formal response was submitted by the deadline, and initial feedback described it as well?crafted, with further steps expected in due course.
• Hampton Dene Expansion: Work continued at pace, with the new provision scheduled to open in September 2026.
• Increased sufficiency locally would reduce out?of?area placements, although additional places naturally result in increased expenditure within the High Needs Block. The moral imperative to provide appropriate local provision for complex pupils remained central.
• Westfield Rebuilding Programme: A project team had been appointed and a DfE feasibility study is expected over the next 6–12 months.
• Rye Field Centre: Herefordshire’s first MLD specialist provision is progressing despite some building delays.
• Additional developments included; new autism bases, the SCMH resource space at Trinity, expansion of HPRS places and advancement of the AP pathway.
• Capital funding for AP and HPRS development had been secured through cabinet approval, enabling refurbishment of existing sites as a cost?effective approach.

Significant contributions of finance colleagues and service teams was acknowledged, noting that the combined work had helped contain the growth of the deficit, which would have been substantially higher had no action been taken.

White Paper Overview

The Service Manager Additional Needs provided an overview of the newly published Schools White Paper and the accompanying SEND Reform Plan. The documents set out the Government’s long?term education reform agenda, focusing on raising standards and strengthening inclusion.

Key national challenges identified included attainment gaps, disadvantage, SEND system pressures, and declining attendance. National targets were outlined, including an average GCSE grade 5 or above, halving the disadvantage gap, improving attendance, and strengthening pupils’ sense of belonging. Delivery of these ambitions was noted to rely on a well?supported workforce. Workforce reforms include enhanced teacher recruitment and retention measures, improved maternity pay, and incentives for headteachers in high?needs areas.

The SEND reform proposals emphasised early intervention, improved mainstream provision, the introduction of an Inclusive Mainstream Fund, and the Experts at Hand multi?agency model.

A new national Inclusion Standard would be introduced, requiring schools to publish an Inclusion Strategy.

Significant proposed changes to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) were highlighted being restricted to the most complex needs, with Individual Support Plans introduced for all other pupils requiring support. New specialist provision packages would underpin EHCPs. These changes were expected from 2029, with existing statutory duties remaining unchanged until then.

A national consultation on the White Paper and SEND reforms is open until May, and all stakeholders were encouraged to contribute.

In response to the forum questions, it was noted;

1.     The lack of detailed information regarding, local funding allocations, the structure of the proposed “experts at hand model” and the operational and financial implications for rural areas had been raised multiple times with the Department for Education.

2.     The authority is continuing to actively feedback the need for greater clarity and rural consideration within the reforms.

3.     Detailed information on academisation was not yet available. The Service Director was due to meet with the DfE to seek clarification, and a written update would be circulated to the committee.

4.     The government’s policy regarding elective home education continued to change and no firm detail had been issued about registration requirements or associated funding. Further clarification would be sought. A written update and the figures of electively home?educated children in Herefordshire, including associated funding would be circulated with the item added as a standing item on the Budget Working Group agenda.

Feedback from the Budget Working Group included the potential implications of the reforms, particularly the re?emergence of proposals for groups of schools working together. Questions had been raised about the scale of consultation planned for the summer term and the financial vulnerability of some single?academy trusts.

Support was expressed for the Service Director, Education, Skills and Learning and her team on SEND reforms, recognising the substantial effort and positive direction of travel and acknowledging the difficult financial decisions having to made and the team’s frustrations arising from the DfE’s repeatedly changing decisions.

Actions:

1.     Detailed information on academisation once sought from the DfE to be circulated to the forum.

2.     Specific data on current sufficiency in terms of the residential/non-residential split to be circulated.

3.     A written update on the figures of electively home?educated children in Herefordshire, including registration requirements and associated funding to be circulated with the item added as a standing item on the Budget Working Group agenda.