City of York Local Area SEND Partnership

Operational Plan 2023-2025

Introduction

This operational plan covers the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 and focuses on the operational delivery of the Local Area SEND Strategy, 2021-25. The operational plan is a partnership document which outlines the actions the partnership will take over the next two financial years to deliver the ambitions outlined in the SEND Strategy.  The plan has been developed through joint partnership (co-production) with parents and carers.

The actions in this operational plan build on and embed the progress made on delivering the priorities in our written statement of action and the delivery of the Safety Valve agreement.

This operational plan focuses on actions which are to be delivered by joint partners across education, health and care and we recognise that partners will have organisational plans which sit alongside this partnership plan. This plan however provides the overview of the joint commitment to delivering the ambitions outlined in the SEND Strategy, 2021-25.

The Strategy will be reviewed in 2025 and between 2023 and 2025 work on the operational plan will respond to the government’s SEND and AP Improvement Plan in order to develop the local area inclusion plan.

Governance

The SEND Partnership Board will hold partners to account for the delivery of the actions in this operational plan. The SEND Partnership Board will receive progress reports on the actions taken as will the local Place Board, the Health and Wellbeing Board. Progress reports will also be shared with the ICB executive, City of York Council’s Executive and Corporate Management Team, the York Schools and Academies Board and Schools Forum.

Our Vision

That York is an inclusive city which delivers the best start in life for all children and young people with SEND. Our ambition is to deliver services (public, community and voluntary sector) which are delivered in an integrated way at the right time, from the right places and that all of our children are able to live their best lives in York.

The SEND Strategy, 2021-25

The SEND Strategy describes our priorities as a local area partnership. The priorities are:

1. Voice – the voice of children and young people is paramount

2. Sufficiency – the right support is in place in the right place at the right time

3. Early Intervention – children and young peoples needs are identified at the earliest opportunity

4. Transition – effective transition is secured so that young people are able to live the best adult lives they can

Central to the delivery of the strategy is our co-produced SEND outcomes framework. Young people, parents and carers have told us that the most important outcomes for children and young people to achieve are:

· I am healthy

· I have a choice and am heard

· I am safe

· I achieve my goals

· I am included

· I can overcome challenges and difficulties on my own or with support

· I am becoming independent

 Delivery of these outcomes is the way in which we measure the success of our actions as a local area partnership.

Local Area SEND Inspection Revisit

The local area SEND inspection revisit took place in November 2022 and captured the progress that partners had made on addressing the 4 areas of significant weakness that had been identified by Ofsted and the CQC in December 2019. Ofsted and CQC judged that the local area had made sufficient progress in addressing the areas of weakness which included:

· Leadership and governance of SEND in the local area

· Joint commissioning

· Co-production

· The quality and consistency of education, health and care (EHC) plans

As a local area partnership, we have worked hard to improve in all 4 areas, however we are not complacent and recognise that there is still much to do to realise the ambition outlined in our SEND Strategy.

The development and implementation of the local area operational plan will provide the framework for the evaluation of the impact of the SEND Strategy but will also drive the continuation of our SEND Improvement journey between 2023-25.

Work will continue to embed the progress made on delivering the priorities outlined in the written statement of action. In the area of leadership and governance a specific focus will be placed on improving the footprint of social care within our improvement journey. This will include:

· Regular representation from social care at the SEND Partnership Board

· Senior leadership of SEND through the appointment of a Designated Social Care Officer within the Children’s Social Care Senior Management Team

· Improvements in the quality and consistency of social care advice in education, health and care plans as evidenced through audit

· Continuous development of integrated working across education, health and social care

Priority 1: Voice: the voice of children and young people is paramount

Action	Impact	Owner	Completed by	Status (January 2024)
1.1 All partners have received training on the effective gathering of voice	The voice of children and young people is consistently being used by all partners to inform decision making and service delivery and improvement  90% of Children and young people who have participated in voice activities feel listened to and report that they find it easy to share their views and can see how their voice is used by the local area partnership. The voice of children and young people with SEND is evident in all education, health and care plans. Audits of plans show that 90% of pre-16 plans and 95% of post 16 have outcomes which are clearly linked to the child’s voice.	City of York Council children’s services Health commissioners and providers Education providers	December 2023	In progress Case audits are capturing improvements in the voice of children and young people.
1.2 Review and improve the local offer to ensure that it is accessible, up to date and relevant. Model this on the Live Well York approach	85% of Children, young people, parents and carers surveyed report that they feel better informed about the local offer. The local offer is evidenced in  90% of all new EHCPs.	City of York Council (LB)	January 2024	Completed The Local Offer website is now live
1.3 Develop and publish ‘easy read’ one-page guides to support children and young people, parents and carers to navigate the SEN systems across education, health and care	Children and young people, parents and carers feel better informed about local services and decision- making processes. There is a 60% reduction in complaints about communication issues.	City of York Council (LB) Health Social care SENDIASS	September – December 2023	Completed A series of one page guides have been uploaded on the new local offer web pages.
1.4 Provide training on the Mental Capacity Act and the rights of the young person at 16	The voice of young people post 16 is paramount in the EHCP and annual review process. 90% of post 16 EHC plans have outcomes directly informed by the young person’s voice. Preparation for adulthood is better understood by parents/carers. 90% of parents/carers surveyed feel that they are better informed about what happens when an EHC plan ends.	Preparation for Adulthood team (includes education, health and care)	Training workshops delivered and repeated throughout 2023-24 and 2024-25	In progress Training workshops are taking place
1.5 Broaden the membership and reach of the Parent Carer Forum	The number of parents/carers attending meetings and events continues to increase. Engagement with the Parent Carer Forum doubles by March 2024. The Parent Carer Forum is developed as the strategic convenor for parent/carer voice groups across York.	York Parent Carer Forum SENDIASS	Ongoing 2023-2025	In progress Monthly meetings have been established between CYC, health and the PCF to support the development of the forum.

Priority 2: Sufficency: the right support is in the right place at the right time

Action	Impact	Owner	Completed by	Status
2.1 The Integrated data dashboard continues to be developed and is being used to inform decision making and commissioning across education, health and care	The SEND Partnership Board is holding delivery partners to account through analysis of the integrated data dashboard. The data dashboard demonstrates how the outcomes framework is being delivered across the local SEND partnership.	The SEND Partnership Board	On-going	In progress The SEND partnership board receives a data report at every meeting. Next step is to link the indicators to the outcomes framework.
2.2 Community based support for children, young people and families continues to be developed based on learning from the implementation of the Autism Hub. This will inform the development of SEND support through the family hubs.	Joint commissioning of community- based support is evidence informed and outcomes based. The quality and sufficiency of community -based support continues to improve through the community and voluntary sector and development of family hubs. Parent/carer voice shows that 85% of parents surveyed know where they can access support from community -based services, including family hubs.	City of York Council All Age Commissioning Team Health commissioners	Financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25	In progress The re-commissioning of autism social prescribing is underway and being informed by parent voice. The development of the SEND support through the family hubs has been scoped.
2.3 The Learning Support Hub model will be evaluated and further developed to support the graduated response based on the ithrive model (getting more help)	90%  of schools and other partners including parents and carers report that the Learning Support Hub model is having a measurable impact on developing provision for children and young people with SEND. The percentage of children and young people educated in mainstream settings and schools remains above the national average in academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25. Case studies have been developed.	City of York Council	September 2023 to March 2025	In progress The Year 1 evaluation report has been written. This shows 100% satisfaction rates.
2.4 SEND Capital schemes completed to extend and develop sufficient school places to meet needs identified through SEND place planning assessment	Sufficient appropriate school places have been developed so that children are receiving the right support at the right time and in the right place. 94% of children with SEND achieve their first choice of school at primary/secondary phase transfer.	City of York Council	July 2024	Completed Capital works to develop additional ERP provision have taken place. Capital works at Applefields and Danesgate have been approved and are being completed.
2.5 Implement task and finish groups to review sufficiency of access to therapies in City of York. Develop joint protocols and pathways to be shared with parents/carers re: Speech, Language and Communication Therapy, Occupational Therapy and sensory interventions.	The local SEND Partnership has improved communication with parents/carers. A 60% reduction in mediations and tribunals by 2025.	City of York Council Health Social Care (children and adults) SENDIASS	September 2023	.

Priority 3: Early intervention: Children and young peoples needs are identified at the earliest opportunity

Action	Impact	Owner	Completed by	Status
3.1 Develop, publish and implement an Ordinarily available provision document which supports transition between educational phases	A consistent and transparent graduated response is in place across the City. Children and young people at SEN support receive a consistent offer. The plan do review cycle is consistently used across all settings and schools. Parents and carers have greater confidence in the consistency of mainstream education, particularly at points of transition. Attendance of SEN Support and EHC cohort improves and is at least 93% The percentage of children with SEN in mainstream settings is above national averages. A reduction in EHE and EOTAS requests.	City of York Council (Effectiveness and Achievement) and York Schools and Academies Board Parent Carer Forum SENDIASS	September 2023	Completed The OAP document has been developed
3.2 Support the scale up of Early Talk for York (ETfY) to ensure that there is a city-wide implementation of the approach (0-5). Scale up the use of the ETfY approach/principles to support children and young people 5-16 with speech, language and communication needs identified at SEN support	Early identification and targeted intervention to ensure that speech, language and communication needs can be better supported in mainstream settings and schools. Attainment data shows improvement in outcomes for children identified at SEN support. A reduction in referrals to Speech and Language Therapy  Outcomes in Year 1 phonics are above national average for all pupil groups.	City of York Council (Early Years/Social Mobility) Health Commissioning	August 2023	In progress Scale up is being implemented from September 2023. ETfY conference November 2023 to share outcomes and next steps
3.3 Develop a toolkit and implement training for professionals, parents and carers to spot early triggers and early interventions to support children and young people who cannot attend school due to anxiety Jointly commission School Reintegration workers to work with children, young people, families and schools to successfully support children at risk of withdrawing from school due to anxiety	Schools are more confident in supporting children with anxiety around attendance A reduction in the numbers of  severely absent children	City of York Council (EPS service) City of York Council (Inclusion Service) Specialist Teaching Team CAMHS Mental health support teams Parent carer forum SENDIASS	January 2024	Completed
3.4 Work with the Teaching School Hub to continue to develop SEND training programmes for teachers to support the implementation of quality first teaching and learning in mainstream schools.	There is greater consistency across schools in the implementation of ordinarily available provision in mainstream. A reduction in requests for statutory assessment. A reduction in EHE and EOTAS	Pathfinder Teaching School Hub	Ongoing	In progress YSAB have commissioned 2 places for every school to access Adaptive teaching training.
3.5 Work with education providers to develop neuro- diverse friendly settings, schools and colleges.	School attendance of neurodiverse children and young people improves. Teachers and support staff feel better able to support neuro-diverse children and young people. A reduction in suspensions and permanent exclusions of neuro-diverse children and young people.	City of York Council York Schools and Academies Board York Schools Forum Autism Education Trust Health providers Parent Carer Forum Social care SENDIASS	Pilot settings/ schools worked with in academic year 2023-24 Extension of pilot 2024-25	In progress Work with the ADHD Foundation is taking place during 2024. This is being launched with settings and schools on 26^th January 2024.

Priority 4: Transition: effective transition is secured so that young people are able to live the best adult lives they can

Action	Impact	Owner	Completed by	Status
4.1 Annually review and update the SEND JSNA to inform sufficiency planning and joint commissioning this will include reviewing the data that is being collected to create a meaningful evidence base to inform strategic planning, sufficiency mapping and joint commissioning	Evidence informed decision - making is securely in place in the local area. The allocation of resources by the local area SEND partnership is more effectively targeted.	City of York Council Public Health	Annually	In progess
4.2 Continue to develop shared data sets and intelligence sharing across education, health and care to support transition for individuals with EHC plans and to identify population level trends to inform joint commissioning.	Evidence informed decision - making is securely in place in the local area. The allocation of resources by the local area SEND partnership is more effectively targeted.	Education Health Social Care SENDIASS	Ongoing	In progress Enhanced focus on use of data to inform transition during 2023-24
4.2 All partners to ensure that preparation for adulthood outcomes are identified and recorded in all EHC plans from age 14.	Evidence from audit shows that 95% of post 14 EHC plans have preparation for adulthood outcomes that reflect the young persons aspiration’s recorded by July 2024  Review and setting Preparation for adulthood outcomes are a mandatory part of the annual review process.	Education Health Social Care	July 2024	In progress PfA protocol has been developed and is being implemented during 2023-24.
4.3 Co-produce and publish the local area Preparation for Adulthood protocol	Children and young people, parents and carers and professionals have a clear understanding of the preparation for adulthood pathway in York. The transition from EHC plans is transparent and well understood by all partners and stakeholders.	Transitions working group	December 2023	Completed
4.5 Transition plans are developed and implemented for all young people with an EHCP from the age of 16	Parents and carers understand the process of transition and plans can be ended at the right time to support independence outcomes.	City of York Council Preparation for Adulthood team	July 2025	In progress
4.6 Improve pathways to employment through the implementation of the  Supported Internship Hub	Supported internships are fully developed as a pathway to employment in York The number of young people accessing supported internships shows and annual increase between 2024 and 2025.	City of York Council Skills Team	September 2025	In progress Supported internship hub launch in September 2023.