Change Programme Partnership

The SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan published on 2 March set out plans for reforming the system. The DfE are committed to testing, refining and in some cases developing the most significant reforms to ensure they get the changes right via a £70m Change Programme.

Testing will take place in up to nine Change Programme Partnerships (CPP) each made up of three to four local authorities and their partners. The DfE shortlisted up to three local authorities per region and invited them to express an interest in leading the CPP in each region. Wakefield was chosen to lead the Yorkshire and Humber partnership working with Bradford, Calderdale and Leeds.

Some of the sessions we will be bringing to you will form part of the CPP work, which is great news for our members as you will get to have input into the work, and have your say on the new proposals.

The first of these was our Coffee & Chat session with a focus on Mediation, where forum members were invited to come and discuss their experiences of using the Mediation service. This has also been followed up with a parent/carer survey to gather feedback from those unable to attend.

The CPP is a huge project taking place over the next 2 years with many areas needing testing to ensure they are right. We will as always ensure that parent/carers voice is heard in meetings, and will bring our members opportunities to be involved wherever we can. One of the areas being tested is a new EHCP template, so you may see these in use across the district. They look very different to the Wakefield template but they are the same in terms of the law.

If you would like to know more about the CPP you can use the link below to read further information on the Local Offer website. We will bring updates and opportunities for our members to get involved as they arise.