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<p>In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision
(AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to build
a consistent national SEND and AP system which parents and carers can trust, easily
navigate, and have confidence in, whether they live in an urban or rural area.</p><p>The
foundation for the new nationally consistent SEND and AP system will be new evidenced-based
National Standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access
to support to meet those needs. The standards will include clarifying the types of
support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible
for securing the support.</p><p>This will help families, practitioners and providers
understand what support every child or young person should be receiving from early
years through to further education, no matter where they live or what their needs
are. By the end of 2025 the department will publish a significant proportion of the
National Standards.</p><p>New local SEND and AP partnerships will support this work
by bringing together Education, Health and Care partners with local government to
produce evidence-based Local Area Inclusion Plans setting out how to meet the needs
of children and young people with SEND and in AP in the local area, in line with National
Standards.</p><p>The department is testing and refining reforms through the £70 million
Change Programme to collect evidence about what works for children and young people
with SEND and their families at a local level. The department is working with 32 local
authorities and their local areas in each of the nine regions. To form a <ins class="ministerial">Change
Programme Partnership</ins><del class="ministerial">Child Protection Plan</del>, in
the majority of cases, a lead local authority will work in partnership with up to
three neighbouring local authorities which will ensure impact is spread across a range
of local areas, with differing levels of performance and demographics.</p>
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