SEND Sufficiency Strategy 2024 to 2030

When assessing the need we asked families to provide feedback and we also looked at the current picture.

What families told us

In March 2022, York completed an inclusion review which included consultation with families, settings and professionals.

Most families told us they would like their children to access mainstream education with appropriate support in place. It was acknowledged that to achieve this, there was a need to provide training and support for mainstream schools and teachers, to support a consistent approach to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) across the school system. This training could include an outreach offer from specialist settings to build skills in mainstream as part of a whole city training offer for schools to support inclusive practice.

The consultation process also highlighted the need to improve support for families, particularly linked to Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH), Autism and ADHD. This needed to be communicated and shared through a reviewed and refreshed local offer.

Parents wanted to improve transition for children with SEND; to develop a city-wide transition pathway to ensure that all settings and schools are using the same approaches to support transition. The inclusion review concluded that there must be a plan to develop post-19 routes to employment and adult life.

There was strong support for the Enhanced Resource Provisions (ERPs) in the city across Early Years, primary and secondary, as well as support for small group adaptations in secondary schools (the development of inclusion bases to support neurodiverse children and young people).

While there was universal support for an improved mainstream offer to guarantee parents always have the choice of mainstream, the inclusion review concluded that we do also need to ensure that the city has sufficient places in our specialist settings and enhanced resource provisions.

In summary, we learned that it's crucial that a spectrum of high-quality provision is planned for and developed without delay if positive outcomes for children and young people with SEND are to be achieved as soon as possible.

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The current picture

Analysis of data in winter 2023 has identified several key challenges that the SEND Sufficiency Strategy aims to address. This data shows that:

• while York’s Special Education Needs (SEN) Support and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) prevalence is similar to other local authorities, the increase in the rate of requests for statutory Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments and the number of EHCPs for children under the age of 5 is significant
• demand for specialist places continues to outstrip supply. For September 2023 and 2024, the demand from families for both Hob Moor Oaks and Haxby Road ERP reflects a higher number of children with complex needs in the Early Years
• although the rate of increase of the total number of EHCPs has slowed in the last year, there are 41% more EHCPs than 3 years ago
• in York, 40% of children and young people with an EHCP attend mainstream schools, compared to national data of 37% (2023 source: lginform.local.gov.uk)
• significantly fewer children and young people are educated out of York in independent or non-maintained special schools. 0.6% compared to national data of 5% (2023 source: lginform.local.gov.uk)
• in York, more than half the children and young people in the city with an EHCP have a primary need of Communication and Interaction compared with a fifth with SEMH. 33% have Autism recorded and 24% have Speech Language and Communication needs (source: City of York Council data December 2023)
• 48% of children attending 1 of the 2 special schools in York have Autism recorded as their primary areas of need compared to 35% nationally
• each year City of York Council gets many requests for places in specialist settings from other local authorities, this is putting increasing pressure on the system
• with a projected dip in birth rates, City of York Council forecasts show there will be an increasing surplus of places at both primary and secondary schools (approximately 2800 at primary and 750 at secondary by 2027 and 2028)
• the City of York Council’s Local Plan (Infrastructure Delivery Strategy: Updated in May 2022) sets out a local strategy for the future development of homes, employment, education and community and other infrastructure to 2032 and 2033 and highlights capacity required to meet development needs to 2037 and 2038. This plan indicates the potential increase in future demand across all educational settings given the building plans. Education Section 106 requests are incorporating a focus on future SEND sufficiency. The development of new schools and early years provision provides an opportunity to work with developers to ensure that providing safe inclusive learning environments are the focus for the development of new settings, Early Years providers and schools. Ensuring that new buildings are designed to respond to sensory needs will be an important future consideration

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