The Portfolio Holder Decisions/Leader Decisions meeting of Warwickshire Council was scheduled to discuss the council's response to national SEND reforms. The meeting was held on Monday 18 May 2026.

WCC Response to SEND Reform

The primary item scheduled for discussion was Warwickshire County Council's (WCC) response to the national SEND reform consultation. This consultation, launched by the government, proposed significant changes aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The report pack indicated that the council intended to submit its formal response to these proposed reforms.

The reasons cited for the urgency of this decision included the recent SEND local area inspection and the submission of the SEND local area plan, which had delayed the council's ability to formulate its response until closer to the consultation deadline of 18 May 2026. The council considered it important to provide a response due to the national significance of the proposed changes.

The council's proposed response, detailed within the report pack, outlined a comprehensive set of views on various aspects of SEND provision. Key themes included the importance of genuine co-production with children, young people, and their families, ensuring that high-quality evidence and best practice inform decisions, and strengthening the universal, targeted, and specialist offers for SEND support. The response also addressed the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, the evolution of the SENCO role, and the need for effective joint working between early years providers, schools, health services, and local authorities.

Specific areas of focus within the response included:

• Co-production: Emphasising that participation should be routine, accessible, inclusive, and representative, with clear feedback mechanisms to show how views have influenced decisions.
• Evidence and Best Practice: Advocating for routine review, shared standards, and continuous quality assurance, citing Warwickshire's Educational Psychology Assessment Through Teaching Tool (EPATT) as an example.
• Universal, Targeted, and Specialist Offers: Detailing how each layer of support could be best delivered, with a focus on clear definitions, consistent delivery, adequate resourcing, and timely access to specialist advice.
• Mental Health and Wellbeing: Highlighting the need for a whole-system approach, with staff training, a strong public health focus, and timely access to mental health support teams.
• Workload Management and SENCO Role: Suggesting that transformation resources should be made available to manage increased EHCP caseloads and that SENCOs should have protected time and be part of strategic leadership teams.
• Individual Support Plans (ISPs) and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs): Proposing a national standardised proforma for ISPs and a digital system to integrate EHCPs and ISPs for better efficiency and communication.
• Transitions and Post-16 Provision: Stressing the importance of early, person-centred planning and strong multi-agency working to support young people with SEND into further education, training, or employment.
• Inclusion Bases and Specialist Provision: Advocating for a range of Inclusion Bases with different areas of expertise and for every secondary school to host a specialist base, supported by government capital funding.
• Joint Working and Partnership Groups: Emphasising the need for strong joint commissioning, shared governance, clear accountability, and the meaningful participation of all stakeholders, including children, young people, and families.
• Funding: Discussing the potential benefits and necessary conditions for more SEND funding to sit directly within mainstream budgets, alongside accountability for its use.
• Disagreement Resolution: Suggesting a multi-agency panel to resolve disagreements within SEND school groups.

The report also noted that there were no direct financial implications arising from the council's response to the consultation, although it reiterated the council's call for reforms to put SEND delivery on a sustainable financial footing. There were also no environmental implications identified.

The report authors included Ross Caws, John Coleman, and Johnny Kyriacou, with input from Executive Director for Resources. Caroline Gutteridge from Legal was also consulted. Councillor George Finch, as Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Education, was the Portfolio Holder for this decision.

The meeting was attended by Councillor George Finch, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Children & Families. Other attendees included John Coleman, Caroline Gutteridge, Johnny Kyriacou, and Ross Caws.