Welcome to our information about Commissioning for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. We work in partnership with NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and Public Health.
What is SEND Commissioning?
SEND Commissioning is about getting the right provision in place at the right time and in the right way for our children, young people and adults with SEND. Our aim is to ensure that any provision that we commission is safe, of high quality, ambitious for children and young people and improves their outcomes, is near to home as possible and provides value for money. Our priorities in delivery are to safeguard children and young people with good systems in place to do this.
We work to a commissioning cycle. The cycle involves joint understanding, planning, delivery and review. Education, health and social care work together to assess needs, plan and help services deliver and then review what is working well and make changes if it is not.
We analyse sufficiency data so that we can plan in advance to meet future need, we listen to what people tell us and what is needed and take heed of research evidence. What we commission is driven by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough SEND Strategy and informed by the SEND Pledge
Partnership Working with children, young people and parents
As Commissioners of SEND provision it is important to us that we work in partnership with all those with an interest in SEND. This includes parents/carers, young people; Health Services, Social Care, Schools and other Education Settings. We try to involve these groups in planning the work and this is called Co-Production. We do this in the following ways;
- Through Cambridgeshire’s Parent/Carer Forum Pinpoint
- Working with organisation for children and young people such as Voice Ability’s Speak Out Council
- Youth Voice and Participation Strategy with Young Commissioners. Young Commissioners are young people from a diverse range of backgrounds from all over Cambridgeshire. Some might be young people living away from home or care leavers, and some may have disabilities or learning difficulties.
SEND partnership work with Education, Health and Care
We work in partnership with public, voluntary, community and private sectors who will plan provision together that reflects their SEND priorities.
Understanding the local need for SEND provision
We want to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families and do this by improving the quality of services at the best value. Our budgets can be used collectively to commission new services where there is a need or a gap.
In Cambridgeshire these are some of the areas of work we focus on;
- Speech and language therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Special equipment including standing frames, specialist car seats
- Assistive technology, augmented communication
- Personal care
- Child and Adolescent Mental health provision
- Out of School Tuition
- Arrangements for securing provision specified in EHC plans
- Growing and improving the quality of provision offered
We use the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment to understand the needs of children and young people with SEND and the process helps to inform our joint commissioning decisions.
Delivery of SEND provision
Our aim is to ensure that any provision that we commission is safe, of high quality, ambitious for children and young people and improves their outcomes, is near to home as possible and provides value for money.
Our priorities in delivery are to safeguard children and young people with good systems in place to do this.
Reviewing and improving the local SEND Offer
We are guided by the recommendations in our OSTED and CQC inspections and feedback from the Local Offer on what children and young people with SEND need and we will use this information to plan for future commissioning and review our priorities.
Government guidance and information
The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
Joint commissioning (Children's Services)
Joint Commissioning brings together education, health and social care, to share an understanding of what is needed by children, young people and families. They use their shared understanding and resources to plan services that will deliver what is needed. The joint commissioners ask organisations to apply to deliver services. They then choose the ones that they believe will deliver the best outcomes for children, young people and families at the best value.
The Commissioning Team have responsibility for four areas of work across both Cambridgeshire and Peterborough local authorities:
- Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
- Children in Care (CiC)
- Children with Disabilities CWD
- Children and Families
There is further information on the joint commissioning webpage.
