SEND Strategy Governance Board

Four adults and one child sat down having a conversation.

Overview

The SEND Strategy Governance Board (SGB) has members who represent the large number of different groups and services that help and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

It's the main job of the board to make sure that the SEND Strategy and the Local SEND Reform Plan are working.

The board:

meet at least 4 times per year
reviews and helps deliver the SEND Strategy
started in September 2022

We have created a video that introduces the SGB:

Previous Board Meetings

Notes from the most recent meeting (22 October 2026)

We welcomed a new Board member, Sarah Nundy from the Adult Social Care team at East Sussex County Council. Sarah will support us to make sure we check on the services and support provided to young adults (19 to 25) with SEND. It is important to keep track of:

early years (ages up to 5),
young adult years (19 to 25), and
school and college aged children and young people.

We had the good news that the East Sussex Local SEND Reform Plan has been accepted by the Department for Education (DfE) on behalf of the government. We put the plan in on 19 June 2026. Now that the approval has been given, we can turn attention to making sure that it is brought to life. It is planned in a way that fits with our new East Sussex SEND Strategy (2026-2030). It also helps us to make the improvements in service and support that were asked for. These were asked for in the Area Inspection of SEND in East Sussex, made by OfSTED.

They were also asked for in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report in April 2025. Our Board will check development and progress. We have members from all the important partners needed to make change happen.

Councillor Paul Soane gave us the latest news on government plans to change the way local government operates in Sussex. He gave us the government plans to create ’strategic authorities’. This plan includes money to spend and responsibilities to carry through. Our Board will watch out for any opportunities that this might bring to work. This includes work with West Sussex and Brighton and Hove to improve the services and support to children and young people. This also includes the services and support to parents and carers across Sussex.

Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) is a newly created NHS Trust for our area. After hearing from Councillor Soane and from our Board members who work for the ICB, we discussed actions in the Local SEND Reform Plan and the Action Plan after Area SEND Inspection that could be the most difficult to achieve. We will use our meeting times and ask our members to work with their networks to focus on these issues. Among these issues, some priorities stand out:

the support and services for young adults (19 to 25) and early years (0 to 5).
ensuring clear and effective communication with families. This is to support understanding and confidence in the reforms.
keep confidence and trust in the SEND system.
concentrate attention on the experiences and routes to support for young people with common learning and behavioural differences.
recruiting and keeping talented experts to assess and support children and young people. Experts like Speech and Language Therapists and Educational Psychologists.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 11 January 2027.

Full SEND Strategy Governance Board meeting notes: