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 East Sussex SEND Strategy is 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 (10 October 2025)

Representatives from the Department of Education and the National Health Service joined us again. They are supporting our work to improve support for children and young people in East Sussex. They are reviewing progress on the ‘action plan’ that we agreed after an ‘area inspection’ in November 2024. The inspection was carried out by:

OfSTED (Office for Standards in Education), and
CQC (Care Quality Commission).

We considered reports from three expert groups.

They look closely at how the East Sussex Strategy for SEND is working. One group also checks on Alternative Provision (AP) for those in need of alternative educational. The Strategy we are working with at present was designed in 2021 to operate from 2022 to 2025. We have, however, decided to extend its life to the summer of 2026. This is due to the national government planning changes to the way special support is assessed and to how / where it is delivered.

We agreed that it would be wise to take those changes into account. We also wanted to check that we could see outcomes of the improvements planned in the ‘action plan’ after the November 2024 inspection.

At the moment, our priorities, are the main areas for improvement listed in the area action plan. They are:

to make sure that Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are of a high quality and are assessed and reviewed on time.
to reduce waiting times for vital services which affect young people. This includes wheelchair provision and support for mental health.
to develop and strengthen the ways in which special needs support is offered. This includes early years (nurseries and child-minders), schools and colleges (16+) . It is aimed at improving their opportunity to be ‘inclusive’.
to make sure there is enough of the right kind of high quality ‘alternative provision’ in East Sussex. This is about school age (up to 16) and college age (16+) opportunities.

We discussed how all of these challenges are affected by national, area and local changes. These changes will include:

a government ‘White Paper’ describing changes to the national SEND system.
local government changes. This includes a ‘Sussex and Brighton’ Mayor and new control arrangements in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
the Sussex Integrated Health and Care Board (ICB) merging with Surrey.

Our Board will meet next on 15 January 2026 and keep focus on East Sussex SEND.

SEND Strategy Governance Board meeting notes: