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SEND and AP Change Programme

A person standing up and pointing to an image of the SEND and AP Change Programme to eight people who are sat down. The SEND and AP Change Programme image consists of two adults and two children close together.

Introduction

This page shares information about the DfE SEND and AP Programme. It also explains how we are involved in East Sussex.

This page will highlight regular updates throughout the programme. We will let you know how you can get involved at various stages.

Please note:

You can also read the DfE / REACh guide to the change programme. The guide is for parents, carers and families:

SEND and AP Change Programme Overview

The government published the SEND and AP Improvement Plan in March 2023. This was following the outcome of the SEND Review in 2022. The aim of the plan was to create a more inclusive society for children and young people with SEND, and those who use AP.

You can visit the Government website to find out more:

How East Sussex is Involved

The DfE has created nine regional Change Programme Partners (CPPs). The CPPs will deliver the Change Programme over the next 18 to 24 months. Please note, in 2025, this was extended until March 2026.

We are part of the South East partnership. This means we are working closely with:

We have been asked to test some of the proposed reforms to the SEND system through the Change Programme.

Recent Change Programme Updates

The Change Programme will keep working alongside the DfE to make important changes that will help children do better in school. It will also consider how to be more financially sustainable.

We are testing and improving ideas for SEND and AP.  

The DfE knows that many local councils and partners, like health services, are going through big changes. 

The Change Programme is all about designing and testing new ideas. This aims to create inclusive and sustainable systems for everyone. 

We want to understand:

The next phase of our Change Programme will focus on developing the East Sussex Local Inclusion Support Offer (LISO). The LISO aims to help mainstream schools by:

Key features of the LISO will include a navigation function. This will guide schools and introduce an “Expert Senior Leader” for inclusion in schools. This initiative is part of our commitment to:

We believe the LISO is a vital step in enhancing the services and support available to our schools, children, and young people in East Sussex.

Please note:

What we are currently working on (as of August 2025)

In the past 18 months, East Sussex has been working on important changes for students with SEND and those in AP. 

  1. Alternative Provision Model - Our three-tier model for Alternative Provision. The goal is for students to stay in regular schools as much as possible. This includes getting the support they need while still attending their school.
  2. Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce (APST) - A new team of staff from the Local Authority and beyond to give extra help to students in AP. Our APST will be in place for another year, until August 2026. Starting in September 2025, we plan to add mental health support to our team. This program has been very successful, and now other Local Authorities are also testing it in their areas. We are also looking forward to new opportunities for the APST when we move from College Central to LSEAT on 1 September 2025.
  3. Universally Available Provision (UAP) - We are updating our general support services with ideas and help from schools. On Monday 30 June, we held a UAP event. Over 65 people joined us for a successful event. During the event, participants shared ideas and examples of good ways to include everyone. We talked about important topics like belonging, safety, and fairness. It was great to hear from school staff about what they think of our current UAP and what changes they would like to see. We also discussed possible updates to our East Sussex Quality Mark for Inclusion (ESQMI). School leaders gave us helpful feedback on how the ESQMI helps East Sussex and how we can make it easier to use in the future. Many people said they want more face-to-face meetings like this UAP event.

Upcoming plans

SEND and AP South East Network Meeting 

The South East CPPs have meetings every month to talk about changes and improvements.

In September 2025, they will focus on starting the Local Inclusion Support Offer (LISO).

Feedback Loops 

REACh continues to support the CPPs and set up webinars. These allow for knowledge sharing in preparation for the LISO.

They will also help teams understand the practical changes in SEND and AP reform, such as:

Phase 1 of the Change Programme

Phase 1 of the Change Programme took place between December 2023 and July 2025.

We uploaded information in this section before the Change Programme began.

Proposed Reforms

We will trial the reforms which the Government believes will have the most impact on the lives of our children, young people, and families in East Sussex. The DfE expect us to test the following reforms:

Local SEND and AP Partnerships:

SEND and AP Partnerships are a group of local organisations and partners. They have responsibility for overseeing the Change Programme and Local Area Inclusion Plan (LAIP). They will work together to support and drive positive change in the SEND and AP system.

Local Area Inclusion Plans (LAIPs):

Local Area Inclusion Plans will set out how the needs of children and young people in East Sussex will be met. It will support with planning services to meet these needs and see if there are any gaps in provision. Education, health and care will work together to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people.

SEND and AP Dashboard:

The dashboard is fully accessible and will be online to the public. Parents, carers and families have access to the information and can view local and national SEND and AP data. We will use the data to track children and young people’s experiences and recommend areas for development.

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP):

The new EHCP will look the same for children, young people and their families wherever they live. The aim is to improve the quality of plans and the experience of getting one. We will be testing the new template with a limited group of children, young people and families.

Multi-Agency Panels (MAPs):

MAPs will support with the quality and consistency of decision-making. There will be representatives from education, health and care. It will help parent carers and education settings understand decisions that are made about EHCPs.

Strengthened Mediation:

Strengthened mediation does not change the legal rights of parents to challenge. It will improve:

Advisory Tailored Lists (ATLs):

ATLs are tailored to the child’s individual needs. They will support families to express a preference when naming a school during the EHCP process.

Alternative Provision (AP) Service and Support Teams:

AP provides support for children and young people when mainstream education is not working for them. The focus is on early intervention and specialist support. This aims to help children and young people to stay in school and move onto post 16 settings.

Has the Law Changed?

The existing law has not changed. Children, young people’s and families rights remain the same throughout the Change Programme.

What This Means for Families

We want to fully involve children, young people and families in the Change Programme. We will be testing some different ways of working. We will work with you to gather your feedback and experiences. We will share these with the DfE.

How to Provide Feedback

It is important that we learn what is working and what isn’t. To help with this, you may be asked for your feedback. This will be collected independent of East Sussex County Council. We have asked our East Sussex Parent Carer Forum (ESPCF) to support us with this.

Visit the ESPCF website to find out more.

Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms

We explain some of the terms used on this website on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.

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