The department’s new Experts at Hand offer will support many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including some children and young people with cerebral palsy attending mainstream settings, by improving access to support and expertise within those settings, while others will receive support through provision specified in their education, health and care plan. Local area partnerships are expected to draw on appropriately qualified and supervised practitioners and existing professional standards within health and education workforces to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND.

The department is asking local area partnerships to develop a new offer of support for mainstream settings, drawing on specialist expertise across education, health and local services to meet local needs, including where condition-specific expertise is required. The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces.

To support delivery, the department is investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train 204 EPs in 2026 and 239 in 2027, with the remaining £15 million invested to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every Integrated Care Board geographical area, to get more Speech and Language Therapists working in educational settings. Alongside this, the department is investing £200 million in SEND and inclusion training to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery. We will continue to monitor implementation as the programme develops.

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new Experts at Hand (EaH) offer.

Local area partnerships (LAPs) are responsible for planning and delivering their local EaH offer, taking account of local need, existing services and workforce capacity. The department is asking LAPs to develop a new offer of support for mainstream settings, drawing on specialist expertise across education, health and local services to meet local needs.

LAPs will have flexibility to design and deliver the offer in a way that reflects local needs and existing services, while working towards the expectations set out in the published EaH guidance. They will therefore be able to determine how best to deploy the specialist expertise required to meet the needs of children and young people in their area.

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards, to develop a new Experts at Hand offer. This includes approximately £8.3 million for Surrey.

Local areas have outlined milestones and delivery trajectories within their local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform plans, reflecting different starting points, local needs and workforce capacity. The department has not made an estimate of the number of training places required specifically for Surrey. Workforce planning is led locally, and local areas determine how best to meet need through a range of approaches, including recruitment, workforce development and different staffing models. Local area partnerships are responsible for planning and delivering their local Experts at Hand offer, taking account of local need, existing services and workforce capacity.

To support delivery overall, we are investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train more educational psychologists and £15 million over three years to support more speech and language therapists to work in education settings. This new offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings so that more specialist expertise can be accessed by mainstream settings to support all children and young people to thrive.

The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces and are considering workforce implications as part of wider long-term planning with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including through work on the 10 Year Workforce Plan.

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new Experts at Hand (EaH) offer. Alongside the National Inclusion Standards and a new £200 million special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Continuing Professional Development programme, this will help ensure staff have the knowledge, skills and support needed to identify and respond to speech and language needs, including developmental language disorder.

This will support schools to identify needs earlier and put appropriate support in place, informed by specialist advice, while helping specialist professionals focus their time on children and young people who require more intensive support. This approach builds on evidenced learning of what works from programmes such as Early Language Support for Every Child, which has informed the development of the EaH offer and can be used to inform and strengthen the wider offer.

To support delivery, the department is investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train more educational psychologists and £15 million over three years to support more speech and language therapists to work in education settings.

Local areas are responsible for planning and monitoring delivery of their EaH offer, reflecting local need and workforce capacity. The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces.

The department’s new Experts at Hand offer will support many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including some children and young people with cerebral palsy attending mainstream settings, by improving access to support and expertise within those settings, while others will receive support through provision specified in their education, health and care plan. Local area partnerships are expected to draw on appropriately qualified and supervised practitioners and existing professional standards within health and education workforces to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND.

The department is asking local area partnerships to develop a new offer of support for mainstream settings, drawing on specialist expertise across education, health and local services to meet local needs, including where condition-specific expertise is required. The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces.

To support delivery, the department is investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train 204 EPs in 2026 and 239 in 2027, with the remaining £15 million invested to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every Integrated Care Board geographical area, to get more Speech and Language Therapists working in educational settings. Alongside this, the department is investing £200 million in SEND and inclusion training to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery. We will continue to monitor implementation as the programme develops.

The department’s new Experts at Hand offer will support many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including some children and young people with cerebral palsy attending mainstream settings, by improving access to support and expertise within those settings, while others will receive support through provision specified in their education, health and care plan. Local area partnerships are expected to draw on appropriately qualified and supervised practitioners and existing professional standards within health and education workforces to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND.

The department is asking local area partnerships to develop a new offer of support for mainstream settings, drawing on specialist expertise across education, health and local services to meet local needs, including where condition-specific expertise is required. The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces.

To support delivery, the department is investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train 204 EPs in 2026 and 239 in 2027, with the remaining £15 million invested to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every Integrated Care Board geographical area, to get more Speech and Language Therapists working in educational settings. Alongside this, the department is investing £200 million in SEND and inclusion training to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery. We will continue to monitor implementation as the programme develops.

The department’s new Experts at Hand offer will support many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including some children and young people with cerebral palsy attending mainstream settings, by improving access to support and expertise within those settings, while others will receive support through provision specified in their education, health and care plan. Local area partnerships are expected to draw on appropriately qualified and supervised practitioners and existing professional standards within health and education workforces to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND.

The department is asking local area partnerships to develop a new offer of support for mainstream settings, drawing on specialist expertise across education, health and local services to meet local needs, including where condition-specific expertise is required. The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces.

To support delivery, the department is investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train 204 EPs in 2026 and 239 in 2027, with the remaining £15 million invested to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every Integrated Care Board geographical area, to get more Speech and Language Therapists working in educational settings. Alongside this, the department is investing £200 million in SEND and inclusion training to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery. We will continue to monitor implementation as the programme develops.

The department’s new Experts at Hand offer will support many children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including some children and young people with cerebral palsy attending mainstream settings, by improving access to support and expertise within those settings, while others will receive support through provision specified in their education, health and care plan. Local area partnerships are expected to draw on appropriately qualified and supervised practitioners and existing professional standards within health and education workforces to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND.

The department is asking local area partnerships to develop a new offer of support for mainstream settings, drawing on specialist expertise across education, health and local services to meet local needs, including where condition-specific expertise is required. The department will continue to monitor data on the growth of the relevant health and education specialist workforces.

To support delivery, the department is investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train 204 EPs in 2026 and 239 in 2027, with the remaining £15 million invested to establish new speech and language therapist advanced practitioners in every Integrated Care Board geographical area, to get more Speech and Language Therapists working in educational settings. Alongside this, the department is investing £200 million in SEND and inclusion training to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery. We will continue to monitor implementation as the programme develops.

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new Experts at Hand offer.

Specialist schools, specialist health services and other local specialist education and health services will play an important role in the development and delivery of local Experts at Hand offers. Local area partnerships will be able to draw on their expertise to help provide advice, coaching, workforce development and targeted support for mainstream settings. This will include specialist expertise from educational psychologists and trainees, speech and language therapists, support workers or assistants, occupational therapists and specialist teachers, including those based in specialist and alternative provision settings.

Through the offer, these practitioners may provide targeted interventions, support earlier identification of needs and help mainstream staff develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to meet the needs of children and young people more effectively.

The department is asking local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards, to work together with settings and families to design and deliver their Experts at Hand offer to meet local needs and circumstances.

As part of delivery, local area partnerships should ensure that mainstream settings understand how to access the support and specialist expertise available through their local offer, including the range of support available and how it can be accessed.

Schools and local area partners should help children, young people and their families understand the support available through their local offer.

The Experts at Hand offer is funded by a £1.8 billion grant, over the three years of the spending review period. It is for local authorities, working in partnership with local system partners, to provide advice and direct support to mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. This funding is for investment in services that individual settings cannot commission alone, such as specialist health and education support, to improve the quality of inclusive education for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), in line with the 2026 Schools White Paper and SEND Reform consultation document.

Over the same time period, the £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided for mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings. It will support schools to transition towards a reformed education system that is inclusive by design, ensuring every child and young person receives high-quality, adaptive teaching and early help when they need it.

We have fulfilled a commitment in ‘SEND Reform, Putting Children and Young People First’ to consult on ways to allow local authorities to pass more of their high needs funding directly to local mainstream schools. The proposals are intended to support earlier intervention and enable a more proactive approach to meeting needs, reducing reliance on funding being tied to statutory processes. More information is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/upfront-funding-for-mainstream-schools-creating-a/supporting_documents/upfront-funding-for-mainstream-schools-creating-a-local-send-inclusion-formulapdf.

Over time, there will be further rebalancing of funding from the high needs budget into schools’ budgets, in line with new accountability arrangements. This will allow them to deliver more flexible, direct and timely support and further incentivise early intervention and inclusive practice.

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over three years to develop a new Experts at Hand offer, giving mainstream settings access to specialist support from key health and education professionals, including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists (and assistants) and specialist teachers.

Experts at Hand will support mainstream settings to better identify and meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia, through dedicated professional expertise delivered alongside setting staff. It will support earlier identification of need, strengthen workforce confidence and capability, and provide timely, evidence-based support within everyday learning environments. Specialists will work with teachers through observation, light-touch assessment and advise on effective strategies, helping to embed evidence-informed practice and inclusive support.

Beyond this we are supporting all teachers with continuing professional development through the launch of a new landmark training package on inclusion, with an investment of over £200 million over three years.

On 15 April 2026, the department announced the Experts at Hand and Local Authority Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Transformation Fund. This grant will be paid to local authorities, including in Cambridgeshire, in one annual instalment, at the end of June 2026.

More information on the distribution methodology, permitted use of funding as well as indicative allocations for local authorities can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund-funding-for-local-authorities-2026-to-2027.

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new Experts at Hand offer. This offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support from key services and health and specialist education practitioners.

The government is expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) to cover 60% of schools this year and we will continue to expand until we reach universal coverage by 2029/30. These teams will be coordinated with Experts at Hand, and should together form a ‘team around the setting’, ensuring timely access to the right support through a coordinated, multi-agency approach.

Where appropriate, local areas are also expected to commission specialist settings, including special schools and alternative provision, to provide outreach and share their expertise, drawing on existing specialist support including mental health provision.

The department is expanding MHSTs to provide early mental health support. As of March 2025, 52% of pupils (70% in secondary schools) were supported, with further data for 2025–26 to be published.

The government has further delivered its manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers three years ahead of schedule, increasing capacity across services.

The government is providing substantial, targeted investment to help local areas grow and strengthen their specialist workforce. Over the next three years, £1.8 billion will be made available to local area partnerships to develop and rollout of the Experts at Hand offer.

Local area partnerships will design and implement their own Experts at Hand models, tailored to local needs and workforce capacity, supported by strong national oversight. The department will set the overall framework, provide guidance and tools, and work closely with local areas to ensure consistent quality. We have also announced £15 million for new speech and language therapy advanced practitioner roles, as well as continuing our investment in the educational psychology workforce with £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, building on previous investment.

The department knows that continuing to build the specialist workforce is essential. It is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, as part of wider long-term workforce priorities such as the 10 Year Workforce Plan, to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

The department continuously seeks to update and build its evidence base on the prevalence of different types of special educational needs (SEN). The department publishes annual statistics on the primary and secondary types of need for pupils receiving SEN support in the ‘Special educational needs in England’ publication.

The department is consulting on the approach to areas of development and will set out future plans in due course.

The Experts at Hand offer will support schools and settings with expert advice and guidance to help them identify and meet a range of special educational needs, including dyslexia. This includes strengthening early identification and supporting more effective, inclusive practice. Through the offer, settings will have earlier and easier access to specialist expertise from educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and other appropriate professionals.

Experts at Hand is additional to existing statutory provision and does not replace established school-led approaches or specialist one-to-one services.

The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, including delivery of the Experts at Hand offer, strengthening joint workforce planning and commissioning at a local level between education and health partners.

We are investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, strengthening mainstream education through access to health and specialist education support.

To support delivery, we are investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to increase educational psychologists and £15 million to grow the speech and language therapy workforce.

Local area partnerships will develop and deliver their own Experts at Hand, tailored to local population needs and supported by strong national oversight. The government will set the overall framework, provide guidance and tools, and work closely with local areas to ensure consistent quality.