Strategic SEND Partnership Board minutes summary - 21 January 2026

Attendance

• Niki Cartwright (chair) Director of Vulnerable People’s Services, NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board
• Carey Tulloch Head of Strategic Commissioning and Transformation, Wokingham Borough Council (WBC)
• Charlotte Seymour Strategic Project Support Officer, WBC
• Councillor Prue Bray Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Children's Services, WBC
• Emma Cockerell Director, Children's Services, WBC
• Jamie Conran Head of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), WBC
• Jonathan Wilding SEND Consultant, WBC
• Kelli Scott Head of Service, Children with Disabilities, Early Help and Prevention Youth Justice Service, WBC
• Lajla Johansson Head of All-age Learning Disability and Neuro-Divergence and SEND 0-25, NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board
• Louise Noble Service Director, NHS Children, Families and All-age Services (Children & Young Peoples Mental Health)
• Mark McCurrie SEND Advisor, Department for Education
• Ming Zhang Service Director, Education and SEND, WBC
• Oliver Gill Head of Education Access and Sufficiency, WBC
• Peter Griffiths Headteacher, St Crispin’s School
• Terri Walsh Joint CEO, SEND Voices Wokingham (parent carer forum) 

Apologies

• Adeline Gibbs Regional South East SEND Advisor, NHS England
• David Maycock Co-Headteacher, Addington School
• Hayley Rees Service Director, Strategy, Transformation and Commissioning, WBC
• Miranda Walcott Designated Clinical Officer for SEND, NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board

Actions from December's meeting

• NHS therapies: Health and council colleagues met to clarify pathways, overlaps and joint responsibilities.
• Planning a joint health and council session on Family Hub planning: A face‑to‑face meeting is being arranged to look at neighbourhood working, Family Hubs and SEND reforms.
• Escalating concerns about SEND data dashboard: A letter has been sent to NHS England to raise this issue.
• Briefing the council on Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs): The NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) will update the council on MHST rollout plans and agree how to communicate this to schools and families. Discussions are underway.
• Reviewing mediation and tribunal data: The SEND Assurance Board has looked at the data and now needs to produce information for families to address myths or misunderstandings.
• Self‑evaluation (SEF) work: The NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) and council have reviewed strengths and gaps and now need to finalise “myth busting” information with support from the Parent Carer Forum.

SEND transformation - special free schools

Oliver Gill explained the council is deciding how to deliver two new special schools. The Department for Education (DfE) has no confirmed timeline and their delivery may be delayed to 2035. They have offered the council an alternative option of reduced funding (£6.48m per school), which is around half the cost needed per school.

Four options have been assessed:

• Option 1: DfE builds the schools: No council cost, but high risk of long delays or one or both schools not being delivered.
• Option 2: Council takes the funding: Schools could open 2028–29, but would be at a reduced capacity and council carries the risk. This is ranked as the preferred option. 
• Option 3: Partner delivery: Schools could be delivered at full capacity, but likely high cost and delays.
• Option 4: Mixed model: More places possible by using a mix of new schools and refurbished resourced provisions, but risk of delays or lack of delivery similar to option 1.

Actions

Partners should send any feedback on the options to Oliver Gill by 31 January.

SEND assurance board

Jamie Conran presented an update from the SEND Assurance Board, covering Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) timeliness, Annual Reviews, and feedback from families.

• EHCP timeliness has improved since 2024, following the recruitment of a permanent SEND team. From August to December 2025, around 68% of new EHCPs were issued on time.
• An annual report will be produced to show the findings from EHCP audits.
• Young Experts have helped improve the wording and layout of EHCP and Annual Review forms.
• New Annual Review guidance for schools has been shared with SENCOs.
• A parent sent positive feedback praising the hard work and kindness of both the SEND team and Social Care.
• 35% of Annual Reviews were completed on time. Rising numbers of EHCPs continue to increase workload, including the coordination of reviews.

We agreed that a more detailed Annual Review report will be provided at the next meeting.

Other updates

Maturity Matrix

The NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) uses a maturity matrix to monitor progress on SEND improvements every quarter. NHS England will use our local area as an example for upcoming SEND reforms. Local partners are also creating a joint version of this matrix. 

Actions

The local area will share this matrix for partners to review before future planning.

NHS England Statutory SEND Framework

This agenda item was not discussed.

NHS Therapies Review

A review of community therapy services is ongoing. There are 70 to 80 pathways, and the team is looking at where things are complex. A new proposed service model will go to senior health leaders at the end of January 2026.

NHS Integrated Care Board updates

Staff consultation has begun to move from Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) to Thames Valley ICB. The process is expected to start at the end of February 2026.

Performance Reporting

The ICB and council are working on a shared set of SEND data for reporting. There is no timescale yet for when the new data dashboard will be ready. 

Actions

The next board meeting will feature an item from NHS England to give an update on the data dashboard.

Any other business

No other business was discussed.