Norfolk’s three-year plan for special educational needs and disabilities has received government approval, the county council announced on 8 October.

The programme covers education, health and social care, with an emphasis on earlier support and helping more children attend inclusive mainstream settings closer to home.

What the plan aims to change

Its commitments include extending specialist support to early-years settings and further education, strengthening teams that advise mainstream schools, and reducing waits for neurodevelopmental assessments.

The published outline also aims to double Specialist Resource Bases in mainstream schools by 2028 and complete the rollout of mental health support teams to schools by that year.

Those are delivery commitments, rather than evidence that waiting times have already fallen or that every additional place is available. The council acknowledges that the current system remains difficult for many families.

Approval and implementation

The plan was developed with children and young people, parents and carers, education providers, health partners and community organisations. The council says it focuses on changes that can be introduced ahead of further national legislation.

In its approval announcement, the council also says the decision means repayment of around 90% of Norfolk’s historic Dedicated Schools Grant SEND deficit, approximately £185 million. That is a statement about historic funding pressures, not a £185 million cash award to individual families.

Partners are now working with the Department for Education on feedback and the next phase of implementation. Approval does not establish a date when each family will see a change in support.

Read the proposals

The council’s official SEND reform-plan information links to the full plan and an easy-read version. Families can use it to distinguish the planned changes from services already in place.