Sutton's SEND Reform Plan

We work with local partners to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families. Cognus Limited (which is an organisation wholly owned by the Council) delivers most of this support, in partnership with the Local Authority, the NHS, schools and other local organisations. 

National SEND Reforms

There is consensus that the national system of SEND is under pressure. In response to this, Central Government has announced proposed changes to national and local SEND systems and has asked all local authorities to prepare a ‘SEND Reform Plan’ to identify what they will do to improve the system locally and prepare for those changes. As part of this, we are working across the Local Area Partnership (LAP) to strengthen Sutton's SEND services and provide earlier support to children and young people.

Sutton’s SEND Reform Plan was approved by the Department for Education (DfE) in October 2026. This plan, which will evolve over time, focuses on how we can deliver earlier support for children, young people and families and we can further develop the inclusive practice that takes place in local schools and settings.

• Through the ‘Experts at Hand’ programme, we will have more specialists working directly with schools, while also working to develop the offer of support bases across all secondary and primary schools. 

• A new SEND Family Centre will also open to provide support for parents and carers of children with SEND as well as becoming a support centre base for some services. 

• Over this academic year, we will also recruit new professionals, and get started on new ways of working, before extending the support offer to all schools in the following two years.

SEND Reform is a long term process that will take many years. For more information, please see our pages on the National SEND Reform.

Our SEND Improvement Journey

In January 2026, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected SEND services in Sutton. The inspectors found that children and young people with SEND typically do well in education locally. They also identified areas for improvement. As of October 2026, Sutton's Ofsted and CQC Priority Action Plan (PAP) was approved by the DfE and NHS England in October 2026. This plan sets out how we will address these areas.

• The one area for urgent improvement is how the NHS supports children with swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) and how the local area manages risk in the local system. Since January 2026, we have worked closely with the NHS and partners to take immediate action through extra speech and language specialists to reduce waiting times for vital assessments. 

• A new SEND Improvement Board, led by an independent chair, works to improve SEND services across health, education, and social care. The board oversees the improvements we plan to make as part of the national SEND reforms, as well as improvements we are making locally in response to CQC/Ofsted findings. 

• Sutton Mencap was selected by an independent parent panel to launch a new Parent Carer Forum for the local area. Through the new forum, local families will work alongside us to directly shape local service changes before inspectors return in 9 months. For more information, or to get involved, contact Sutton Mencap by emailing info@suttonmencap.org.uk or call 020 8647 8600.

What happens next?

With DfE and NHS England approval secured for both the SEND Reform Plan and the Priority Action Plan in October 2026, we will be starting to implement our plans. We will also be collaborating with a new Parent Carer Steering Group to align our priorities with local needs and to update the local SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy 2024 - 2027 next year.