Specialist support for children boosted by £1 million in funding

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities will be given greater support after North Yorkshire Council has secured an extra £1 million in funding.

The funding from the Department for Education’s Better Value Grant was formally accepted by members of the council’s executive earlier this week (March 19) and aims to support local authorities to improve the outcome for children and young people with SEND while working towards sustainable services.

The focus of the 12-month improvement programme would be to:

• Enhance transition from nursery to reception years for children with autism/complex social communication needs.
• Enhance transition from Years 5/6 through to secondary school for young people with autism needs and/or other complex needs.
• Educate more children within their local school as opposed to transporting them to special or independent schools.

North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: “Improving services and opportunities for children and young people with SEND is a big priority for us.

“This funding will improve the lives of families and help to continue to build positive relationships between parents and their schools.”

The council’s assistant director for inclusion, Janet Crawford, added: “We are absolutely committed to supporting children and young people with SEND to thrive and succeed in all aspects of school life and future adulthood.

“The DBV grant will enable us to work towards achieving better outcomes for children and parents whilst using our resources in the most efficient way.

“The improvement plan is just one that will be delivered as part of a wider inclusion plan which aims to bring about positive change for SEND services in our county. We also wish to build upon the great skills we have in schools and demonstrate to parents and carers the excellent inclusion work happening in mainstream schools.”

Delivering Better Value (DBV) is a government programme being overseen by the Department of Education (DfE) in collaboration with a consultancy firm, Newton Europe, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).