Strategic Reform Partner

Our vision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is the same as for all children and young people – that they achieve well in their early years, at school and beyond; they find employment where that's appropriate; and lead happy, healthy and fulfilled lives over which they have choices and control.

Despite the ambitious reforms introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, key challenges remain in delivering SEND services in line with our vision. Further embedding and delivery of these principles is required to improved outcomes for all children and young people with SEND, both in terms of educational outcomes and access to employment. Increased demand for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans is putting local authority SEND budgets under unsustainable pressure, and the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need for further support.

Through this procurement we are aiming to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. This will be achieved through one contract which will provide services that support the Department for Education in policy development and implementation.

The contract for a Strategic Reform Partner (SRP) presents an exciting opportunity to contribute to policy design, to develop and deliver DfE’s SEND Strategic outcomes, with the effective involvement and participation of SEND organisations in the design and delivery of SEND-specific services. There are three objectives for seeking to buy SRP services:

• Supporting SEND policy design and development
• Supporting implementation of SEND policy
• Gathering SEND sector market intelligence