Hillingdon Council's Cabinet has approved a £4.5 million investment in children's therapy services, aiming to enhance support for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) within mainstream schools.
The funding, received through a Department for Education grant, will be used to commission speech and language therapy (SaLT) and occupational therapy (OT) capacity. This initiative is part of the government's SEND reforms, which focus on early intervention and inclusion.
Councillor Susan O'Brien, Cabinet Member for Adults, Children, Health & Care, proposed the agenda item, highlighting that the 'Experts at Hand' model will provide specialist support directly to schools. This will help staff identify and respond to SEND needs earlier and more effectively. The model is designed to build the capability of mainstream settings to meet a wider range of SEND needs more effectively and inclusively, focusing on whole-school support, including strengthening whole-school systems and environments, and modelling inclusive strategies in classrooms.
To expedite the process and overcome national recruitment challenges for therapists, the council will commission the services through Constellia Public Ltd. Constellia will run a competitive procurement process to appoint a specialist provider. Council officers will be involved throughout the process, evaluating tenders to ensure a competitive procurement process that guarantees value for money. This approach is expected to ensure the service is operational by the autumn term 2026, with an indicative timetable showing contract start in October/November 2026.
The £4.5 million contract will span three years, with up to £1.5 million allocated annually. The funding is fully ring-fenced from the Department for Education grant, meaning there will be no additional pressure on the council's revenue budgets.
The service aims to improve schools' confidence in supporting SEND pupils, increase inclusion in mainstream settings, and reduce referrals to special and independent school settings. The 'Experts at Hand' model is expected to improve attendance while helping to reduce exclusions through effective earlier intervention. The success of the model will be measured through a suite of performance measures co-designed with the provider, focusing on improving outcomes for children and young people. This includes tracking progress at individual, cluster, and borough-wide levels, using both qualitative and quantitative measures. Specific indicators will include the number of individual referrals for specialist therapeutic support, increased confidence of schools in meeting needs, improvements in attendance, and reductions in exclusions.
Councillor O'Brien also drew attention to an addendum to the report, which included minor amendments for clarification regarding the delegation of authority for the implementation of these therapy services. The report can be found in the Public reports pack.
The 'Experts at Hand' model will focus on staff development, classroom strategies, and whole-school support. This includes modelling inclusive strategies in classrooms and strengthening whole-school systems and environments, including the graduated response and ordinarily available provision. The aim is to build workforce confidence and capability to identify and meet needs more effectively.
Mechanisms will be in place to monitor the effectiveness of the commissioned services. The commissioned provider will work closely with Council officers, and a suite of performance measures will be co-designed with the provider, focusing on improving outcomes for children and young people. These measures will be regularly reviewed and refined throughout the contract's lifetime. Contract management will be in place, with the ability to withhold or stop payments to Constellia (and thus the supplier) if work is deemed sub-standard or partially delivered.
