Our October SEND Bulletin is now live, bringing together key updates, learning and opportunities from across London’s SEND system, showcasing the latest progress in SEND reform and other programme streams.

This edition features the publication of several significant reports, including findings from the Big SEND Conversation, which captured the views of almost 600 SEND professionals across London, the ‘Co-Production in London’ report and an analysis of emerging themes from SEND Reform Plans. Together, these provide valuable insight into current challenges, shared priorities and opportunities for collective action across London.

Our support for Inclusion has grown, and readers can explore updates from the Inclusion & Belonging Programme, including new resources, networks and engagement opportunities.

Following on from July’s bulletin, the SEND Commissioning programme updates sets out progress with initiatives that are helping local areas build a stronger evidence base, identify collaboration opportunities and improve planning and delivery of services for children and young people with SEND.

A range of data, intelligence and benchmarking resources available to support local planning and improvement, is also highlighted within the bulletin.

Upcoming regional events, networks and communities of practice designed to support continued collaboration and knowledge sharing, can be found on the final page of the bulletin.

We hope that this edition provides useful insight, practical resources and opportunities to support ongoing efforts to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND across London.

As always, we welcome feedback and engagement, and encourage colleagues to make full use of the resources, networks and support available through LIIA.

Launched in 2024, Practice Spotlight aims to:

• Recognise and celebrate the individuals and teams who have delivered this work, and raise awareness with broader audiences
• Discover the practice that is making a difference, often in very complex and challenging areas of work
• Boost opportunities for sharing and learning across all of London’s local authorities and partners, underpinning a positive culture of collaboration

This year’s submissions focus on the theme of New and Emerging Practice, across nine categories. We have also created a brand new category, ‘What Works Well in Inclusion’, which received a fantastic 35 submissions across six themes.

There are now more than 150 examples of work making a difference for children and families, all in one place. Thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute and share their incredible work.

If something catches your eye, get in touch with the team behind it. And if you’d like to explore, share or develop an area of practice with LIIA, we’d love to hear from you.

Explore the Practice Spotlight Digital Area: https://www.liia.london/practice-spotlight/practice-spotlight-homepage/

Almost 600 SEND professionals from local authorities, education, health and partner organisations shared their experiences, perspectives and aspirations, creating a unique picture of the workforce that supports children and young people with SEND across the capital.

The report represented the voice of the SEND workforce, exploring the opportunities and challenges facing the SEND workforce, including workload pressures, wellbeing, recruitment and retention, multi-agency working, inclusion, digital innovation and hopes and fears for reforms. Successful system reform and workforce
reform must go hand in hand.

The findings highlight a workforce that is highly committed to improving outcomes for children and families and emphasises their role as one of the most significant factors of successful reforms implementation and lasting impact.

The report contains 6 recommendations – both regional and national.

We want to capture different examples of inclusion bases that specialise in a range of areas, like autism, speech, language and communication, SEMH and more. This is designed to inspire the development of practice across London during this demanding time.

We want to hear from innovative schools and settings that:

• Improve outcomes for children and young people
• Enable pupils to participate successfully in mainstream school life
• Strengthen inclusive practice across the whole school
• Make effective use of specialist expertise work in partnership with families and other professionals

If you are interested to learn more about eligibility and the process, please see the guide below.

To submit an application, please click here.

The deadline for submission is Wednesday 30th September 2026. Successful applicants will be contacted w/c 9th October 2026. LIIA understands it is a busy time for schools and authorities, so have made the process easy to complete and are here to provide any additional support. 

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to reach out to Matt Rees (LIIA SEND Project Support Officer) – matthew.rees@londoncouncils.gov.uk.

This edition highlights the breadth of work taking place across LiiA, including key developments, insights and updates that demonstrate our continued commitment to supporting collaboration, shared learning and improved outcomes for children and families across London.

Led by the London Innovation and Improvement Alliance (LIIA) on behalf of the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services (ALDCS), with Camden Council acting as the lead authority, the successful bid represents a significant milestone for London.

Why Regional Care Cooperatives Matter

Regional Care Cooperatives are a key component of the Government’s plans to reform children’s social care. Their purpose is to improve outcomes for children and young people by addressing longstanding challenges within the sector, including rising costs, sufficiency challenges, market instability and workforce pressures.

By working collectively, local authorities can strengthen their influence over commissioning and market development, helping to improve the availability, quality and sustainability of care for children and young people.

A Collective London Response

London submitted its Expression of Interest in May 2026, with all London local authorities supporting the proposal. The bid also secured support from a broad range of strategic partners, including:

• All London Integrated Care Boards (ICBs)
• NHS England
• The Metropolitan Police
• Ministry of Justice

This collective commitment reflects a shared ambition to improve outcomes for children and young people through stronger collaboration across the wider public service system.

Building on Strong Foundations

The London RCC has been designed to build on the capital’s existing track record of partnership working and innovation.

Key features of the proposed model include:

• A hub-and-spoke delivery model, combining local and sub-regional commissioning arrangements with support from a central regional team
• A strong focus on increasing the number of children living in family-based care, including foster care and kinship care
• Expanded provision delivered by local authorities and the not-for-profit sector
• Enhanced regional market management and collaborative commissioning
• A “One Customer” approach that aligns commissioning activity across local authorities and partner agencies
• A commitment to innovation, testing new approaches locally and scaling successful models across London

Moving into Mobilisation

Following the successful award, the programme is now entering its mobilisation phase. A dedicated programme team will be established within LIIA to support implementation and work with boroughs and partners to develop the RCC’s governance, commissioning and operating arrangements.

Over the coming months, London boroughs and partner organisations will be involved in shaping the detailed design of the cooperative, ensuring the model is both ambitious and deliverable while remaining focused on improving outcomes for children and young people.

Looking Ahead

The award marks the beginning of an important new chapter for pan-London collaboration in children’s social care. By working together at scale, London has an opportunity to strengthen sufficiency, improve value for money, increase family-based care options and create a more sustainable system for the future.

Further updates will be shared as the programme progresses.

You can read the newsletter below and download it here  ASYJ Leaders July 2026 Newsletter

Since our last update, it has been another exceptionally busy period for Local Area Partnerships across London. Activity has been shaped by the submission of Local Area SEND Reform Plans to the Department for Education and NHS England, alongside further developments in the national reform agenda following publication of the Every Child Achieving and Thriving Schools White Paper and additional guidance on the emerging Experts at Hand model.

In response, LIIA has been working closely with partners across London to understand the implications of these reforms and support local areas as they navigate the next phase of implementation. Through our review of SEND Reform Plans, launch of the Experts at Hand Community of Practice, and wider “Untangling the Reforms” work, we are helping boroughs identify common themes, share learning, and develop more integrated approaches to supporting children and young people with SEND.

This edition brings together updates from across the ALDCS SEND Programme, including progress on workforce and inclusion, emerging findings from the Big SEND Conversation, developments in SEND commissioning and financial sustainability, and new data and intelligence products designed to strengthen local decision-making. We also share insights from our reform support activity, opportunities to engage with pan-London networks and programmes, and examples of innovation and collaboration taking place across the capital.

As the reform landscape continues to evolve, we hope this edition provides both practical support and strategic insight for colleagues across education, health and care. By bringing together intelligence, evidence and shared learning from across London, we aim to support stronger collaboration and help local areas navigate this period of significant change with confidence.

As always, we welcome feedback and engagement, and encourage colleagues to make full use of the resources, networks and support available through LIIA.