Guidance

Experts at Hand & Local Authority SEND Transformation Fund: grant conditions

Updated 5 June 2026

Applies to England

Introduction

Legislation

The Experts at Hand & Local Authority special educational needs and disability (SEND) Transformation grant will be paid by the Secretary of State for Education as a grant to local authorities under section 14 of the Education Act 2002. In accordance with section 16 of that act, the Secretary of State attaches the following terms to the grant payable.

Purpose 

This grant is for local authorities, working in partnership with local system partners, to provide an offer of advice and direct support to:

• early years (EY) education settings
• mainstream primary and secondary schools
• mainstream settings delivering 16 to 19 provision

The purpose of the Experts at Hand & Local Authority SEND Transformation grant is to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND from 0 to 25 more effectively and inclusively, by providing a new route to access expert advice and support from education and health professionals. This should include consideration of how to reach young children who are not accessing education.

This funding is for investment in services that individual EY settings, mainstream schools and mainstream further education (FE) providers cannot efficiently commission alone, such as specialist health and education support.

This funding is to improve the quality of inclusive education for children and young people with SEND, in line with the 2026 Schools White Paper and SEND consultation document.   

It provides funding for local authorities to work in partnership with NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers of NHS services to develop and deliver a new Experts at Hand (EaH) offer for mainstream education settings, which complements NHS provision. This new offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings to meet the needs of children and young people aged 0 to 25 with SEND more effectively and inclusively, by providing a new route to access expert advice and support from education and health professionals within education settings.

Local Partnerships should ensure this support aligns with Best Start Family Hubs, including the Best Start Inclusion Practitioner (BSIP) role which will provide flexible, early identification and support for children aged 0 to 5 with emerging needs.

This grant also funds the administrative costs for local authorities associated with evaluating their existing SEND support services to mainstream education settings. The funding also covers developing and submitting local SEND reform plans which will include local plans for the Experts at Hand offer. Permitted funding for Transformation and Expert at Hand is outlined below in the permitted use of the funding section.

The methodology document including funding formula calculations should be read in conjunction with conditions along with the overarching policy pages.

Period 

These conditions of grant cover the financial year 2026 to 2027. 

Eligibility

Local authorities responsible for education and SEND services are eligible for this grant.

Payments 

Calculation

An allocation for this grant has been calculated using a bespoke funding distribution methodology. The funding formula calculations are set out in the methodology document.

Payment timetable 

The Department for Education (DfE) will pay the Expert at Hand and Transformation grant to local authorities in one annual instalment at the end of June 2026.

Permitted use of the funding

The funding must be spent in line with the methodology document.

This grant is for investment in services to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND from 0 to 25 more effectively and inclusively. Local areas should consider how they will develop this offer over time to ensure there is support and appropriate provision available across:

• early years (including private, voluntary and independent settings and childminders)
• mainstream primary
• mainstream secondary
• mainstream settings delivering 16 to 19 provision

At least 80% of funding must be spent on the EaH direct delivery for all settings, staff and their children and young people. Where a local area proposes the incorporation of an alternative provision specialist taskforce (APST) model within the EaH offer, this should be no more than 10% of direct delivery. This has been set out in the methodology document.

No more than 10% of funding can be spent on admin costs for delivering the EaH offer.

No more than 10% of funding can be spent on local authority transformation costs, including staff or other associated costs.

Funding cannot be used:

• to provide support named in children and young people’s existing education health care plans (EHCPs)
• to make provision mainstream education settings can or should make themselves
• on assessment for EHCPs
• for wider social care or family support (for example, family first partnerships and mental health support teams) that are funded separately.

Local areas need to ensure these offers join up into an integrated support service. For example, in early years, this integrated approach may include alignment with Best Start Family Hubs, enabling families and settings to access EaH expertise through trusted, non‑stigmatising local pathways.

This funding is not intended to fill existing gaps or replace current provision, including traded services. The EaH offer should build on and enhance existing local capacity and good practice.

For the 2026 to 2027 financial year local authorities can continue funding existing early language support for every child (ELSEC) pilots and support the transition of this and effective partnership for inclusion of neurodiversity in schools (PINS) intervention into the EaH offer to ensure these can continue running until the end of the academic year.

The local authority transformation funding is an additive investment in SEND support services, to fund the development of new SEND support services to support the education system to pivot service delivery in line with the Schools white paper and accompanying SEND consultation document. Existing SEND services should continue to be funded in the usual way. Local authorities will be aware that expenditure on these activities cannot be charged to the dedicated schools grant (DSG).

Grant recipients must identify a named lead who will coordinate local transformation, including service design and the preparation of delivery of local SEND reform plans. This individual will also act as the lead point of contact for the DfE. This individual will not necessarily be a new appointment by the grant recipient. They might be existing staff that are already responsible, or will be responsible, for key transformation and delivery activity.

Expectations for Expert at Hand delivery spend (80%)

Working in partnership with the health sector, grant recipients will work towards delivery in this financial year and beyond for:

• early years (including EY private, voluntary, independent providers (PVIs) and childminders)
• mainstream schools
• mainstream post-16 providers of 16 to 19 education with access to health services (for example speech and language therapists, occupational therapists)
• SEND specialists (educational psychologists and specialist teachers)

EaH funding should primarily support fully qualified professionals, in line with established professional practice. Local areas should maintain a clear emphasis on delivery led by trained professionals, while also recognising the important role that assistants, trainees and support workers play within the wider workforce. These roles may form part of the delivery model where appropriate. 

Where a local area proposes the incorporation of an APST model within the EaH offer, a limited extension of the workforce beyond those specified above and in accordance with APST guidance may be supported through EaH funding (no more than 10% of delivery spend). However, the majority of spend must be on other areas of the EaH offer and the spend on APST must be proportionate.

The EaH offer will provide support that is tailored to the needs of individual children and young people through observation, assessment and identifying appropriate targeted support (for example, recommending strategies or identifying the right group-based interventions).

This support does not replace statutory provision set out in an EHCP, but enables needs to be identified and met earlier through targeted, time limited, evidence-based support delivered at cohort, group level with some one to one where appropriate. Direct delivery of support to children and young people should be time limited and not be used to replace longer term support or a long term specialist placement.

EaH offers will include additional (not repurposed or substituted) workforce and commissioned services to enable the grant recipient to offer additional and increased setting-level support.

A strategic commissioning partnership is essential for recruiting and supplying health and education professionals, as ICBs provide the required registration, governance, and oversight. This is to ensure EaH provision complements NHS provision and ensures optimal use of the local workforce across education and health settings.

Grant recipients must work collaboratively with ICBs and neighbouring local authorities to recruit at least one speech and language therapy (SaLT) advanced practitioner (SAP) to every ICB area, and ensure delivery of their objectives. Grant recipients will be expected to work in partnership with health services to ensure recruitment of appropriate individuals and adequate professional support and supervision once in post.

Current SEND support services should continue while grant recipients undertake design work with local partners to establish how existing services align with future delivery. This should ensure a continuation of support for settings to identify and support SEND needs at the earliest opportunity.

Over the course of the grant period, grant recipients will support early years settings (including PVIs and childminders), schools and further education settings to:

• understand the needs of children and young people with SEND in their setting

• review the capacity and capability of their staffing resources to identify and meet needs that are commonly occurring and likely to require support cohort by cohort and ensure the provision is in place to meet these

• strengthen the baseline level of capacity and staffing resources to meet needs that are commonly occurring and likely to require support cohort by cohort

• review practice regularly to ensure approaches are evidence-based and the most suitable for the presenting needs of each cohort

• improve knowledge of when and how to draw down additional specialist expertise when required, ensuring SEND reform complements related public sector provision

Over the course of the grant period, grant recipients will also support the needs of children with SEND who are not in settings through Best Start Faily Hubs and health visitors.

The new, or evolved, local services are expected to generate local impact. During the grant period grant recipients should continue to observe and work towards full realisation of the 7 core principles of inclusion which are:

• ambitious leadership and governance that embeds inclusion and a continuous consideration of all types of needs at the core of planning to deliver high standards for all children and young people

• high-quality teaching where curriculum is designed to support the achievement of all and teaching staff are trained, supported and effectively deployed to adapt their teaching to address a diverse range of needs

• accessible and enriching provision beyond the classroom which provides all children with opportunities to support their personal development, build their independence and preparation for adulthood

• safe and respectful culture so that children and young people have trusting relationships and a strong sense of belonging

• evidence-based targeted support which prioritises early intervention with children and young people accessing the right support at the right time

• strong partnerships with families and wider services in the community to best support children and young people particularly through transitions

• inclusive environments with continued consideration to improving the accessibility and creating more supportive learning experiences

Expectations for Experts at Hand administration spend ( less than 10%)

As part of each areas’ local SEND reform plan, grant recipients are expected to evaluate existing SEND support services to identify where new or alternative support will be most beneficial to mainstream education settings. This should be informed by, and made available to, the Schools Forum and representatives of post-16 provision and early years education. Plans are expected to incorporate the views of parents, families and children or young people with SEND.

Local areas should build on this evaluation to set out how they will support mainstream education settings to make significant progress towards independently identifying, supporting and accommodating SEND needs not requiring a specialist environment. Mainstream education settings should also be supported to make provision for children and young people with more complex needs, proportionate to the extent of those needs in the local area.

Local areas should include details of this admin spend in their SEND reform plans and this will be reviewed to inform the future approach to ensure administration costs are proportionate.

Expectations for transformation spend (less than 10%)

Transformation costs are categorised as one-off or set up costs for the grant recipient to increase readiness for system change in the local area.

Grant recipients will, in partnership with their local mainstream education settings and education and health professionals, prepare the conditions necessary for sustainable system reform. Grant recipients are expected to prepare and deliver local SEND reform plans, submitted to DfE. Part of the Experts at Hand & Local Authority SEND Transformation Grant can be used to support the development of the delivery plan and ongoing transformation associated with SEND reform. Plans should also consider expenditure, including transformation spend and resourcing new or expanded teams.

The government recognises that every grant recipient, with their local partners, is approaching these reforms from a different starting point. Consequently, the proportion of transformation spend versus service design spend in 2026 to 2027 that a recipient will wish to spend will vary. To that end, grant recipients are able and expected to spend no more than 10% on local authority transformation costs, including staff or other associated costs. Transformation activity should establish the right conditions in the local area and within and between partners for effective and sustainable practice and service change.

DfE may request further information and narrative within financial returns to support understanding of transformation and service design expenditure.

Grant recipients are expected to produce a local SEND reform plan to outline their pathway to a reformed 0 to 25 SEND system. The plans have been commissioned by both the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Health requesting local areas responsible for SEND and are due to be submitted to the department in June 2026. These documents should be used to clearly set out how the local area will evaluate, improve and further strengthen their system, tilt provision towards stronger inclusive practice and early intervention, and ensure that the conditions underpinning effective long-term outcomes are in place.

The planning requirements are intended to support strategic development of reforms, including the EaH offer, not to set out granular decisions on how the funding allocation will be spent.

DfE will require grant recipients to provide assurance that the:

• grant funding is being spent in line with Experts at Hand policy objectives and guidance, and that local area partnerships are working together to co-design and implement the EaH offer as stipulated in the guidance, including the core minimum requirements

• implementation of the grant is delivering the anticipated changes and outcomes

To evaluate the effectiveness of health services and performance of the existing SEND support offer and provide a robust plan to scale up the offer with the EaH grant, grant recipients are expected to work jointly with:

• the ICB
• providers of NHS services
• local partners
• the schools forum
• representatives of early education providers
• further education providers
• children and young people with SEND

This should be included as part of the local SEND reform plan.

Future support for high-needs related DSG deficits that arise in 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028 will take into account local authorities’ successful delivery of their approved local SEND reform plan, including appropriate use of investment to establish an effective and quality EaH offer.

As part of the local SEND reform plan commission, local area partnerships must work collaboratively to collate quantitative and qualitative data on, and have their own local targets for, how they are going to grow their offer to settings as described in the EaH guidance.

Using the commission documents, local areas must set out clear plans and success measures they can use to monitor the implementation and delivery of their EaH offer. For the first plan iteration, this will include clearly mapping the baseline from which they are starting, and how their offer will scale up over time. Reporting requirements, including the indicators required for national monitoring, are set out in the Experts at Hand guidance and should be adhered to.

Assurance

Carry forward 

Funds may be carried forward past March 2027 for the purposes outlined in these terms and conditions but must be used by September 2027.

Any funding that is carried forward must be used in accordance with the conditions of grant for the Expert at Hand and Transformation grant for the financial year in which the funding is spent.

Records required

Local authorities are required to maintain and keep clear records of income and expenditure in relation to this grant including evidence of the use of funds.

Reporting

Local authorities are required to submit a non DSG S151 return to outline the expenditure for this funding in addition to completing financial summary and forecasts in the SEND reform plan data returns.

Further information 

Books, other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts shall be open to inspection by the Secretary of State and by the Comptroller and Auditor General. 
The Comptroller and Auditor General may, under section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983, carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the recipient has used its resources. 

Local authorities shall provide information as may be required by the Secretary of State to determine whether they have complied with these conditions.

Variation

The basis for allocation of grant may be varied by the Secretary of State from that set out above, if so, requested by the local authority or setting.

Recovery of funding

If a local authority fails to comply with the terms and conditions set out in this document, the Secretary of State may recover some or all the Experts at Hand & Local Authority SEND Transformation grant that has been allocated. This will be notified in writing to the local authority.  

Recoveries will be made by invoice or by offsetting the amount against subsequent payments due from DfE. 

The recipient must notify DfE immediately through the customer help portal  if it becomes aware of any instance of error, suspected fraud or financial irregularity in the use of the funds.

Overpayments 

If a local authority identifies that it has been overpaid, it must contact DfE to arrange repayment of the excess. Where DfE identifies an overpayment, it may seek to recover the excess. The local authority will be notified of this in writing. 

Enquiries  

For queries relating to these terms and conditions use the customer help portal.