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Latest SILAP board meeting summary
Published
For the New Year, the SEND and Inclusion Local Area Partnership (SILAP) board are keen to give updates on their meetings. Here Kirsten Harrison, Director of Education and Helen Ford, Deputy Director of Integrated Commissioning who both co-chair the SILAP board provide a summary for young people and their families of the last meeting.
Happy New Year.
As co-chairs of the SILAP board we want to make sure children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and their families, know what was discussed and what’s happening next.
To find out more about the SILAP board, who’s involved and what are they doing for you, please visit Gloucestershire’s Local Offer, Support for Families with SEND.
Our aim is to keep things clear and positive, so everyone knows what is happening in the local area. After every meeting we will aim to provide:
- key headlines;
- a summary of what we talked about;
- the actions we agreed; and
- what is coming up.
Key headlines
At the latest meeting on 8 December 2025, we discussed:
- Department for Education (DfE) SEND and Inclusion monitoring visit - updates and progress made against inspection recommendations.
- Our new ways we are checking how well things are working (Quality Assurance).
- Updates on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) process improvements.
- Funding and support for schools and families.
- Listening to children, young people, and families and acting on what they tell us.
What we talked about
DfE SEND and Inclusion visit
We looked at feedback from the DfE visit to our local area and how we are improving.
This showed that while there are good things happening, there are also areas where we need to do more. Families told us they want clearer communication and quicker support. The board agreed that listening to families and making changes together is very important. We will keep sharing updates so everyone knows what’s happening.
Quality Assurance
This means checking that the help children get is good. We are creating new ways to make sure support is the best it can be. This includes listening to families and checking that EHC plans are followed properly. If something isn’t working, we will fix it quickly.
EHCP updates
We talked about how many plans there are, and how quickly these plans are being progressed. We want to make sure families don’t have to wait beyond the statutory timelines.
Funding
There was a discussion about money for SEND support. We know that schools and families need enough funding to provide the right help when it is needed. We will keep working on making sure the funding we do have is fair and used in the best way possible. We also talked about making processes simpler, so families don’t feel confused or lost by our processes.
Listening to Voices
Children, young people, and families shared their ideas and questions to the board. We want to keep hearing from you because your views matter! The board agreed to plan more sessions where families can share what’s working and what needs to change. Your voice helps us make better decisions.
Actions we agreed
- Keep improving EHCP times through our current innovative approaches so families get support faster.
- Share more updates with families in easy-to-read formats.
- Work with schools to make sure SEND funding is used well.
- Create better ways to check the quality of support offered from different agencies.
- Plan more sessions to listen to children and families.
Looking ahead
Our next SILAP meeting will be in early 2026 and we will let you know what happened in a future edition of this newsletter. We will keep working together to make SEND services better for everyone. Thank you for being part of this journey!
If you have ideas or want to share your thoughts, please get in touch. Together, we can make a big difference for children and young people with SEND.