SEND Advisor & Commissioner Procurement Update.

The Department for Education (DfE) is now pleased to announce the launch of the new Educational and Children’s Social Care (ECSC) Professionals commercial framework. The framework will be used to procure Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) experts to support improvement work with Local Authorities (LAs) through the existing SEND Advisor and SEND Commissioner programmes.

 

The launch of this framework presents the chance to work as a SEND Advisor (Lot 4), a SEND Commissioner (Lot 5), or both, supporting LAs to build on strengths and address weaknesses in provision, contributing to the improvement of SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) services across the country.  

 

Detailed information, including role specification, the tender process and an anticipated procurement timeline can be found within the attached Market warming Event slide pack.

 

To register to join the framework, you will need to complete both the mandatory requirements in the overarching Invitation To Tender (ITT) ITT_2994 and the SEND Advisor_ITT 3001 and / or SEND Commissioner_ITT 3002.

 

Registration should take approx. 10 mins, instructions on how to register on Jaggaer are attached for support. The deadline to submit a response is 11am Thursday 31^st October 2024.

 

If you experience technical difficulties please contact the Jaggaer Helpdesk by calling 0800 069 8630 / +44 203 608 4013 or emailing help_UK@jaggaer.com. For any other queries please contact Rebecca.bell@education.gov.uk. 

 

For Information: 

 

Lot 4 – SEND Advisors– ITT_3001

 

SEND Advisors provide their expertise to LAs that have been identified as needing additional support. Advisors play a key role in DfE’s improvement offer to LAs through targeted support to address any Areas for Priority Action (APAs) and Areas for Improvement (AfIs) identified through Ofsted/CQC inspections. 

 

You will be responsible for: 

 

·       Using your specialist knowledge and expertise to support LAs in improving their SEND and AP services, taking into account areas that need improvement as identified by Ofsted/CQC and other diagnostic work.  

·       Guiding local area leaders across the partnership to develop sustainable local area strategic plans to improve SEND and AP services. 

·       Providing advice and support to ensure the pace of improvement is appropriate and sustainable. 

·       Supporting LAs to ensure actions and plans remain outcome-focused for children and young people with SEND.  

·       Supporting the LA senior leadership and SEND management to improve services and build quality assurance processes into business as usual.  

·       Making use of wider partners to support and advise the LA on potential solutions to issues and signpost examples of good practice where possible, to: 

o   develop competence and improve performance; and 

o   help foster a culture of reflection, challenge, and support. 

·       Regularly engaging with DfE officials and providing written reports on the local area improvement. 

 

We are looking for individuals who have: 

 

·       A wide range of technical expertise in SEND. 

·       Experience, knowledge and understanding of local area SEND provision in relation to the Area SEND Inspection framework. 

·       Experience in implementing effective change and improvement in educational settings and/or LAs. 

·       Strong communication skills to convey complex information effectively, engage with a wide range of partners and to manage competing views. 

·       The ability to work autonomously, collaboratively, and proactively to support local areas to drive forward change and improvement at pace. 

 

Some examples of previous SEND Advisor work in LAs include: 

 

·       Providing expert advice on the development and implementation of a robust infrastructure to ensure consistent application of the Code of Practice. 

·       Reviewing the current transition processes and procedures for young people with SEND in educational settings and providing advice on how to improve them. 

·       Supporting LAs to establish and maintain robust governance structures for SEND provision, including clear decision-making processes and defined roles and responsibilities for key stakeholders and partners. 

·       Supporting leaders to have a clear plan to identify the impact of the area’s work on improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including addressing and improving their EHCP 20-week timeliness. 

 

Lot 5- SEND Commissioners- ITT_3002 

 

SEND Commissioners are appointed to LAs in intervention under a Statutory Direction, where there are significant concerns about the effectiveness of the local area’s arrangements for children and young people with SEND. If a decision is made to intervene in this way, as a SEND Commissioner, your role would be to provide a clear and sustained focus on addressing these weaknesses and ensuring independent oversight of an LA’s progress in line with the Statutory Direction and improvement plans. 

The role is complex and challenging and requires in-depth knowledge of the SEND sector as a whole, as well as understanding of strategy, governance and leadership for delivering improvement and change. 

 

The specific activities a commissioner will undertake can vary depending on the needs of the local area, but will likely include:

 

·       Producing a diagnostic assessment of SEND provision within the local area, and of the corporate and organisational context within the LA.  

·       Building strong relationships across the partnership with senior leaders, including with political leaders. 

·       Providing guidance, support and challenge, and issuing any necessary instructions to the Council for the purpose of securing improvement in the delivery of SEND and AP provision, by recommending and overseeing impactful transformational change.   

·       Recommending any additional support, resources or good practice required to deliver improvements in provision.  

·       Chairing the Local Area SEND Improvement Board to hold SEND system leaders to account through this mechanism, ensuring the agreed strategic plan suitably addresses the challenges identified and is robustly monitored.  

·       Producing highlight reports and an updated risk assessment against key deliverables, and, if requested, written updates to the Minister in DfE responsible for LA Improvement. 

 

We are looking for individuals who have: 

 

·       Experience as a senior leader in a large and complex public sector organisation.  

·       Experience of influencing change in large and complex organisations, including holding others to account to deliver sustainable improvements in children’s social care and/or SEND systems. 

·       Successful involvement in building the corporate reputation of a large, multi-disciplined organisation.