New guidance on developing the Experts at Hand offer 

The RCSLT worked with the Department for Education (DfE) and NHS England (NHSE) to support the development of this guidance.

The information in the guidance provides greater clarity on what the offer should include, and how it should be developed and commissioned. Key new clarifications include:

• The offer must be commissioned jointly by local authorities and Integrated Care Boards within the local area SEND partnership joint commissioning arrangements.
• The grant should only fund experts from four disciplines: speech and language therapists; occupational therapists; educational psychologists; and specialist teachers.
• Funding should primarily support fully qualified professionals, with an emphasis on delivery led by trained professionals, while also recognising the important role that assistants, trainees and support workers play within the wider workforce.

We welcome the new commitment from DfE and NHSE to support local areas in establishing and delivering the offer, including through sharing learning and best practice from three national programmes which have featured speech and language therapists in pivotal roles, these include: 

• Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC)
• Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS)
• Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (APST). 

Speech and language therapy advanced practitioner roles

The guidance also includes more information about the speech and language therapy advanced practitioner roles which must be funded through the Experts at Hand grant. The RCSLT is working with the Department for Education and NHS England to develop further information to support local areas to develop these roles, which will include a person specification and job description, and a further webinar in July.

Speech and language therapists appointed to Expert Panel

Alongside the Experts at Hand guidance, the Government has announced the members of the Expert Panel who will oversee the development of National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages, two key elements of the SEND reform plans.

The panel includes two speech and language therapists: Professor Courtenay Norbury, Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Brain Sciences and Professor of Developmental Disorders of Language and Communication at University College London, and Alison Stewart, Deputy Director of Children’s Services for the South West London Integrated Care Board.

RCSLT Chief Executive Steve Jamieson said: “We’re delighted that speech and language therapists Professor Courtenay Norbury and Alison Stewart have been appointed to the Government’s Expert Panel for SEND.

“Speech, language and communication needs are the most common type of SEND, so it’s vital that the unique expertise of speech and language therapists such as Professor Norbury and Alison Stewart is central to the development of both the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.”

Read the guidance