Preparing for September 2014: Commissioning through the prism of
speech, language and communication needs
Supporting commissioners to respond to The Children and Families Bill
Tuesday 25th February 2014, 10am-4:30pm
The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BU -www.theabbeycentre.org.uk
The Department for Education and Department of Health through their jointly-managed
Communication Council, invite you to attend an evidence-to-practice seminar to help you
best meet the needs of children and young people with speech, language and
communication needs (SLCN) in light of the SEND Reforms.
Aim of the seminar: To support local and national decision makers in commissioning costefficient, effective SLCN provision in light of the SEND Reforms using the evidence gathered
through the Better Communication Research Programme (BCRP), funded by the
Department for Education.
By the end of the session, participants will:
 Have a direct understanding of Ministerial thinking in this area
 Understand the reforms for children and young people with special educational needs
(SEN) and what the new joint commissioning duty means for health commissioners
 Know how the findings of the BCRP can help inform commissioning and improved
outcomes for children and young people
 Have practical examples of commissioning services for children with SEN, including those
with SLCN
 Understand the prevalence and impact of SLCN
Who should attend:
 Commissioners for both health and
education services
 Local authority leads for SEND
 Speech and language therapy service
leads
 Clinical Commissioning Group and
Commissioning Support Unit staff with
responsibility for children’s services
 NHS England staff with responsibility
for specialist commissioning
 Public Health England staff
Supported by:
 Head teachers and those responsible
for commissioning services in
academies, free schools, maintained
schools and clusters
 National Parent Partnership Networks
 Health and Wellbeing Board members
 Children and young people’s health
outcomes forum members
This event is free to attend and on an invitation only basis. Places are limited and
targeted at those with direct or strategic responsibilities for commissioning and planning
health and education services.
We will be asking delegates to take on a championing role and to spread the key messages
amongst their local, regional and national professional networks – we will email useful
digests, toolkits and information to delegates following the conference and will update
these as we move towards September 2014.
Seminar Agenda
9:30 - 10:15
10:15 - 10:25
10:25 - 10:45
10:45 - 11:05
Registration period
Welcome to the day
David Carpenter, young person
representative
Keynote: Improving outcomes for
children and young people
Flora Goldhill, Director for Children,
Families & Maternity and Health
Inequalities, Department of Health
Implementing the reforms: What
you need to know from the BCRP
Professor Julie Dockrell, Institute of
Education, University of London
Commissioning for SLCN: An
introduction to best practice
Kamini Gadhok MBE, Royal College
of Speech and Language Therapists
(RCSLT)
11:05 - 11:35
Carol-ann Howe, North Yorkshire
County Council
11:35 - 12:20
Supported by:
The Commissioning Cycle:
showcasing best local practice
5 minute presentations on what
makes successful local practice
followed by Q&A and discussion.
Delegates will hear from speakers
including representatives from;
 A young person
representative
 A parent representative
 Sheffield
 Stoke
 Barking & Dagenham
Chaired by Anne Fox,
The Communication Trust
12:25 - 1:10
Parallel workshop sessions on the
commissioning cycle: ‘Understand,
plan, do, review’ and evidence
based approaches for SLCN
1. Understand and plan
This session will focus on the needs assessment,
including prevalence for SLCN and local
identification and demographic links. It will
outline to participants the current barriers SLCN
comes up against in the identification and
commissioning process and aim to make clearer
the specifics of the needs that services should
support.
Workshop led by:
Maria Luscombe, North West London
Hospitals Trust and Deputy Chair of
the RCSLT
Dr Helen Duncan, Public Health
England
Learning outcomes:
- Understand what needs children
and young people with SLCN have
and what sort of services they need
to support them
- Understand the prevalence and
impact of SLCN on a local level and
the impact this has in local
commissioning and service provision
arrangements
2. Do and review
This session will focus on 'commissioning in
partnership' for improved outcomes for children
and young people with SLCN and will include the
roles of LA, CCGs and schools. It will look at the
whole commissioning cycle and encourage
participants to think about outcomes for children
with SLCN and their role in working together to
best support them to communicate to the best of
their ability. It will examine the relative roles to
be played by different commissioners, and look
at outcomes across LA, CCG and schools in terms
of their priorities and how they measure and
collect information.
Supported by:
Workshop led by:
Marie Gascoigne, Better
Communication CIC
Sue Butt, Children and Young
People’s Joint Commissioning Team,
Buckinghamshire County Council
Learning outcomes:
- Understand the commissioning
cycle and the roles of different
commissioners
- How to work in partnership to
commission for improved outcomes
3. Evidence-based approaches to support SLCN
A session looking at the context and development
of evidence based approaches to SLCN. This will
include an outline of What Works and how it can
be used by Commissioners as well as an
exploration of some of the interventions on
there, their evidence base and their impact.
Workshop led by:
Professor James Law, Newcastle
University
Professor Leon Feinstein, Early
Intervention Foundation
Learning outcomes:
- Have an overview of key
approaches, interventions and
support for children and young
people with SLCN.
- Have an understanding of how the
What Works database can support
commissioners.
1:10 - 1:50
1:50 - 2:35
2:35 - 3:20
Lunch and exhibition
Second parallel session
Opportunity to attend the second
workshop session
Third parallel session
Opportunity to attend the third
workshop session
3:20 - 3:35
Refreshments and exhibition
3:35 - 3:50
Ministerial keynote: The
importance of SLCN in the SEND
Reforms
Exhibition runs until 4.30pm
Supported by:
Education Minister – Edward
Timpson
What is the Better Communication Research Programme?
The Better Communication Research Programme is the most extensive research ever for
SLCN with the ambitious aims of bringing together research, policy and practice. Given the
reforms to both health and social care and SEN services, this event is timely in informing
those engaged in implementation of the reforms as to the learning from the BCRP.
The research evidences continued misunderstanding of language impairments and SLCN
more generally. Provision of support is currently related to diagnostic label, not the needs
of the child, impacting on provision and outcomes.
Numbers of children identified by schools with SLCN as their primary need has increased
over the last 6 years. According to the most recent DfE Statistical First Release, 2013 data
shows that the number of children identified with SLCN (SA+ & statements) in state-funded
schools in England has increased by 9.6% since 2011.
There are evidenced practical solutions coming out of the research which if taken on board
could impact positively on children with SLCN.
The research contains key messages for services:
1. Identification – there remain huge challenges for universal practitioners in effectively
identifying SLCN, with continued misunderstanding of what it is
2. Support – children with SLCN need support at all levels, in the classroom as well as by
specialists; children are very clear about what works for them – other people’s
behaviour and understanding is paramount
3. Outcomes – children with SLCN do less well at school than peers of similar ability; the
setting and measuring of relevant, meaningful, functional and motivational outcomes
need to be at the heart of the system
4. Workforce development – there remains a lack of understanding of SLCN and how to
support children with difficulties, particularly for teachers in changing classroom
practice; there needs to be a structured, systematic and ongoing approach to universal
workforce development
5. Commissioning – children with SLCN can fall through the gaps in the system; health and
education need to work together to design and commission needs-led local services
considering universal as well as targeted and specialist approaches
6. Research - needs to combine expertise of practitioners, parents, service providers, and
researchers to fill the evidence gaps
Supported by: