The SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) system in Shropshire is how services are planned, delivered, and checked for children and young people (0–25) who need extra help with learning, health, or care. The system is responsible for commissioning, quality assuring, and delivering services to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

The SEND system in Shropshire is led by:

Shropshire Council – responsible for education and social care support, including EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans), transport, and short breaks.

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System (ICS) – this includes local NHS services like community health, mental health, and therapy support.

Together, they form the SEND Local Area Partnership – they meet regularly to plan services and check how things are working.

Services are commissioned – this means local leaders decide what types of support are needed and who should provide it. For example, this could be therapy services, short breaks, or support in schools.

The local SEND Partnership uses feedback from families, professionals, and schools to decide what support is needed. This planning is part of the SEND Strategic Board, where key leaders from the Council and Health services meet to make decisions.

The system has a legal duty to coproduce all decisions made that impact families with representatives of the SEND community and Experts by Experience at individual, operational, and strategic levels.

Co-production means working together – Parent Carers, professionals, and service providers sharing ideas, experiences, and making decisions together.

PACC plays a big part in this. As the Parent Carer Forum for Shropshire, we attend key meetings, like the SEND Strategic Board and workgroups, to represent your views, inform and influence decisions made in the system.

We gather feedback from families and make sure your voice is included when services are being reviewed or changed.

The Council and Health services regularly look at what’s working and what needs to improve. This is called quality assurance.

They use:

• Feedback from families (which PACC helps collect and presents to partners)

• Data on how many children are supported and how they’re doing

• Inspections (like Ofsted/CQC SEND inspections)

PACC works with these services to help make sure checks are meaningful and based on real experiences. Any changes made should be informed by Parent Carer and families experiences, aspirations, and needs.

If your child has SEND, support can come in many forms:

• SEN Support from school or nursery

• An EHCP if your child needs more long-term, specialist help

• Health services like speech and language therapy

• Social care support such as short breaks or a social worker

You can find out what’s available through Shropshire’s Local Offer website, which lists services and how to get them.

PACC is here to help you understand how the system works and how to be involved. Whether you’ve had a good experience or a difficult one, your voice matters – and we can help make sure it’s heard.

Join our mailing, follow our social media, and get involved with our events and activities to be part of the change.