The Government has announced major funding to set up new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services across Cumbria.

Cumberland Council is to be allocated £1.88million for an ‘Experts at Hand’ offer while Westmorland and Furness receives £1.41million.

As announced in the Schools White Paper, the service is designed to provide children with early support and fast access to professionals such as speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists.

Carlisle MP Julie Minns welcomed the announcement. 

She said: “I’ve heard from families about this issue and organised a community meeting so parents could have their say.

“A number of them told me about the unacceptable waits they’ve faced to get the support their children deserve.

“The motivation behind Labour’s changes to the SEND system is to put support in place earlier and more quickly, so issues don’t escalate and families get the help they need without a fight.

“Experts at Hand will open up access to specialist support that for too long has been unattainable, so that every child can achieve and thrive.”

The offer will involve partnerships between special schools, alternative provision and mainstream settings to put support in place without needing to go through lengthy assessment processes.

Reforms set out in the Schools White Paper in February, including the introduction of Experts at Hand, are designed to move support earlier in the process, closer to home, without parents having to fight for it.

The final guidance for Experts at Hand will be published next month, setting out how local authorities should use the funding.

Georgia Gould, Minister for School Standards, said: “Too often, young people with SEND face a long wait for the support they need, holding them back from building important skills and thriving.

“We recently set out our generational SEND reforms to turn this around, and now, we’re getting on and backing councils with the funding needed to transform the system and make sure every young person receives the right support early on.

“Our Experts at Hand offer will make sure families don’t face a postcode lottery in support by boosting teacher capacity and ensuring nurseries, schools and colleges across the country have access to a bank of specialists who are ready to provide the additional help children may need.

“We’re clear that opportunity is for every child and that’s why we’re also putting £9 million in to widen access to supported internships in every region – opening doors for more for young people with SEND to build the confidence, skills and relationships they deserve.”

The announcement follows last month’s high needs capital allocations, where Cumberland Council received a further £4.21million in 2026-27 to create new specialist SEND places and enable more children to attend their local school, while Westmorland and Furness was allocated £3.54million.

The funding was part of a record amount allocated to councils nationally.

A public consultation on SEND reforms is ongoing. Parents, children and young people, alongside sector professionals, are invited to share insights, evidence and feedback.