At a Glance…
Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) identified the need for a Joint Commissioning Strategy to accelerate progress in joint commissioning for SEND. This strategy is intended to complement the existing SEND and Inclusion Strategies and promote a more cohesive approach to commissioning SEND provision. The aim is to establish a single, jointly owned strategy between the Local Authority and its partners that outlines Gloucestershire’s current position, sets out shared priorities, and defines a collaborative approach to addressing them, including the resources available.
In parallel, a specific need was recognised to improve the collective response to children and young people with complex needs. This required, first, establishing a shared understanding of this cohort, and then using the Joint Commissioning Strategy to explore how partners could work together more effectively to meet those needs.
The Challenge
Although services are delivered through organisations with different governance and funding structures, the lives of children, young people and their families are not divided into neat Education, Health or Care categories. Joint commissioning is therefore essential to ensure coherent support that makes the best use of available resources and delivers meaningful outcomes.
Additionally, GCC acknowledged the need for greater clarity around the definition of “complex needs” and recognised gaps in the analysis of data related to placements and care packages for those potentially within this group. This lack of insight made it difficult to identify key trends (e.g. five-year patterns in activity, needs and costs), assess performance, compare with regional and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) benchmarks, and undertake a commercial analysis of the market. Such information is vital for effective planning in general, and particularly for responding to complex needs — both in terms of improving outcomes and managing significant cost implications.
Our Approach & Delivery
We developed a new Joint Commissioning Strategy for Gloucestershire, underpinned by a detailed action plan focused on four priorities:
Working together as a system;
Ensuring inclusive and sufficient mainstream and specialist education provision that can support a wide range of needs;
Taking a flexible and holistic view of needs that transcends service boundaries;
Supporting children and young people to become autonomous and resilient as they transition into adulthood.
To support the response to complex needs, we worked with partners to agree a shared definition tailored to Gloucestershire. Using available data, case summaries, and joint funding proformas for the highest-cost cases, and through extensive engagement with key stakeholders, we reviewed commissioning priorities. This included evaluating the types and quantities of accommodation required, the effectiveness of the commissioning cycle, and conducting a market analysis.
Outcomes Achieved
Feedback indicates our work has positively influenced collaboration among partners, helping them understand their roles in delivering the priorities set out in the Joint Commissioning Strategy. The strategy now provides a clear roadmap for action.
With regard to Complex Care, defining the cohort and establishing a shared approach for identifying and meeting their needs has placed Gloucestershire in a strong position, not only to respond more effectively to those needs, but also to do so in a more cost-efficient manner.
