High Needs Funding Pilot Project: Time-limited Inclusion Grant
Cambridgeshire has embarked on a project to explore whether ‘high needs’ funding (made available without the need for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) can meet the needs of children with SEND earlier, improve parent or carer and school confidence, and ultimately enable more children’s needs to be met effectively without an EHCP. The pilot focuses on children who may require short-term support or are likely to receive a low-level of high needs funding if they were to receive funding via an EHCP. The funding is called the Time-limited Inclusion Grant (TIG).
This project is different because a group of schools are deciding how the money should be spent. We have already met with a selected group of schools and identified 13 to go forward with the project. The 13 primary Heads were brought together to plan and design how the pilot should run. The Local Authority (LA) developed Guidance and an Application form in consultation with the schools.
- The Panel meetings will be held half-termly and held on-line.
- Heads, SENCos or other senior leaders can be Panel members.
- As this is a pilot, we do not plan to offer training, but Educational Psychologist and SEND District Team Manager will attend to support the panel with any queries.
- To aid decision making the mainstream descriptors of need will be shared.
- If decisions are made for year 6, we will honour agreed funding into year 7.
- If the child changes school (to another Cambridgeshire school) the funding can go with them.
- The review documentation will ask for the same information as the request documentation, so Panel can clearly see the impact of the funding.
- Panels will be held 10 January, 6 March, 24 April, and 19 June in 2024.
The guidance, application form, mainstream descriptors of need, with five bandings and a leaflet to explain TIG funding to parents can be found below.
