Families in Lancaster, Lancashire, can expect major changes to how children with special educational needs and disabilities are supported following a countywide plan released on January 27, 2026. The new SEND Transformation Strategy aims to move specialist staff out of County Hall and directly into local schools so children can get help closer to home.
Lancashire County Council is moving away from a central system to a more local approach. For those living in the city and nearby areas such as Morecambe and Carnforth, the plan establishes a Northern Sector Hub (an Inclusion Hub serving the Morecambe Bay/Lancaster area, based between Lancaster and Carnforth) to provide expert help without families having to travel long distances for assessments, therapy and specialist support.
The council plans to use a £42.5 million investment fund to hire 50 new case officers and 12 additional educational psychologists to speed up EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) processing. The strategy aims to reduce EHCP waiting times by 20% by the end of 2026.
While the plan promises better local access, the Lancashire Parent Carer Forum has raised concerns about whether enough staff will be hired in time for Phase 1 implementation, scheduled for February 15, 2026. Committee minutes for the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee also record a £12 million budget shortfall that still needs to be settled.
Parents and carers have until March 10, 2026, to give their feedback during the public consultation period. These reforms follow three years of scrutiny after a 2023 Ofsted/CQC inspection that found significant weaknesses in Lancashire’s SEND services.
