Overview
- Councils are required to recruit a dedicated SEND practitioner in every hub to provide early, family-facing support and link families to further help.
- Access to the £500 million programme is tied to prioritising the hardest‑hit neighborhoods, with an ambition for 70% of hubs to be in the 30% most disadvantaged areas.
- The Department for Education says hubs will join up early years settings, health visitors and SEND teams to identify emerging needs sooner.
- The government’s guidance targets a one‑stop‑shop offer by 2028, expanding services such as speech and language sessions and specialist parent‑and‑baby groups.
- Officials say early intervention should ease pressure on specialist provision, while stakeholders are being consulted on broader reforms that could shift more support into mainstream schools.