Appointment details

Health Co-Chair, Expert Panel for National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages

Summary

• Organisation: Expert Panel for National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages
• Sponsor department: Department for Education
• Location: Various
• Sectors: Health and Social Care
• Skills: Social Care, Education
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 1 day per week
• Remuneration: £400 per day
• Length of term: 2 Years
• Application deadline: Midday on 8 April 2026

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   25 March 2026

2. Application deadline

   Midday on 8 April 2026

3. Sifting date

   16 April 2026

4. Interviews expected to end on

   1 May 2026

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction

In the recent Schools White Paper and SEND Reform Consultation document: Putting Children and Young People First, we set out the intention to establish an expert panel  to develop recommendations on the design, structure and content of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.

• National Inclusion Standards will set out what all children and families should be able to expect from their mainstream setting. They will provide settings with clear, evidence- informed tools, strategies and approaches to make their setting more inclusive and enable them to identify and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream settings.

• Specialist Provision Packages will be nationally defined, evidence-based packages of support for children and young people with the most complex needs, setting out the interventions across education, health and care to respond to a child’s needs, and the resources, curriculum approaches and environmental adaptations required to support them.

Subject to the consultation, and any changes to the Government’s approach that may result from that, we are now seeking to appoint the expert panel. The Panel will consist of two Co-Chairs and between five to eight other members, plus co-opted representation from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the DfE’s Scientific Advisory Council. This recruitment exercise seeks to appoint a Co-Chair with strategic and operational expertise in the NHS and health provision for children and young people with SEND. This can be either through research or academic expertise or experience in commissioning or clinical provision. The Co-Chair will be appointed to fill the role as an individual acting in the public interest, and not as a representative of their particular profession, employer or interest group.

The individual recruited will need to come from a health background and have a strong understanding of either the evidence and research base for supporting children and young people with SEND, or extensive experience of delivering exceptional practice for children and young people with SEND in a mainstream and/or specialist environment.

Introduction from the Minister

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your interest in becoming Co-Chair of the independent Expert Panel for National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.

The Panel’s focus is to develop National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages, including building on feedback received through the consultation process in order to strengthen the proposals. The Panel will use their own expertise as well as engaging more widely, including with children and their families. This is important, urgent work, to inform how we will meet our main objectives for SEND reform: to ensure that children and young people who can achieve and thrive in mainstream education will be supported to do so; and children and young people who need specialist support will receive it promptly and with dignity, clarity and care.

To do this means investing in understanding the existing evidence base around how we identify and meet children’s needs and engage them in education. It also means building the evidence base where we do not have sufficient evidence on the effectiveness of support for particular barriers to learning and participation.

The Panel’s work will help our education system adapt to be able to support all children, ensuring that SEND support is dynamic, well-evidenced and timely. A core part of our SEND system is the smooth, interdependent working of the health and education systems. To support this, I am keen to recruit a Co-Chair with health expertise to lead the panel alongside the education Co-Chair, Tom Rees. As health Co-Chair, you will make a real and lasting positive difference to children and young people’s lives. You will use your expertise and strategic thinking to lead this group of experts to support all education settings to become more inclusive and ensure this aligns and brings together planning and policy in the NHS and health provision. You will need to be able to demonstrate exceptional leadership and expertise in identifying, disseminating, or delivering evidence-based approaches which have a track record of improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

My department is focused on removing barriers to opportunity. We welcome applications from women, people with disabilities, LGBT candidates, and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

If you share my conviction and have the skills and experience to support this important work, I urge you to apply for this role.

RT HON BRIDGET PHILLIPSON - SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION

Appointment description

The Panel will be responsible for making recommendations to government on the structure, design and content of National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages. The Co-Chair will also be responsible for providing leadership, oversight and strategic direction to the Panel’s work.

Key responsibilities

• Providing leadership to the Panel, ensuring that it operates effectively and efficiently, and within its remit, with a particular focus on health-related provision.

• Accurately representing the views and consensus of the group when making recommendations, including raising any critical concerns where necessary.

• Working with the Panel Secretariat and Department for Education to ensure that the panel makes timely and evidence-based recommendations on the development and future review of National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.

• Engaging widely with key stakeholders and experts, firstly as part of the SEND consultation and then through ongoing engagement. This will involve convening a wider representative group of key stakeholders to act in an advisory capacity to support and challenge the work of the panel. This will include ensuring the voices of children, parents and sector groups feed into the development of both the Standards and Packages.

• Leading work to map and evaluate the existing evidence base on strategies to identify and address barriers to learning and participation, identifying evidence gaps across these strategies and making recommendations on research that needs to be commissioned.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Strong leadership skills, with experience in setting direction for the work of a group or organisation and navigating conflicting opinions and values to reach a consensus.  
• Experience and leadership in identifying, disseminating, or delivering evidence-based approaches which have a track record of improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, through either/both:  
• Extensive experience of leading the delivery of exceptional practice which enables excellent outcomes for children and young people with SEND from 0-25 as a practitioner or clinician in a leadership role, with discipline-specific expertise. 
• Extensive knowledge/expertise in research and evidence on effective practices and interventions to address barriers to learning for children and young people with SEND. This may be through, for example, having provided research leadership and made a significant and impactful contribution to relevant research. 
• Experience championing the use of evidence-based approaches to support excellent outcomes for children and young people with SEND. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability and confidence to make and be accountable for impartial, effective and timely decisions drawing on professional experience and knowledge; ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others in a professional forum; and excellent communication skills. 
• The ability to critically analyse information and synthesise evidence to enable you to provide recommendations on how to structure and design National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages. 
• Ability and credibility to convene and engage with a wider set of stakeholders in the SEND space, including relevant organisations, and children and their families. 

Application and selection process

How to apply

In order to apply you will need to create an account or sign in.

Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions To apply, all candidates are required to provide:

• equality information
• information relating to any outside interests or reputational issues
• a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• a 2 page maximum supporting statement, setting out suitability in relation to the essential criteria. 

We will ask you to check and confirm your personal details to ensure your application is accurate.

You will also have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application. 

Overview of the application process

Public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition process . We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will keep you informed at key stages.

Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

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Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

When you apply you should declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for.

If you need further advice, please contact StandardsandPackages.PANEL@education.gov.uk

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people.

As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘essential criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

If you have any questions regarding reasonable adjustments or wish to request a reasonable adjustment to help you apply please contact StandardsandPackages.PANEL@education.gov.uk 

Principles of public life

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder.

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity

Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully: 

• any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government; 
• any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made; 
• and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported; 

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies. 

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers.  Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or ten years in any one post. 

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying. However these payments are taxable as earnings and will be subject to tax and national insurance, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.  

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.                                                      

Contact StandardsandPackages.PANEL@education.gov.uk in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application.They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

Personal data collected as part of this exercise will be processed in accordance with the Department for Education Privacy Notice. You can access the privacy notice here

Contact details

Please direct any questions to StandardsandPackages.PANEL@education.gov.uk