Health Commissioner For Send

The Opportunity

Salary: £52,049 to £55,615 per annum

Contract Type: Fixed Term or Secondment until March 2026

Working Pattern: 37 hours per week, full time, Monday to Friday

Location: West Sussex County Council (WSCC), or Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC)

Please note: Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. You will need to discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.

Closing date: Midnight Wednesday 22 May 2024

Interview date: Thursday 30 May 2024

Do you have experience at a senior level working with children and young people with SEND?

Are you passionate about working collaboratively with other local authorities and the NHS?

As part of the DfE Change Programme, we are advertising for two Health Commissioner for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) posts. You will either be working for West Sussex or Brighton and Hove Local Authorities under joint leadership with NHS Sussex and will have a Pan-Sussex remit.

This is a partnership working role with SEND and AP (Alternative Provision) Leads within three Sussex Local Authorities and across NHS Sussex and NHS Providers. You will be working collaboratively with, but not limited to, Early Years, Schools, Further Education, Statutory Health Providers, Social Care Services, the voluntary and community sector, children, young people and parents/carers.

As a Health Commissioner for SEND you will understand and evidence the needs of CYP (Children and Young People) with SEND with a pro-active and future view, clearly focusing on early identification and inclusion.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Co-production with parents, carers, parent carer forums and children/young people on SEND.
• Supporting the development of a Sussex-wide ICS SEND Improvement Plan.
• Working with colleagues to develop process maps and clinical pathways in relation to SEND.
• Represent WSCC/BHCC/ESCC at key SEND improvement boards and groups across Sussex, as needed.
• System Development: adhering to policies and procedures and being involved in project work.
• Engaging People: working with a range of internal and external professionals, maintaining key working relationships.
• Developing robust monitoring and evaluation of health elements, analysing, interpreting, and presenting data to highlight highly complex issues and risks.
• Lead in the health specific elements of delivery for place-based SEND and AP Local Area Improvement Plans (LAIP).
• Support joint SEND inspections, and act on any gaps or areas of weakness.
• Drafting reports to summarise issues, appraising outcomes, and providing progress reports for key SEND leads within the three local authorities and NHS Sussex.

For more information on the Key Skills, Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Please refer to these key skills and person specification in your cover letter.

About You

We are looking for someone who is keen to improve outcomes for CYP through transparency, communication, and trust. You will be competent in relationship management to maintain effective working partnerships and networking.

Please note that you will work with complex, sensitive, and contentious information, where high levels of emotional resilience are key. You may be exposed to potentially aggressive/antagonistic situations.

About Us

East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and Portsmouth Local Authorities and NHS Sussex have been selected to be part of the DfE Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme.

Health services play an important role alongside education and social care when delivering against the wider SEND agenda.

The DfE Change Programme will involve testing some of the reforms as set out in the government's SEND and AP Improvement Plan: Right Support, Right Place, Right Time Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Benefits

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05153.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.