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That Dedicated Schools Grant funding of
£480k be approved to fund the second year of the Universal,
Targeted and Specialist Service pilot scheme to strengthen early
identification and intervention for Speech and Language Therapy in
mainstream schools.

Reasons for the decision

In March 2024, the Council’s Executive
approved £470k funding to pilot a new model of Speech and
Language Therapy provision focused on early identification and
intervention and providing a graduated model offering universal,
targeted and specialist support.  It was
agreed that the pilot scheme be introduced in a phased approach,
with 13 schools testing the model in the first year in the 2024/25
academic year and further phases to be undertaken in 2025/26
academic year.  Following the success of
Phase 1 in 2024/25 academic year, the pilot was rolled out across
all schools as of September 2025.