# Invest £1.8bn in specialist SEND support > “We will fortify mainstream provision with our new national Experts at Hand initiative, backed by £1.8 billion of new investment.” > > — Bridget Phillipson, Minister for Women and Equalities, Labour Party; Commons statement: Schools White Paper, 23 February 2026 - **Status:** Funded - **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered - **Policy area:** [Education](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/education) - **Speaker:** [Bridget Phillipson](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/bridget-phillipson), Minister for Women and Equalities - **Party:** [Labour Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/labour) - **Made on:** 23 February 2026 - **Where:** Commons statement: Schools White Paper - **Deadline:** 31 March 2029 - **Cost a year:** Costs £0.43bn to £0.85bn a year (central £0.6bn by Department for Education, official) - **Who it affects:** Children and young people in mainstream early years settings, schools and colleges in England - **When:** Over the next three years (2026-27 to 2028-29); delivery from September 2026 - **Paid for by:** Not stated when it was announced - **Quote source:** https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-02-23/debates/363710CB-0877-495B-BADF-D49781276F81/SchoolsWhitePaperEveryChildAchievingAndThriving (checked word for word on 12 October 2026; Open Parliament Licence v3.0) - **Last updated:** 12 October 2026 - **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-experts-at-hand-2029 ## Where it stands The schools white paper (23 February 2026) plans £1.8bn over the three spending review years, 2026-27 to 2028-29: £1bn for professionals working directly with mainstream schools and £800m to expand outreach from specialist settings. The Department for Education allocated £429m to councils for 2026-27 and paid it at the end of June 2026, with about £750m and £850m indicated for the next two years (these yearly grants also carry a share of a separate £200m transformation fund). Delivery was due to start in September 2026; the card moves to Delivering when an official source shows teams working in schools. The Department of Health and Social Care restated the commitment on 9 October 2026. ## Timeline - 23 February 2026, Promised: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson tells the Commons that a national Experts at Hand initiative will be backed by £1.8bn of new investment - 23 February 2026, In plan: The schools white paper plans £1.8bn over three years: £1bn for professionals working with mainstream schools and £800m for outreach from specialist settings ([evidence](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving/every-child-achieving-and-thriving-html-version)) - 5 June 2026, Funded: The Department for Education publishes final allocations of £429m to councils for 2026-27, paid at the end of June 2026 ([evidence](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund-funding-for-local-authorities-2026-to-2027)) - 31 March 2029, Deadline (to come): The three years of Experts at Hand funding end with 2028-29 ## About the cost £1.8bn over the three spending review years, 2026-27 to 2028-29, shown as £0.6bn a year on average (central). Low and high are the yearly grants to councils: £429m in 2026-27 and £850m indicated for 2028-29; these also carry a share of a separate £200m transformation fund, so they slightly overstate the Experts at Hand money in each year. Costing sources: - [Department for Education: Experts at Hand funding for local authorities 2026 to 2027 (methodology)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund-funding-for-local-authorities-2026-to-2027) - [Department for Education: Every child achieving and thriving (schools white paper), section on Experts at Hand](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving/every-child-achieving-and-thriving-html-version) ## Sources - [Hansard, House of Commons, 23 Feb 2026: Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving](https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-02-23/debates/363710CB-0877-495B-BADF-D49781276F81/SchoolsWhitePaperEveryChildAchievingAndThriving) - [Department for Education: Every child achieving and thriving (schools white paper), 23 Feb 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving/every-child-achieving-and-thriving-html-version) - [Department for Education press release, 23 Feb 2026: Specialist SEND support in every school and community](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/specialist-send-support-in-every-school-and-community) - [Department for Education: Experts at Hand and local authority SEND transformation fund, funding for 2026 to 2027](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund/experts-at-hand-local-authority-send-transformation-fund-funding-for-local-authorities-2026-to-2027) - [Department of Health and Social Care press release, 9 Oct 2026: Government pledges earlier support to tackle mental health crises](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-earlier-support-to-tackle-mental-health-crises) ## Checks - Checked by Pavel Guzhikov and 1 independent editor on 12 October 2026. --- LedgerGov.UK's own writing (headlines, status notes, cost notes, summaries) is licensed under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse it, crediting LedgerGov.UK with a link to the card. Official figures are under the [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) unless their source says otherwise; quotes from Parliament under the [Open Parliament Licence v3.0](https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright-parliament/open-parliament-licence/); other quotes are short extracts whose rights stay with the speaker. How the numbers and statuses are made: https://ledgergov.uk/method.