Local Authority round-up 12 June 2026
12th June, 2026
Our Local Authority round up provides brief summaries of topical information on a weekly basis, to keep you aware of the changes and updates relevant to you.
Education
Local areas prepare new Expert at Hand teams
More children and young people with SEND will get specialist support without needing a diagnosis, as the government begins rolling out a new Experts at Hand service across England backed by new £1.8 billion investment.
Every local area will now begin expanding access to speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, specialist teachers and educational psychologists who will work alongside mainstream schools, early year settings and colleges, helping staff identify needs earlier and put support in place more quickly.
These new Experts at Hand teams will bring specialist expertise out of waiting lists and into the communities where children learn, ensuring families can access support closer to home.
For more information, please click here.
24 universities and colleges awarded investment to boost student places and strengthen UK defence industry
Thousands more young people will be equipped with the skills needed for a career in the defence sector as the Government awards £80 million to 24 universities and colleges across England.
Institutions from Newcastle to Exeter will be use the funding to expand the number of places and improve facilities for courses which are vital to national security including defence-focused engineering and computing.
The grants will help provide the defence industry with the future workforce it needs. The investment selected 24 winners (from 112 applicants) to receive a share of £50 million to create almost 2,500 new student places over 5 years starting from this autumn. The funding is focused on engineering and computer science, including cyber security, robotics, autonomous technology, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing.
A further £30 million will be invested in projects including building brand new teaching facilities to support the capacity growth over the next decade.
For more information, please click here.
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026: Implications for home education settings
Local authorities are now required to maintain a compulsory register for ‘Children Not in School’. Parents that are educating children at home, or in other non-school settings, must register their children to ensure that they receive a suitable education.
Emma Swann, Ward Hadaway’s new partner specialising in Education Law, considers the implications for home education settings and what now constitutes an independent education institution as set out in the new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
You can read Emma’s article here.
Health & Social Care
Millions to get faster eye care on the high street
Millions of people are set to benefit from faster eye care as the government invests £20 million to digitise referrals from high street.
Community-based optometrists will be able to refer patients directly and digitally into NHS hospital eye services (including NHS Online when it launches next year), with access to relevant patient records to support faster and more acute clinical decisions.
It is hoped this will reduce unnecessary referrals and mean fewer people need a separate appointment simply to be passed on to a specialist, saving patients time and easing pressure on GPs.
The investment will give every optical practice with an NHS contract in England access to the NHS e-Referral service and the National Care Record Service, with the aim of achieving 100% access by April 2028.
For more information, please click here.
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