Wins for SEND and mental health support

Looking back at the last week in Gloucester

Specialists in the classroom

There’s been fantastic news in SEND recently.

The Experts at Hand initiative was introduced by the government to allocate £1.8 billion to place a bank of specialists (such as speech therapists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists) in every school for children with SEND by 2028 - with £4.6 million for Gloucestershire, specifically.

I also asked what developments have been made on delivering specialist mental health support in every school across Gloucester by 2029. The latest figures show that 88% of pupils and learners and 76% of schools and colleges in Gloucester are now covered by Mental Health Support Teams which is well above the national average. There’s still more work to do, but this is real progress towards ensuring every young person can access the support they need.

Wins soon to come for Gloucester businesses

I also had productive conversations with the Business Growth Service

This is the new service set up to support small and medium-sized enterprises and provide access to funding and expert advice to thrive locally, nationally and internationally.

• For support with your small business, click here.

Out in the community

As always, It has been great to visit local businesses and hubs across Gloucester.

My team had a training day at Blackbridge Community and Sports Hub - it’s brilliant to see it up and running. If you’ve got any spare rugby or football boots lying around, make sure to drop them off for recycling!

I made a quick stop to another new business in Gloucester city centre! The popular Loungers chain has a new café bar located in King’s Square and will surely prove to be a popular spot for residents