Inclusion fund (SENIF)

The inclusion fund supports eligible children with special educational needs (SEN) who are accessing funded early education or childcare and receiving support from a specialist teacher.

It provides additional funding to eligible early years providers to help meet children's identified needs, promote inclusion and improve outcomes.

Local authorities are required to operate a special educational needs inclusion fund (SENIF) as part of the early years national funding formula.

The inclusion fund forms part of Lancashire's graduated approach to supporting young children with SEND in early years settings.

This guidance explains who the fund is for, how funding is agreed and how it should be used.

The majority of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) do not require specialist resources or enhanced levels of staffing to access and be included in their local early years setting. In their approach to the EYFS and in line with their duties under the Equality Act (2010), most early years settings are able to successfully include and address the needs of children with a wide range of SEND.

Building on existing good practice in early years settings, and as part of the graduated approach, the inclusion fund provides support to early years settings to address the needs of individual children who have emerging and identified special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and promote inclusion.

Sometimes a short term, targeted and measured intervention would support a child to make progress and improve outcomes. Where a sustained level of intervention is required and this is beyond the provision ordinarily available or expected within an early years setting, support may be available through the Inclusion Fund.

For the majority of children support through the Inclusion Fund will enable settings to effectively address their needs. However, for children with more severe or complex needs, especially those for whom specialist provision may be required, it is envisaged that a request for an Educational, Health and Care Needs Assessment will be made and where appropriate an Education Health and Care Plan may be issued. This is in line with the Early Years Entitlements: Local Authority Funding of Providers Operational Guide 2025-26:

"A local authority’s SENIF is for supporting children below compulsory school age with SEN and who are eligible for the entitlements. SENIF funding should be targeted at supporting children with low-level or emerging SEN"

Eligible providers

All early years providers in Lancashire that are eligible to receive Early Education Funding (EEF) may receive inclusion funding for eligible children.

This includes:

• local authority maintained nursery schools

• local authority maintained nursery classes

• private providers

• voluntary providers

• independent providers

• childminders

Eligible children

Eligible children are those who are receiving both:

• funded early education or childcare (9 months, 2-year-olds, or 3 to 4-year-olds)

• support from a specialist teacher through the Specialist Teaching Service

In line with national guidance, eligibility is based on the location of the early years setting rather than the child's home address.

It is expected that inclusion funding will complement the use of training, advice and support ordinarily available through:

• health professionals

• Specialist Teaching Service training

• EY SENCO networks

• other recognised professional development opportunities

The inclusion fund cannot be used for building adaptations. Providers who are not eligible to receive early education funding from Lancashire County Council cannot access the inclusion fund.

Inclusion funding is intended to enhance provision and practice and support the implementation of evidence-based approaches that improve outcomes for children with emerging SEND.

Funding is currently paid at £83 per week for up to 38 weeks across an academic year. Funding arrangements are reviewed regularly alongside the child's progress towards agreed outcomes.

The funding is designed to help settings implement specialist advice and recommendations while also building staff skills, confidence and capacity to meet children's needs in the future.

Examples include:

Additional staffing

Additional staff time above and beyond that ordinarily available within the setting, for example:

• delivering focused interventions linked to identified outcomes

• providing structured individual support at key points during the day

• introducing and embedding approaches such as visual timetables, communication systems or targeted learning programmes

Workforce development

Training that directly supports practitioners to meet children's identified needs, including:

• Makaton

• British Sign Language (BSL)

• moving and handling

• autism-specific approaches

• Bucket Time

• speech, language and communication development

• deaf awareness

• visual impairment support

• multisensory impairment support

Specialist resources

Resources not ordinarily available within a setting and required to support children working significantly below their chronological age in their development.

Inclusion funding should be used alongside a setting's existing budget and any other relevant funding streams, including early years pupil premium (EYPP) and disability access fund (DAF).

Inclusion funding will only be agreed where a setting can demonstrate that it has:

• identified and evidenced the child's developmental needs and areas of delay

• clearly identified outcomes to support progress

• implemented and reviewed targeted support and interventions

evaluated the impact of support already provided

Settings should be able to demonstrate how the additional provision they intend to provide goes beyond:

• ordinarily available provision

• the reasonable adjustments expected within an inclusive early years setting

Inclusion funding is agreed through Specialist Teaching Service involvement and no separate funding application is required.

Where a request for involvement from the Early Years Team is approved, inclusion funding will be considered for eligible children.

For children supported by specialist sensory teachers, funding may also be agreed through discussion with the relevant teacher. This may include:

• teacher of deaf children and young people

• teacher of vision impaired children and young people

• teacher of multisensory impaired children and young people

As part of the graduated approach, settings should be able to evidence the child's needs and the support already provided.

Evidence may include:

• developmental tracking

• individual provision maps

• Targeted Learning Plans (TLPs)

• reviewed TLPs

• records of interventions and outcomes

• advice from professionals working with the child

Inclusion funding is not available for children with a final education, health and care plan (EHCP), as provision to meet their needs is identified through the statutory process.

Where inclusion funding is agreed, the Specialist Teaching Service will arrange payments as soon as possible.

Payments will include all eligible weeks within the term in which funding is agreed.

Funding will continue until the end of the academic year, subject to regular review of the child's progress and ongoing eligibility.

Funding is paid on a termly basis:

• Autumn term: 14 weeks

• Spring term: 12 weeks

• Summer term: 12 weeks

Where a child transfers to a new setting during the academic year, any future funding agreed will transfer to the new setting. Settings must inform the Specialist Teaching Service when this applies.

Payments will be made directly to settings via BACS (private, voluntary and independent providers) or journal transfer (maintained providers).

Where an education, health and care plan (EHCP) is subsequently issued, any funding identified through the EHCP will supersede inclusion funding.

The impact of inclusion funding should be reviewed regularly as part of the child's ongoing graduated approach and specialist teacher involvement.

Reviews should consider:

• progress towards agreed outcomes

• the effectiveness of interventions and support provided

• the child's emerging and ongoing needs

• whether inclusion funding continues to be required

For some children, the intended outcomes will have been achieved and additional funding will no longer be necessary. For others, continued specialist support may be required to consolidate progress, although this may not always require ongoing inclusion funding.

Where continuation of inclusion funding is considered appropriate for the following academic year, and the child remains eligible, this will be agreed through the specialist teacher review process during the summer term.

Inclusion funding must be used to support the additional provision and interventions identified through the graduated approach and evidenced by the setting.

The use of inclusion funding will be monitored through Specialist Teaching Service involvement with both the child and the setting.

Settings must retain evidence of expenditure, including receipts and records demonstrating how funding has been used. These may be requested for monitoring or audit purposes.

Where evidence is not available, or where funding has not been used for its intended purpose, providers may be required to repay part or all the funding received.

Inclusion funding cannot be used to fund specific therapeutic interventions.