Memorandum of understanding

About our partnership

We want Oxfordshire to be a county where all children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families can thrive. Our aim is that every child and family can access the support they
need at the time and in the way they need it.

We are committed to identifying needs early, providing timely and appropriate help, and focusing on prevention
wherever possible. By recognising and responding to emerging needs before they escalate, we aim to build a
system that promotes inclusion, reduces inequalities, and helps every child and family reach their full potential.

Collectively, we are key strategic partners in achieving this aim, alongside others across education, health, social care, and the voluntary and community sectors and none of us can achieve it alone. We commit to working together as a Local Area Partnership (LAP), using the values, principles and ways of working set out in this MoU to achieve our shared objectives, as set out in the SEND improvement plan (currently being updated).

Oxfordshire County Council and the Thames Valley Integrated Care Board are responsible for managing and delivering SEND services across the county, in line with their own organisation’s statutory responsibilities. Some of these services are provided directly, and others through commissioning arrangements with providers, including
other members of the Local Area Partnership.

The Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum (OxPCF) is an independent, parent-led organisation and a recognised
member of the Local Area Partnership.OxPCF represents the collective voice of parent carers of children and young people aged 0–25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) across Oxfordshire.

As a pan-disability forum, OxPCF reflects the experiences of families across the full range of needs set out
in the SEND Code of Practice. The Forum’s role is to connect and empower families, to bring their voices
into strategic discussions, and to work collaboratively with partners in education, health, and social care to
influence the design, delivery, and evaluation of services.

OxPCF acts as a critical friend within the partnership, celebrating what works well, highlighting where change
is needed, and co-producing solutions that make the best use of available resources. While working constructively with partners, OxPCF retains its independence and the right to challenge where necessary, striving to ensure that the lived experiences of families remain central to all decisions.

Together, the role of the Local Area Partnership (LAP) is to lead the ongoing development of the SEND system in Oxfordshire. Our collective aim is to drive continuous improvement and make the best use of available resources to achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people, and their families.

The Local Area Partnership recognises that meaningful partnership working, and co-production require investment
in time, capacity, and resources. Each partner commits to ensuring that their organisation or group is appropriately
supported to contribute effectively to shared priorities, engagement activities, and governance processes.

We recognise that effective collaboration depends on having the right people, skills, and structures in place, and we will work together to identify and address any barriers that prevent equitable participation across all partners. This includes a shared responsibility to maintain transparency about available resources, and to plan jointly where additional capacity or support is needed to deliver on agreed actions.

Shared principles 

As a local area partnership, we commit to valuing and including each other, active listening and communicating effectively. We will work in partnership when developing new or improving existing services.

We are committed to acting with openness, honesty, and transparency in all our communications and decision-making. Information will be shared in a timely and accessible way to build trust, mutual understanding, and accountability across all partners.

Our collaboration is rooted in the guidance and legislation about involving children and young people,
along with their families, in decision-making.

We are committed to upholding the principles of the SEND Code of Practice, the Children and Families Act, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Communication

All partners are empowered and expected, as members of the Local Area Partnership (LAP), to share appropriate information from partnership activities and meetings with their wider organisations, members, and/or sectors, as relevant to their role.

Partners will operate on the principle of transparency and early communication, ensuring that any planned public-facing announcements, communications, or reports including but not limited to press releases, newsletters, consultation materials, or public statements that are relevant to other partners are shared in advance for factual accuracy and coordination.

The LAP will agree and maintain an information-sharing protocol, consistent with UK GDPR and each organisation’s statutory duties, setting clear expectations for the safe handling, classification, and use of information.

Papers and materials will be clearly designated as Public, LAP-Internal, or Confidential, with appropriate handling
instructions to guide circulation and storage.

The Local Area Partnership holds a shared responsibility to ensure that all relevant stakeholders including families, practitioners, and partner organisations are appropriately and consistently communicated with. Communications will be accessible, accurate, and timely, supporting understanding, trust, and accountability across the local area.

Communication with families will be informed by the Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum (OxPCF), SENDIASS
ensuring that messaging is coproduced, inclusive, and reflective of family perspectives and lived experience.

This approach promotes confidence, collaboration, and consistency of messaging across all partners, ensuring that information is shared responsibly and professionally.

Working together 

Co-production is the process through which providers, professionals, and stakeholder citizens equally share responsibility for the creation and delivery of services, policies, and knowledge. It is underpinned by the principles of
equality, diversity, accessibility, and reciprocity. 

As a Local Area Partnership, we commit to using co-design, coproduction, and engagement to work collaboratively with children, young people, and families to shape the direction of services and decision-making.

The approach for each initiative will be agreed collectively through the relevant governance group, typically within the appropriate Theme Group or the Partnership Delivery Group (PDG) considering what is proportionate, achievable, and aligned with each organisation’s statutory responsibilities.

Resourcing and minimum standards

Partners will collectively budget and plan annually for co-production activity. Remuneration and reimbursement for
parent carersand representatives will follow the relevant Oxfordshire County Council or Integrated Care Board (ICB) remuneration policy, ensuring consistency, transparency, and fairness across all co-production activities.

The LAP will develop and agree a Coproduction Checklist and Implementation Plan, in line with our Co-Production Charter, setting out expected levels of involvement, early engagement timelines, and feedback loops. This document will be reviewed annually through PDG and published to ensure transparency and accountability.

These standards are designed to ensure that co-production within the LAP is consistent, well-resourced, and meaningful, and that all partners, including parent carers, are supported to participate as equal contributors.

Governance 

As a Local Area Partnership (LAP), we will hold ourselves and each other to account through our agreed governance arrangements:

• SEND Improvement and Assurance Board (SIAB)
• Partnership Delivery Group (PDG)
• Theme Group meetings - service-level or 1:1 meetings as required, reporting into PDG.

For further information about these boards, please refer to their Terms of Reference (ToR).

Decision-making and accountability

• Theme Groups will develop and make recommendations to PDG. 
• PDG will agree actions by consensus wherever possible. 
• Where consensus cannot be reached, matters will escalate to SIAB for a recorded decision. 
• Statutory accountability remains with each service for fulfilling its own legal duties and responsibilities.

Dispute resolution and escalation

• Discussions about emerging issues should begin within the relevant service-level or Theme Group meeting before being raised more widely.
• Risks, issues, and unresolved matters will be shared and escalated through PDG.
  Theme Groups will develop and make
  recommendations to PDG.
• If an issue cannot be resolved at PDG it will be escalated to SIAB.
• If still unresolved, partners will seek independent mediation to support resolution and maintain positive working relationships.

Governance practice

• Minutes and actions will be recorded at formal LAP meetings and circulated within 10 working days. 
• A record of attendance and decisions will be maintained to support accountability and transparency. 
• Meeting papers will be shared with attendees in advance to support informed discussion and effective decision-making.
• Two parent carer reps will be invited to any meeting with OxPCF attendance to support flexibility around childcare arrangements.

Alongside formal meetings, informal inperson “Keeping in Touch (KIT)” meetings will be held once each term.
These sessions will provide a safe and open space for partners to connect, discuss emerging themes, share
learning, and strengthen relationships outside of formal governance structures.

Review and variation

• This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) commences on the date of signature by all partners and remains in effect for three years, or until varied or withdrawn by written agreement. 
• The MoU and governance arrangements will be reviewed annually through PDG to reflect on effectiveness and agree any updates.

This review will include reflection on the quality of partnership working, the effectiveness and accountability of
decision-making processes, and coproduction practice.

OxPCF will update and share its annual workplan alongside this process. This will be developed in consultation with the relevant funding partners while also reflecting OxPCF’s representative and impartial role.

Monitoring, impact and transparency

The Local Area Partnership (LAP) will publish a short annual Partnership Outcomes and Learning Report, coproduced with partners, setting out shared priorities, key activities, and evidence of progress and impact.
The report will provide a clear and accessible summary of what has been achieved, what has been learned, and
areas for continued focus. It will include information about engagement activity and aim to demonstrate increasing diversity and representation across Oxfordshire’s SEND community.

Signed:
Name: Matthew Tait – Thames Valley Integrated Care Board
Signed:
Name: Lisa Lyons – Director of Children’s Services (Oxfordshire County Council)
Signed:
Name: Jules Francis-Sinclair, Chair Oxfordshire Parent Carer Forum
Signed:
Name: Emma Leaver, Chief Operating Officer for Community Health Services, Dentistry
& Primary Care
Signed:
Name: Simon Crowther, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Oxford University Hospitals
NHS Foundation Trust