I spent 11 months in Hammersmith & Fulham working with neurodivergent residents and their voluntary and statutory sector partners to help shape and inform an all-age autism & neurodiversity strategy due to be published in 2025. I hope it reflects the views and ideas we collectively coproduced.

My role involves delivering the initiatives set out in the NHS Long-term Plan to improve the lives of children and young people with Learnings Disabilities and/or Autism.

I have considerable experience of working to support children and families in the public and voluntary sector, with a key focus on early years and SEND. Designing innovative services and building productive relationships across a range of stakeholders has been a key component of many of the successful projects I have completed. I never accept that current practice and policy shouldn’t or can’t be improved.

I lead on the design and delivery of the Ambitious about Autism’s strategic priority to implement a new evidence-based early years programme. The programme is built upon research including a national survey of 600 parents and an FOI request to all English Clinical Commissioning Groups and top-tier local authorities. The research demonstrated that the duration from referral to an assessment for autism in the early years can be up to two years. That is a long time in a young child’s life during which many developmental opportunities are missed and during which parents feel isolated and increasingly anxious. In response I have produced a comprehensive and practical on-line ‘toolkit’ for parents to support them during this time. The toolkit includes strategies to support their child’s development; engage family and friends; be able to participate fully in life outside the home and to successfully navigate the complex early years SEND pathway. The toolkit is the first of its kind in the UK.

Key Responsibilities• Develop and implement strategic commissioning plans to deliver the Council and the CCG’s strategic priorities in line with the joint children’s health agenda, national policy and local need. • Gather and interpret data (e.g. contract information, web-based research, results of a service user consultation) to identify commissioning options and support Commissioners. • To undertake work with Commissioners and Senior Managers to test and develop the market, engage with and support providers throughout the commissioning cycle and undertake market research including comparison of providers through collection of market intelligence, benchmarking data and analysis of value for money measures.• Support effective communication about Children & Young People’s Services and joint commissioning activity through providing high quality reports and briefings to appropriate governance groups, for example to reflect performance and progress against key project and strategic milestones.

Key Responsibilities• To lead on the delivery of the 2-Year-Old Free Early Education Entitlement Programme• To produce an annual Childcare Sufficiency Report• To maintain a programme of business & sustainability support to the childcare sector in Redbridge• To maintain a comprehensive Family Information programme including a website; telephone helpline and through outreach activities• To be responsible to the delivery of a comprehensive Local Offer to families of children and young people with SEN & Disabilities.

Key Responsibilities• To lead and manage the Children’s Centres service in Richmond.• To manage an annual localised commissioning budget of £700,000.• To lead a team of 26 Children’s Centre staff.• To build and maintain strategic relations with key stakeholders from within the Education, Health, Social Care, Early Years settings and the voluntary & community sector.• To deliver a strategy for the development of integrated, multi-agency preventative services for children & families.• To act as the Safeguarding lead for the service. Key Projects & Successes• Increased number of Centres from 4 to 8 within two years.• 3 Centres inspected by Ofsted and rated ‘Good with Outstanding features’• Instigated a comprehensive programme of needs-lead commissioning of high quality, effective services, including contract management and service evaluation. • Established a parent-lead local commissioning framework to co-produce services, ensuring that they were able to address needs identified by the parents themselves. • Established robust partnership working arrangements with NHS Richmond Clinical Commissioning Group to develop specifications, award contracts and monitor services in relation to Midwifery, Health Visitors, Speech & Language and Child & Adolescent Mental Health. • Worked in partnership with Speech & Language Therapy service to redesign the early identification and intervention pathway (leading to a 37% reduction of referrals at Key Stage 1).

As part of my work supporting schools to develop 21st century sport and arts facilities I instigated a nationwide programme looking at the design of music education spaces in schools. This included a day-long symposium bringing together educationalists, the commercial music sector and voluntary music organisations to look at how the sector could benefit from the opportunity to create a national network of music spaces through BSF. This work was published as a major, national report by Musical Futures.

Key Projects & Successes• Established a governance and planning framework to deliver national initiatives such as Children’s Centres and Extended Schools• Managed a £2million capital programme to deliver 16 Children’s Centres on time and within budget• Established on the of country’s first pilot Extended Schools at The Priory School in Orpington, Kent.

Key Responsibilities• To establish multi-agency partnerships across London to plan and deliver preventive services and activities for aged 8-13 at risk of poor outcomes.• To be responsible for stakeholder relations between Ministers, the Department of Local Authority Partnerships Boards.• To review and agree 3-year Development Plans submitted by the Partnership Boards.• To monitor quarterly spend and approve quarterly financial claims.• To review services and monitor outcomes.Key Projects & Successes• Supported 18 London Local Authorities to establish multi-agency Partnership Boards to develop and deliver local preventive strategies to address the needs of children at risk of poor outcomes. • All 18 Partnerships submitted successful 3-year plans to the DfE and had their grants approved.

Key Projects & Successes• Produced the Borough’s first Arts Policy which focused on three areas: Voluntary Arts Sector, Art in Education and Public Art. • Lead on the modernization of the borough’s umbrella voluntary arts organization. This was informed by a unique comparative study of similar organisations in the UK and beyond.• Supported the establishment of a local mental health service user’s arts group. The group received Lottery funding and hosted a national Arts & Mental Health conference (which I chaired).• Supported the peripatetic music service to transition from a Council service to becoming Bexley Centre for Music & dance, an independent social enterprise.