How one London borough reduced its projected SEND deficit by over £21m
How collaboration between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Imosphere strengthened SEND decision-making, improved consistency and helped shape the future direction of SEND tools.
Building better SEND solutions through collaboration
The best SEND solutions are not built in isolation - they are shaped through partnership with the councils using them every day.
The partnership between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Imosphere shows what that can look like in practice. What began as work to strengthen consistency and confidence in SEND decision-making evolved into a wider collaboration focused on improving EHCP quality, strengthening evidence and shaping the future direction of SEND tools and AI-supported workflows.
By combining the borough's SEND expertise with Imosphere's product and technical capability, the partnership helped refine both practice and technology.
At the heart of the relationship was trust and honesty, and a shared understanding that meaningful SEND improvement comes from combining strong practice, professional expertise and technology in the right way.
Combining expertise to improve practice
What mattered was how those perspectives worked together.
When Steph Baiardo, Head of SEND Review and Monitoring, joined the borough, the service had already implemented Funding Genie. However, it wasn't working for them as well it could be. Steph was focused on strengthening accuracy, consistency, transparency, and shared understanding across SEND processes. Like many local authorities managing increasing complexity and demand, the borough wanted to strengthen how evidence, quality assurance and decision-making worked together in practice.
Rather than treating this as solely a technology challenge, the borough and Imosphere worked collaboratively. The borough brought SEND expertise, operational insight and a clear understanding of where pressures existed in practice. Imosphere brought product expertise, technical capability and experience from decades of working with local authorities across the country.
From operational challenge to product evolution
Through ongoing collaboration, the partnership moved beyond improving Funding Genie and how it worked for just Kensington and Chelsea. It also helped shape how Imosphere's SEND tools evolved more broadly.
Rather than building features based on assumptions, development was grounded in real-world SEND workflows and shaped through continuous feedback from practitioners using the tools in practice.
At the same time, the borough benefited from earlier access to evolving functionality and the opportunity to help shape how those tools worked in practice. This ensured that the tools would work for them, their teams, and their young people.
Six insights that shaped product development
These insights directly informed the ongoing development of Imosphere's SEND toolkit, including EHCP Genie and new AI-supported functionality within Funding Genie.
EHCP quality and consistency
Ensuring every Education, Health and Care Plan met the standard needed for clear, evidence-based, legally defensible decisions.
Access to clear supporting evidence
Giving practitioners the evidence they needed to support funding decisions and quality assurance processes.
Justification of funding levels to schools and parents
Creating clearer links between need, evidence and funding to make decisions easier to explain and defend.
Quality assurance at scale
Supporting teams managing increasing volume and complexity while maintaining consistency across the system.
Annual review workload and capacity pressures
Helping teams manage growing caseloads without compromising the quality of each EHCP.
Maintaining professional judgement while improving efficiency
Developing AI-supported workflows that strengthened efficiency while protecting professional judgement.
Strengthening quality, consistency and confidence
The result of stronger evidence, more consistent decision-making and closer collaboration.
More consistent decisions
A clearer link between need, evidence and funding.
Greater transparency
Decisions are easier to explain and defend with schools.
Stronger confidence
Fewer challenges driven by inconsistency.
We could show exactly why we were doing what we were doing… decisions became more consistent, evidence-based, and easier to explain.
Shaping what comes next
Today, Kensington and Chelsea continue to work with Imosphere as part of a wider community of local authorities helping shape the future direction of SEND tools and AI-supported workflows.
This includes ongoing collaboration around EHCP Genie, annual reviews, quality assurance, and how AI can support SEND teams under increasing pressure — while still protecting professional judgement and maintaining quality.
For Imosphere, this collaborative approach remains central to product development: working directly with local authorities, refining tools through real-world feedback, and building solutions around operational reality rather than assumptions.
Because the best SEND solutions are not simply delivered to councils - they are shaped with them.
Learn from our community of councils
One in four councils are working with Imosphere to strengthen SEND and adult social care delivery through shared learning, co-production and practical innovation.
If you'd like to explore the approaches highlighted in this case study, or to hear what's working across other councils - speak with Our SEND experts.
Solutions that put people first in social care and SEND.