Responding to Ofsted’s annual report, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble,
Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young
People Board, said:
“The impact of the pandemic on children and young people’s
education and wider development is well known. The additional
funding made available by the Government to support education
recovery is positive, but it must go further and commit to
funding a programme that goes beyond academic achievement to
include measures to support children and young people’s
socialisation, communication and mental health and well-being.
“The report rightly acknowledges the growing number of children
and young people being Electively Home Educated. While the
majority of parents who home educate their children work well
with their local council to make sure a good education is being
provided, a duty on parents to register home-schooled children
with their local authority would help councils to monitor how
children are being educated, and prevent children from
disappearing from the oversight of services designed to keep them
safe.
“We know that children and young people with SEND have been
disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and it is right that
Ofsted recognises that there is a greater focus on effective SEND
support in some local areas. While additional funding to support
children and young people with SEND will help, it is clear that
the system is in need of significant reform.
“As we have previously highlighted, children’s services face a
£600 million shortfall in funding each year which must be
addressed if we are to provide children and families with the
support they need.
“It is becoming very difficult to find suitable placements for
young people with very complex needs. We hope the ongoing
investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority and the
Independent Review of Children’s Social Care will lead to
significant improvements in the placements ‘market’, but these
changes will not come quickly enough for the children who need
support now. We urgently need the Government to work with us on
recruiting the foster carers and children’s homes workforce that
we need to support our children in care.
“We want to work with the Government on a cross-Whitehall
strategy that puts children and young people at the heart of our
long-term recovery from the pandemic, ensuring all children have
the support they need to thrive.”
