Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to amend the
Children and Families Act 2014; and in particular, the
eligibility requirements for obtaining an Education, Health and
Care plan.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, the special educational needs and disabilities system,
established in the Children and Families Act 2014, does not
consistently deliver for children, young people or their
families. This is why the Government established the SEND review,
which will consider all elements of the SEND system, including
the effectiveness of education, health and care plans. We intend
to publish proposals for full public consultation in the first
three months of 2022.
(Lab)
My Lords, attention has rightly been paid over recent days to the
disappeared children, who have not attended school or anywhere
else in the last 18 to 20 months. One of the worst aspects of
this is that tens of thousands of children with special
educational needs have disappeared because they do not have the
support necessary. We have had an NAO report, and a Commons
Select Committee report two years ago; we have had an internal
review going on for two years. Is it not time that the Government
accepted that the simple truth is that, while capital spending is
very welcome, what is needed is cash to fund the EHCPs, to make
certain that young people can get to school, stay at school and
have a decent education at school?
(Con)
The noble Lord is right to remind the House of the tragic events
of the last few days. I think there are different aspects to
addressing this. He is right that the Government have announced
£2.6 billion of additional capital funding to provide more
places, and those are much needed. The Government are also
providing considerably more revenue funding to local
authorities—an increase in 2022-23 of £780 million. The review
will also focus—I am sure the noble Lord will agree with this—on
earlier intervention wherever possible.
(LD)
My Lords, I declare my interests in this field. The process of
getting an EHCP is one in which you are advised to have lawyers
with you, and often you have to go to appeal, where you are
opposed by lawyers. How does that suggest that the system is
anything other than a failure, or is it designed to be something
that supplements the legal system?
(Con)
It is certainly not designed to supplement the legal system. The
noble Lord is right to raise the issue of tribunal hearings, but
I remind the House that in 2020 only 1.7% of all appealable
decisions resulted in an appeal to the SEN Tribunal.
(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend’s predecessor said on 4 March last year
that the special educational needs and disabilities review
was
“an absolute priority for the Government.”—[Official Report,
4/3/20; col. 694.]
We heard yesterday that the Government have some difficulty in
defining the word “priority” with any precision. Why, apart from
Covid, has this review, which began in 2019, taken so long?
(Con)
I understand my noble friend’s diplomatically put question. He is
right to raise the issue of Covid, but he will also know that
this is an incredibly complex area. We have set up a steering
group that includes families, schools, local authorities and
other independent organisations. We are committed to the
deadline, which has now been announced, of publishing the Green
Paper in the first quarter of next year.
of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, the Minister referred to early intervention. Does she
agree that one of the difficulties with this area is that
families with children who appear to be needing assessment —for
example, for autism or learning difficulties—find it very
difficult even to get the assessment, never mind the care plan
that would come from it? Can she say how that problem is being
addressed? How should families who cannot afford to spend money
on private assessments conduct themselves?
(Con)
The noble Baroness raises an important point. I feel I cannot
comment in detail ahead of the Green Paper, but those are exactly
the sorts of issues we are working with families, local
authorities and other professionals to address.
