The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Claire
Coutinho) With permission, I will make a statement on our progress
to improve outcomes for children and young people with special
educational needs and disabilities or in alternative provision in
England. For those with special educational needs and disabilities,
many schools and councils are doing a brilliant job. I have met
many wonderful teachers who are unbelievably passionate about
supporting children to be...Request free
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education ()
With permission, I will make a statement on our progress to
improve outcomes for children and young people with special
educational needs and disabilities or in alternative provision in
England. For those with special educational needs and
disabilities, many schools and councils are doing a brilliant
job. I have met many wonderful teachers who are unbelievably
passionate about supporting children to be happier, more
confident and better prepared for adulthood. However, too often
our children and young people do not get the support they need
and their parents have lost trust in the system. Our special
educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision
Green Paper set out proposals to deliver a more inclusive system,
and I give credit to my predecessors, particularly my hon. Friend
the Member for Colchester () and my right hon. Friend the
Member for Chelmsford (), for the work they have put
into this area.
I would like to put on record my thanks to the thousands of
people who responded to the Green Paper consultation, and to the
parents, children and young people who shared their experiences
with us. Most people agreed that the experiences and outcomes of
children and young people vary significantly around the country.
We heard too many stories of families who were frustrated by the
system, and who were battling to access specialist education,
health or care services, including mental health services. I
assure the House that we have taken those contributions and
comments on board.
On Thursday, we published the “Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan” jointly
with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and
Social Care. The plan sets out the next steps that we will take
to deliver a more positive experience for children and families.
Our mission is threefold. First, we want every child and young
person to enjoy their childhood, and feel well prepared for their
next step, whether that is into employment, higher education or
adult services. Secondly, we know that the system has lost the
confidence of parents and carers. We need to regain their trust
by improving the support that is ordinarily available. Finally,
we have increased the high-needs budget by over 50% in the past
four years; we now need to make sure that the funding is being
well spent.
We will establish a single national system that delivers for
every child and young person with special educational needs and
disabilities from birth to age 25. To do that, we will develop
new national special educational needs and disabilities and
alternative provision standards, which will cover early years,
school, and post-16 provision. The standards will set out what
types of support should be available, and who, according to the
best possible evidence, should be responsible for making sure
that it is. That will include clarifying the types of support
that should ordinarily be available in mainstream settings, so
that families can have confidence and clarity about how their
children’s needs will be met. We will develop new practice guides
to support frontline professionals in implementing evidence-based
best practice. We will start by building on best practice,
including on early language support, autism and mental health and
wellbeing.
To deliver for children and their families locally, we will
establish local SEND and AP partnerships. They will support local
authorities in producing, together with families, local inclusion
plans that are in line with the national standards. Those plans
will set out how good-quality alternative provision will be made
available. In our new approach to AP, instead of it being a
permanent destination, it will be used as an intervention, in
order to support those who may feel anxious, or struggle with
their behaviour, in mainstream school. This system will mean that
more children and young people have their needs met effectively
in mainstream settings. That will reduce the reliance on
education, health and care plans for accessing support.
Early intervention is crucial. That is why we are training
thousands more early years special educational needs
co-ordinators and 400 more educational psychologists, who will be
able to identify children who need support, and to provide expert
advice. We will ensure that children and young people who require
an education, health and care plan or specialist provision will
get prompt access to the support that they need, within a less
adversarial system. We will introduce new standardised EHCPs, and
will support local authorities in increasing their use of digital
technology, so that the process is easier and quicker for
families. By providing a tailored list of settings that are able
to meet the needs set out in an EHCP, we will ensure that
families can express an informed preference for a placement, so
that children and young people can get the right support in the
right setting. We will continue to work closely with families and
local authorities as we test this proposal.
It is crucial to have the right school places in an area. We will
invest £2.6 billion by 2025 in new special and alternative
provision places, and in improving provision, including by
opening 33 new special free schools; a further 49 are already in
the pipeline. We will shortly launch competitions to run these
schools.
I am determined to ensure that all children and young people
progress to the next stage of life with confidence and optimism,
so we will publish guidance on ensuring effective transitions
between all stages of education, and an effective transition into
employment and adult services. To improve transitions into
employment, we are investing in supported internships; we aim to
double the capacity of the programme between 2022 and 2025. We
will also continue to work with the Department for Work and
Pensions on the introduction of the adjustments passport, so that
employers know what support young people require.
I know that the whole House will wish to join me in thanking
everyone who works so hard to deliver for children and young
people with SEND or in alternative provision. Honestly, some of
the most inspirational visits that I go on involve meeting them.
For our reforms to succeed, we need a strong, confident workforce
with robust leadership, and access to specialists where needed.
We will deliver a new leadership-level national professional
qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators, so
that this key part of the workforce receives high-quality,
evidence-based training. We are also extending the alternative
provision specialist taskforce pilot programme, which co-locates
a diverse specialist workforce in alternative provision
schools.
Informed by a stronger evidence base, we will take a joint
approach to workforce planning with the Department of Health and
Social Care, and we will establish a steering group this year to
drive this work forward. We will also partner with NHS England to
trial new ways of working to better identify and support children
with speech, language and communication needs in early years and
primary schools. Meeting children’s social, emotional and mental
health needs is also a crucial aspect of strong special
educational needs provision. Our school and college mental health
support teams will be expanded to around 400 operational teams
later this year, covering around 35% of pupils in England, and it
will reach around 500 operational teams by 2024.
I began by saying that we had to regain parents’ trust, and I
know that part of this means strengthening accountability across
the board so that everyone is held to account for supporting
children and young people. The new Ofsted and Care Quality
Commission area SEND inspection framework now focuses on the
experience of children and young people with SEND or in AP. Going
forward, Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and the Department
for Education will provide oversight and ongoing monitoring of
reforms, including delivery in line with the local inclusion
plans. From this autumn, parents will be able to monitor the
performance of their local systems through the establishment of
local and national inclusion dashboards. Where there are
disagreements about an individual’s special educational needs
provision or support, we will make it clearer how concerns and
complaints should be dealt with by local areas. We will also
strengthen the quality of mediation and test different approaches
for resolving disputes earlier.
So that all children and young people can access the support they
need to fulfil their potential, we must put the system on a
stable and sustainable financial footing. We secured £2 billion a
year in additional schools funding in the autumn statement from
this April, of which £400 million has been earmarked for SEND and
AP. We are working with local authorities to address deficits
through our delivering better value and safety valve programmes.
Parents told us that some reforms would need careful
consideration, so I am pleased to announce that a £70 million
change programme will fund up to nine regional expert
partnerships to design and test our reform proposals in
collaboration with parents. To get this under way, we are today
launching the tender for the programme’s delivery partner.
Oversight of reform will be provided through a new national
special educational needs and disabilities and alternative
provision implementation board, jointly chaired by myself and the
Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon.
Friend the Member for Lewes (), who is the Minister
responsible for mental health and the women’s health strategy.
Delivering for children and young people is of the utmost
importance. My priority is to make sure that every single child
and young person can access the support they need to make the
most of their lives. I commend this statement to the House.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
5.37pm
(Houghton and Sunderland
South) (Lab)
I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of her
statement.
“Every family in the country with anyone with special educational
needs will have felt at times like they’re battling the
system…you’re fighting for it, fighting for support.”
This is how the Education Secretary spoke about the SEND system
last week, and I know that her words will chime with many parents
and families across the country. So my question to the Minister
today is this: does she really believe this plan is good enough?
Does she truly believe it will shift the dial and end the fight
for support, end the battle for places at special schools and end
the scandal that sees so many children with special educational
needs held back?
I know there is support right across this House for action to
improve the lives of children and young people, yet in the words
of the Children’s Commissioner, the plan the Government have set
out risks seeing
“more years of children being fed”
into a “vicious cycle” of poor outcomes. Much of the substance in
this plan will not even come into effect until 2025 or even 2026,
at best six years after the review was announced. New national
standards, new special school places, new standardised digital
education, health and care plans—none of this will be coming
online until a further 300,000 children with SEND have left
secondary school. So can the Minister say what the Government are
doing right now for the children in the system today? How can
parents, carers, and families be better supported now for the
children whose needs are currently going unmet?
I welcome the fact that the Minister has listened to Labour’s
call for a focus on the early years. Identifying children’s needs
early is vital and the evidence could not be clearer, yet over
5,000 early years childcare providers have closed since August
2021. I am proud of Labour’s record in Government: the network of
life-changing children’s centres we delivered across the country.
The Minister’s Government closed over 1,300 children’s centres,
and now, 13 years on, why on earth do Ministers expect parents to
be grateful for the promise of the much more limited family
hubs?
The plan sets the aim of reducing the number of children with
education, health and care plans. Reducing EHCPs through
improving support in mainstream schools and getting better
support in place early would be welcome, but it must not simply
be seen as a means of reducing costs within the system. Which of
the proposals discussed will reduce the need for EHCPs, and how
will they be delivered? Will the Minister provide reassurance to
parents, already facing an adversarial system, that an EHCP will
not become more difficult to obtain for children who do need that
level of support?
I want to thank the thousands of staff working every day to
support young people with special educational needs and
disabilities. School support staff are frequently working with
children with the most complex needs, yet all too often they are
not given the training or recognition they need and deserve.
Meanwhile, less than half of teachers feel that they receive
sufficient training to support pupils with SEND. I am sure the
Minister will point to the promised new practice guides, again,
sadly, not due until 2025, but can she today go further and tell
us when all school staff working with children with additional
needs will receive greater support?
The plan talks about accountability within the system. After 13
years of Conservative Governments, we hear time and again about
the same problems: “significant weaknesses” in local services for
pupils with SEND; health services disengaged; families bounced
from pillar to post, unable to access the support they need. This
is a national pattern of failure that requires a national
response. When do the Government intend to get their own House in
order?
Parents, providers and all people working in the system to
support children and young people are already asking whether
Labour will stand by the direction of travel set out in this
plan, because while it is right to test policies to ensure they
work, this plan is symptomatic of a Government who have simply
given up, and who are governing through a mixture of distraction
and delay, pushing the tough decisions to the other side of the
election. So, I say to all parents, carers and children with
additional needs, “Labour wants to work with you to get this
right and deliver the system that you have rightly been calling
for over so many years, and to enable every child and every young
person to achieve and thrive.”
I would like to come back on some of those points.
First, on the ambition of the reforms, these are systemic
reforms: we are looking at every single part of the system and
addressing a lot of the challenges that providers and parents
talk about. Communications with councils comes up a lot with
parents, for example, and we are setting out a new standard on
that. On timeliness of EHCPs, we are working on joint-partnership
working with health providers and local councils so that they can
deliver on that. On teachers, we are talking about training as
well. So, yes, I do think this is an ambitious set of reforms and
that it will improve people’s lives.
On the timeline, we have not waited for the publication of the
improvement plan. Not only have we increased the amount of
funding for the high needs block by over 50% in the last four
years, but we have also taken schools funding to historic record
real-time highs, so anyone who is in mainstream funding can also
get additional support.
We have also set out £2.6 billion on a capital programme to
increase the number of specialist places. We set out 33 new
pre-schools last week, but we have already built 92 and there are
49 in the pipeline with seven due to open in September. We have
also set out funding on educational psychologists. So there is
much that we have already started to do, and we have not waited
for the improvement plan. When setting out steps like national
standards, however, it is important that we consult and take time
to get it right.
The hon. Lady mentioned teacher training. We are going to review
both initial teacher training and the early careers framework,
which will work in tandem with our best practice guides to make
sure that all teachers have the best possible evidence base to
work from.
Lastly, accountability is something that we have been baking into
the system for a while. We have put forward a new area inspection
framework. Again, that brings in all the partners, because we
know that education is as important as health. We will have a new
social care inspector on those area inspections for the first
time. In 2019, we changed the standards for schools so that a
school cannot be considered good or outstanding unless it gets
good outcomes for its special educational needs children. We are
looking at all those points of accountability to ensure that the
system works as well as possible.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the Chair of the Education Committee.
(Worcester) (Con)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I pay tribute to the
Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member
for East Surrey (), and the Minister for
Health and Secondary Care, my hon. Friend the Member for
Colchester (), for all the detailed work
they have done in this area. There is much to be welcomed in the
improvement plan. The aspiration in the foreword to
“deliver a more dignified experience for children and young
people with SEND and to restore families’ confidence in the
system”
must be one that colleagues from all parts of the House can agree
with.
Important strides are being taken to invest in new capacity where
it is needed. In that vein, I warmly welcome the announcement of
a new all-through autism school in south Worcestershire. I have
long supported and campaigned for that, as has my hon. Friend the
Member for West Worcestershire ().
Does my hon. Friend the Minister agree that, to maximise
opportunities for children with SEND, we must get the right
support for inclusion in mainstream schools, early identification
of need and the right specialist provision where it is needed?
With that in mind, I urge her to continue to work with
Worcestershire Children First to ensure that we can meet the
increasing level of need in early years and primary in my neck of
the woods.
I would also say that implementation is crucial. We have a strong
plan, but getting the implementation right will be very
important. With that in mind, will my hon. Friend agree to give
evidence to the Select Committee when we look further into these
issues in the near future?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He is absolutely right
that getting the right provision in mainstream is the key to
success, particularly in respect of early identification, so that
needs do not escalate, as we know they so often do if people do
not get the help that they need at the right time. I welcome the
new specialist provision that my hon. Friend will have in
Worcestershire. I know that he has campaigned long and hard on
that. I would also be delighted to give evidence to the Education
Committee.
(Battersea) (Lab)
The goal must be to ensure that every child with a special
educational need or disability gets the support that they need
now—not in a year or in two or three years’ time—in order for
them to achieve their potential. The curriculum framework for
children and young people with vision impairment provides a
framework of support to those children to access the curriculum
and develop the broad range of skills that are necessary to learn
alongside their peers and live independently. The curriculum also
involves developing life skills for visually impaired children
and young people. Will the Government agree to include that new
curriculum framework for children living with sight loss in their
new standards, or the soon-to-come code of conduct, and draw on
the vast knowledge from within the sight-loss sector?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. As we set out national
standards and best practice guides, we will be trying to work
with the best possible evidence from all providers to ensure that
we have those included. We have also set out a new
apprenticeship, with the Institute for Apprenticeships and
Technical Education, for teachers of children with sensory
impairment. That may be an area that we can collaborate further
on.
(West Suffolk) (Ind)
I congratulate the Minister, her predecessor, my hon. Friend the
Member for Colchester (), and the Secretary of State
for Education on an excellent paper. I would press her further on
the initial teacher training review. When will that conclude?
That is obviously crucial. Early identification is at the centre
of this review. Early identification of neurodiverse
conditions—including, for example, dyslexia —is critical, so what
tangible action will we see for better screening and better early
identification so that every neurodiverse child can reach their
potential, and we can support all children to succeed?
I thank my right hon. Friend for that question. Obviously, he has
been a doughty campaigner on the issue of dyslexia, and he has
had many constructive conversations with me about the issue. On
initial teacher training, we will be working at pace to get that
right. On early identification, one thing that will really help
is that we are setting out a best practice guide on early speech
and language support. Coupled with the phonics test, I think that
will be effective in working out which children are struggling
with their reading, so that we can get the best support in place
as quickly as possible.
(Stockton North) (Lab)
This is quite a confession from the Minister after 13 years of
Tory Government. In my constituency, children have waited months,
if not years, for an education, health and care plan. Children
are waiting three years for an autism diagnosis. There is
parental anxiety over schools that do not have the right
provision for their children, and anger that special needs
children are excluded for misbehaving and left at home with no
support. In one case, a teenager with a maturity age many years
younger was left to cope in mainstream—they don’t! Does the
Minister really think that parents trust her and her failing
Government to get it right this time?
I am not sure I would like to thank the hon. Gentleman for that
particular question, but I understand the frustration parents
feel. It is something I have talked to lots of parents about
since I became an MP, as I am in an area that has seen a huge
rise in need. That is something the system is facing. The
Conservative Government enhanced parents’ rights through the
Children and Families Act 2014. We are seeing a huge rise in
needs and we are setting out plans to deal with that. One thing
that I think will help in particular—he mentions cases of
children who are struggling in the system to find a place—are the
local inclusion plans and partnership working. We will look at
every single part of the system to ensure that we can assess
needs and that there is suitable provision for all children and
young people.
(Eddisbury) (Con)
I refer Members to my registered interests. I thank my hon.
Friend for what is both a detailed and serious piece of work that
identifies the issues that remain in the special educational
needs and disabilities and alternative provision system. She will
know that I took the original reforms through in 2014 in the
Children and Families Act. The legislative framework still holds
together well, but as the Chairman of the Select Committee said,
this is a lot to do with the implementation and the experience on
the ground, not least when it comes to the role of health in
bringing EHCPs together, especially in mainstream schools. To
that end, can she say a little more about how she will make
health bodies comply with their statutory duties, and about any
greater powers that the Health Secretary may have to take robust
action where children’s needs are not being met, both within the
current legislative framework and in any future national
standards? It is so important that this is done with parents and
children, not to them.
I thank my hon. and learned Friend for everything he has done on
children’s policy in his time in government. He is absolutely
right that we must make sure the health sector is also held
accountable. One thing we have done is to change the area
inspection framework, as I mentioned, which means that for the
first time we will have a social care inspector looking at the
health element. The Health and Care Act 2022 requires every
integrated care board to have a named person accountable for
SEND, which will take on the statutory responsibilities from
clinical commissioning groups.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
The implementation plan will not work if the workforce is not in
place. As we know, to be able to achieve an EHCP, the workforce
needs to be in place and it takes many years to train. Those
professionals are not there currently, so how will the Minister
ensure that the workforce is in place not just in the health
pathway but in the school? The experience I am seeing in a
particular multi-academy trust in York is that it is laying off
the staff who would take responsibility for those children, as
opposed to providing the therapeutic environment that children so
need.
The hon. Lady is absolutely right that specialist support is
really important. We are working with the Department of Health
and Social Care on specialist health support, whether that is
occupational therapists or speech and language therapists, but we
are also training educational psychologists and changing the
special educational needs co-ordinator training. More
importantly, we want all teachers to be trained in SEN. That is
why we are looking at initial teacher training and the early
careers framework. A huge proportion of the school population now
has an SEN and we need everybody to be trained in it.
(Stafford) (Con)
I welcome the Government’s new improvement plan on special
educational needs and disabilities. I recently held an autism
roundtable in Stafford to discuss the pressures parents are
facing with gaps in support locally. What new support will now be
available for parents of children with special educational
needs?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question and for meeting me when
she pressed me on this issue. We will be putting lots of things
in place for parents, but in particular we will be ensuring that
a specialist workforce is in place, that increased funding is
going into schools and that there is better communication from
councils, which is one of the new standards we will be bringing
in. Hopefully, all that will help give parents confidence in the
system. On the particular challenge with EHCPs, we will be
streamlining and digitising them, which will hopefully help
parents with the bureaucracy of trying to get their children the
support they need.
(Barnsley East) (Lab)
Alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (), I recently held a meeting with parents of children
with special educational needs. They raised a number of issues,
including having to wait years for support, a lack of
psychologists available and a lack of specialist school places.
Barnsley has one of the highest numbers of EHCP plans in the
country. I therefore welcome a number of the proposals in the
statement, but how many young people with SEND will have left
formal education before the plans come into effect? May I press
the Minister again on what resources are available to help people
now?
As I mentioned, we have been increasing the budget, the high
needs block, for the last four years. We have also set up further
funding for schools, which will be going into the system. On
specialist provision, as I said we have 92 new free special
schools, with 49 in the pipeline and seven opening in September.
We have also announced a further 33.
(Wokingham) (Con)
I warmly welcome more resource and better service in this crucial
area. Where new schools are being considered, will the Minister
ensure that local MPs are properly consulted, because there will
be a lot of local public interest in the location, the style of
development and the impact on existing provision?
I thank my right hon. Friend for that question. Yes, I am happy
to discuss with him the school—I think there might be two—coming
forward in his area.
(Twickenham) (LD)
This plan comes three years after the SEND review was launched.
Given that most of the national standards will not be published
until late 2025, the new EHCP template will not be rolled out
until 2025, the cross-departmental steering group will not
complete its work until 2025 and no new primary legislation will
be proposed until at least 2025, what message would the Minister
like to give to the parents and children in my constituency and
right across the country who have already been waiting too long
and fighting far too hard to access the support they need and are
entitled to?
We have not waited for the improvement plan to take action. Not
only have we increased the overall budget for the high needs
block by 50% in the last four years; we have increased school
funding to record highs, we are bringing online more educational
psychologists and we are building more specialist school places.
All that work is under way. We are improving speech and language
in primary school, and we are now looking at what we can do in
the early years. All that stuff is under way. We are trying to
make sure we can take forward standards in a way that works. We
will consult heavily with parents and carers. It is really
important to get that right, but there is much action we have
been taking already.
(Selby and Ainsty) (Con)
Like many right hon. and hon. Members, I have met and got to know
families who have children with special educational needs and
disabilities. The difficulties those families face in finding the
right educational support in the right location can be
frustrating and tortuous, as the Minister will know. For too
long, the most vulnerable children in Selby have had to travel
long distances to find the education they need. As she will know,
there has been discussion for some time about a new SEND facility
in Selby. I welcome her plan and I know she is passionate about
this area. Can she inform me, and the families and children in
the Selby district and North Yorkshire, when such a facility will
be delivered?
My right hon. Friend has long campaigned for this kind of
facility in Selby. I would be happy to meet him to talk further
about the details. We are setting out a lot more special free
schools in different areas. For those who have not got one in the
recent tranche, we will, I am sure, set out more in due course,
but we will also be setting out local inclusion plans, which will
mean that every area has to assess and meet the needs of its
children.
(Sheffield, Hallam) (Lab)
I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary
group on special educational needs and disabilities. I also have
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia and dyslexia,
so I speak with some experience of difficulties in school. I am
concerned about the national standards, which I welcome, but we
need to ensure that personalisation is not lost in the process
and that there is not a levelling down of standards where they
are currently good. I am also concerned that mental health
support needs to be accessible for every single child with SEND.
Can the Minister reassure me?
The hon. Lady is absolutely right that national standards should
not be levelled down but there should be a minimum. Across the
country, there is huge variability. Some schools, colleges and
early years settings do things incredibly well, and we want to
ensure that we use the best evidence and make things as
transparent as possible. On mental health, we are rolling out
support in schools, and we are working closely with the
Department of Health and Social Care on child and adolescent
mental health services.
(North West Norfolk) (Con)
I welcome the measures to help children with special educational
needs and their families, particularly the focus on speech and
language therapy, which I have discussed with the Minister. Will
she consider Norfolk and Waveney as one of the early language
support pathfinder areas, and may I encourage her to accelerate
these reforms and good ideas?
My hon. Friend has had constructive conversations with me about
speech and language therapy. I am delighted that we are rolling
out pathfinders, and I would be happy to discuss his options in
Norfolk further.
(City of Durham) (Lab)
The Disabled Children’s Partnership will tomorrow publish its new
research report, which shows that just one in five parents
reports that they receive the support needed to enable their
disabled child to fulfil their potential. That is no surprise
considering that it can take up to a year for a case to be heard
at tribunal, which delays access to the crucial support that
those families desperately need. What are the Government doing to
speed up the process, to ensure that every child receives the
support to which they are entitled in a timely manner?
The hon. Lady is right that too many families are waiting too
long. There has been a huge rise in need. We have put elements in
place to help: the workforce strategies will ensure specialist
provision; the local inclusion plans will ensure that each area
is assessing and can meet needs; and the inspection framework
will look at health partners, their roles and what they are
delivering, so that all children and families can feel confident
that the local area will meet their needs.
Sir (Scarborough and Whitby)
(Con)
Too many desperate parents have been seduced by glossy brochures
and slick salesmanship to engage in the adversarial process that
the Minister mentioned, and to send their children to settings
that are often far from home and where the profit motive of their
venture capital owners sometimes takes precedence over education
delivery. Does she agree that today’s announcement means that
more children will receive education that meets their needs
closer to home, which will be more cost-effective for the
taxpayer?
I have seen a range of provision, including some private
provision that is absolutely excellent, but I agree that too many
children have to go outside of county to get the specialist
provision that they need. Our plan will ensure that each area
must assess its local needs and put the specialist provision in
place if there is demand for it, so that people can get help on
their doorstep, which is good for them and their families.
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD)
I welcome the Minister’s undertaking that, “we now need to make
sure that the funding is being well spent.” I do not think that
that has always been the case in Devon. I have a constituent
whose son’s placement in a special school has become unviable,
but the child is still on the school roll and the funding
connected to his placement is being held in limbo. Will the
Minister commit to ensuring that SEND assessments happen in a
reasonable timeframe and that the funding follows the child?
In the new area SEND inspection framework, timeliness will be
assessed, which it was not previously. The educational
psychologists that we are bringing on stream will help to speed
up the assessments, as will our other specialist workforce
plans.
(Stroud) (Con)
Stroud district families of children with special educational
needs are exhausted from battling. Schools raise SEND all the
time, so more power to the Minister’s elbow for the welcome
systemic changes she is trying to work through. I would like to
hear more about the Department’s work with local authorities,
because it is the day-to-day experiences that are exhausting many
parents, in councils all over the country of all different
colours. Getting back to people, managing expectations and giving
advice about delays all need to work better, because they are
causing additional stress for families who absolutely do not need
it.
My hon. Friend is passionate about this area. She is absolutely
right, and I have heard from parents in my area and across the
country that it is the daily grind of poor communication that can
wear them down. We will set out more guidance and training for
SEN caseworkers in councils, and better communication standards,
to stop that happening to parents.
(Slough) (Lab)
The Children and Families Act 2014 set out national standards in
legislation, but families, parents and guardians of children with
special educational needs and disabilities in Slough regularly
lament that they feel completely let down because even those
legislative safeguards have failed to provide support for
children and young people. After so many years of failures, why
does the Minister think that announcing new standards and a plan
with no legislative underpinning will deliver better
outcomes?
A combination of plans within the strategy will support that. We
have seen an increase in need and better awareness of different
conditions, so the national standards will bring together the
best evidence so that people’s needs are met consistently and at
a high quality across the country. On accountability, we have
improved the area inspection framework by recognising that we
need to bring in not just education and councils but health
partners.
Sir (Kenilworth and Southam)
(Con)
My hon. Friend the Minister will recognise that one of the
greatest causes of strain and stress in the system is the
assessment process. I welcome much that is in this plan,
including funding for additional educational psychologists, but
they will not be present in the system for some time. More
urgently, what can we do to accelerate the assessment process so
that children in need can take advantage of all the good things
that she has described?
There are two things: increasing the number of educational
psychologists, which will improve the ability to get a diagnosis
quickly; and ensuring that identification happens in schools or
early years. If we can catch things early, we can treat them and
make sure that people get the right support so that they do not
escalate. Too often, people do not have their needs met and they
escalate into a crisis. That will help children and young people
to get the exact support that they need earlier on.
(Weaver Vale) (Lab)
I want to give a voice to Oliver, who has high-functioning autism
and an EHCP plan in place. The fundamental issue is that the
resources have not followed—there has been a lack of specialist
provision in the area, and the local authority talks about a lack
of resources. Will the Minister meet me to discuss that
particular case?
If the hon. Gentleman’s constituent has an EHCP plan and
resources have been set out, they should be delivered. In the
case of autism, we need to ensure that people are properly
supported; it is one of the areas that has risen greatly over the
last few years, and I am passionate about ensuring that we have
everything in place. I will be happy to look at meeting him.
(Ipswich) (Con)
I welcome the focus on ensuring that general, non-specialist
teachers have a better understanding of new neurodiverse
conditions. Many young people with learning disabilities are in
the mainstream setting and have teachers who understand that
neurodiverse people think differently. When it comes to
diagnosis, can we please push harder, because so many of my
constituents still cannot get an assessment for their kids and
are having to go privately?
More generally, could we do a national campaign to encourage
employers to do more to hire neurodiverse individuals? This is
not about virtue signalling; neurodiverse people are among the
great minds—the unconventional, creative thinkers—so the more we
can do on that, the better. Neurodiversity week is coming up; I
am not usually a fan of such weeks, but on this occasion I think
we should put rocket boosters up it.
My hon. Friend has been a brilliant campaigner and has shown me
around some brilliant special schools in his patch, such as the
Sir Bobby Robson School. He is absolutely right to recognise
neurodiverse people’s opportunities and the benefits that they
bring. When I was Minister for disabled people, I saw lots of
employers champing at the bit to hire neurodiverse people because
of the brilliant skillsets that they draw on. I would be happy to
look at what we can do further on the matter.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister very much for her detailed and helpful
statement on special educational needs, which builds on a
previous statement about the Stable Homes, Built on Love
programme. It is important that that is a key foundation.
With more children struggling to integrate into multi-ability
groups, and with funding pressures affecting the ability to
provide classroom assistance, does the Minister agree that it is
time for an overhaul of the system and that a pupil-focused
approach is required? In the meantime, what can be done to stop
capable children falling through the gaps? Will the Minister
consult the Northern Ireland Department of Education on taking
these ideas forward?
I would be happy to discuss any matters in this area that the
hon. Gentleman would like to talk about. He is absolutely right
that we must get the support right, with a focus on pupils. It is
about early identification, flexibility and ensuring that each
child and young person gets the support that they need to thrive
in an educational environment.
(Witney) (Con)
SEND provision is one of the most critical issues in education in
Oxfordshire. Exasperation is frequently expressed by parents who
are frustrated by Oxfordshire County Council’s processes. I
welcome the extra 50% in funding since 2019, but what is the
Minister doing to work with local authorities to ensure that we
cut through the bureaucracy, get people assessed and give help
where it is needed?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have heard from a lot of
parents about their frustrations. We will streamline and
standardise the EHCP process to make it much simpler for parents
to deal with. To improve access to diagnosis, we are increasing
the number of educational psychologists. We are also trying to
raise standards in schools so that early identification can
happen even in mainstream settings.
(Bracknell) (Con)
I was thrilled last week to receive notification from the
Minister that the Department will fund a new SEND school in
Bracknell for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder at key
stages 1 to 5. That will be massive locally, so I thank her very
much.
Having fought for improved SEND provision since becoming an MP, I
know the importance of today’s announcement. Again, I am thrilled
and I thank the Minister, but may I politely point out that
diagnosis is really important? We have to fix CAMHS as well.
My hon. Friend has long campaigned for extra specialist provision
in Bracknell, so I am delighted that that is happening. He is
absolutely right that diagnosis is important, which is why we are
increasing the number of educational psychologists. We will work
closely with the Department of Health and Social Care on CAMHS
and will ensure that we are rolling out mental health support in
schools.
(Watford) (Con)
Carers and parents of those who need SEND and alternative
provision are often battling against the system. Their children
are their heart and soul, so it is heartbreaking to find that
they cannot get provision and support when they need it or that
they face reams of forms: it makes their life, which is already
difficult, even harder. Will my hon. Friend confirm that we will
put those who are helping children who need support at the heart
of our approach, and that we will not create more bureaucracy? We
must not just cut the red tape, but get rid of it forever.
I hold very near my heart the plight of parents who are
struggling with the system. They know that their child gets only
one shot at education; it is very stressful for them, and it can
be heartbreaking when they feel that specialist support is not
there. We will streamline the EHCP process and try to make it
easier—we want them to spend more time with their children rather
than doing paperwork. We are also trying to ensure that
everything in the system is available so that they can get the
specialist support they need.
Sir (New Forest East) (Con)
How closely is the Department for Education working with the
Department of Health and Social Care? In Westminster Hall on 6
February, as my hon. Friend may be aware, there was a very
constructive debate about ADHD at which it emerged that a
bottleneck is being caused by a lack of psychiatrists to make the
initial diagnosis. Will she say a little more about the resources
that may be made available on the health side for her educational
project?
We are working so closely with the health Department that it has
jointly published the report with us. We will also be working
with it on a joint steering group. My right hon. Friend is
absolutely right about diagnosis, which is why we are increasing
the number of educational psychologists in the system. I know
that the health Department takes the matter seriously, including
by looking at what can be done to improve autism diagnostic
pathways.
(Great Grimsby) (Con)
I commend the Minister for her statement: it is really refreshing
to know that she has such a passion for understanding the
situation, especially the fact that alternative provision is an
intervention and not a destination. I thank her for meeting me to
discuss issues in local children’s services and for the important
announcement of a special free school in North East Lincolnshire,
of which Grimsby forms part. Does she agree that this is part of
levelling up for children, parents and young people with jobs and
opportunities? Will she work with me on how we can advertise and
promote the jobs and careers available in special educational
needs?
My hon. Friend has huge personal experience in improving the
skills and life chances of children and young people. She is
absolutely right that this is about levelling up, which means
helping people to live the best lives they can, get the best
employment opportunities they can, and enjoy their adulthood. I
would be absolutely delighted to meet her to discuss the matter
further.
(South Dorset) (Con)
I thank my hon. Friend for her statement, which I am sure will
provide some reassurance to many of my constituents who have
voiced their frustration with the whole SEND system. Dorset
Council does its best, but problems have been identified in
diagnosis prior to SEND support, particularly for those with
autism.
On a related matter, we were delighted to hear that a special
school for 14 to 19-year-olds was due to open on Portland in
September this year, but now there is to be no sign of it until
September next year. We are all nervous that somehow it may
disappear. May I meet the Minister to discuss it and, hopefully,
to confirm that it will come next September?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about diagnosis. Autism is one
of the areas in which need has most risen. We will work with the
NHS on new autism diagnostic pathways, as well as increasing the
overall number of educational psychologists in the system so that
people can get a diagnosis as early as possible. I would be
delighted to meet him about his local specialist school.
(Bassetlaw) (Con)
As another dyspraxic MP in this House, and one whose handwriting
closely resembles Guy Fawkes’s confession note, I warmly welcome
the Minister’s statement. In Bassetlaw we have some outstanding
specialist provision at St Giles School in Retford, as well as
many excellent examples of mainstream provision and some very
dedicated and hard-working staff, but SEND support for pupils
varies across the country. Does the Minister agree that working
to equalise that support and ending the postcode lottery is vital
to levelling up SEND provision and increasing parental
choice?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have seen some areas and
schools doing unbelievably brilliant work, and some areas that
are not doing so well. We want to reduce that variation and
ensure that we use the best possible evidence all the way through
the system so that there is much more consistency and choice for
parents.
(Warrington South) (Con)
I welcome the alternative provision implementation plan that the
Minister has outlined, particularly the focus on early
intervention. As she knows, many of the children who end up in
alternative provision are those most at risk of being involved in
the criminal justice system in future. A particular concern that
has been raised with me as chair of the all-party parliamentary
group on school exclusions and alternative provision is the
short-term nature of funding in the system. AP places are often
called on at the very last minute when a child is excluded from
school. Could the Minister say a little more about what her
announcement today will mean for the commissioning contracts that
are in place?
I am passionate about alternative provision: it is where some of
our most vulnerable at-risk young people go, so we want to ensure
that it is of really high quality. We will bring out new
standards for it, which will be included in the Ofsted area
framework for the first time, and we will look at how it is
funded. Importantly, the local inclusion plans that we will set
out will look at all parts of the system so that whether someone
is in AP or struggling in mainstream, we can ensure a place for
them and ensure that they are properly supported.
(Darlington) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the measures that she has
announced. They include provision for a new and much-needed
school in Darlington, which is warmly welcomed. May I put on
record my thanks to Councillors Jonathan Dulston and Jon Clarke
for the work that they have done in this regard, along with
parents and carers in my community? May I also ask my hon. Friend
what assessment she has made of whether this additional provision
in Darlington will meet all unmet need, and what more can be done
to speed up the woefully inadequate waiting times for CAMHS
assessments by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust?
I am delighted that my hon. Friend is to have that specialist
school. He has raised the subject with me on many occasions. We
will work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care
on the entirety of the plan, but we are looking at mental health
support in schools as well.
(Cheadle) (Con)
I welcome the announcement of the SEND improvement plan. I was
also delighted when, in August 2020, the Government announced £17
million of funding for a new SEND school in my constituency. Six
months ago it was given the green light for planning, but there
now appears to be a delay owing to a change of contractors. These
things really matter, and we need to speed them up. Will my hon.
Friend agree to look into the situation and find out what is
going on, so that we can avoid any further delays and get on with
completing this new and brilliant provision?
I know that my hon. Friend is passionate about SEN support in
Cheadle, a subject that she has raised with me numerous times. I
should be delighted to meet her and discuss it further, and I
will certainly raise it in the Department.
(Birmingham, Northfield)
(Con)
As a number of us know from our mailboxes and surgeries, many
parents face an uphill battle against the bureaucracy and, often,
the postcode lottery of SEND provision. That is why I was so
happy to receive an email from my hon. Friend last week with the
news that we were to have a brand-new free school with SEND
provision in south Birmingham. Will she join me in calling on
anyone who is passionate and ambitious about young people in
Birmingham to step forward and consider submitting a bid to be
the sponsor body for the new school?
My hon. Friend has raised this issue with me many times, and I am
pleased that we will be able to end the postcode lottery by
reducing that variation while also improving the specialist
education provision in south Birmingham.
(Workington) (Con)
I welcome the statement. I should probably declare an interest,
as the husband of a senior learning support teaching
assistant.
Sinkholes are making playgrounds unusable in one pupil referral
unit, windows are being locked owing to fumes from a petrol
station built next door to another, and there is widespread use
of unregistered alternative provision. My Labour council has long
ignored the needs of children who are unable to attend mainstream
schools and who, like all children, need to be given
opportunities. Its recent alternative provision building
programme ignored west Cumbria entirely. I have supported a bid
as part of the recent programme—the results will be announced
later in the year—for an AP free school to be built in my
constituency. May I ask the Minister to help me to give these
kids a chance by enabling AP schools to be built outside the
control of the council, which sees them only as a problem to be
managed rather than as youngsters who need to be nurtured?
I thank my hon. Friend for everything he has done in his area for
alternative provision, which he clearly cares about. AP schools
are important because they are where some of our most vulnerable
young people go, and we need to ensure that they are of the
highest possible standard. I look forward to seeing my hon.
Friend’s bid.
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