The Department for Education describes its SEND and alternative provision (AP) improvement plan, published in response to last year's SEND and AP green paper, as a “roadmap for better, fairer access to high-quality special educational needs and disabilities support”.
The standardisation of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and changes to the redress system for parents and carers unhappy with support provided for their child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are key elements of the government's proposals.
Backed by £70m in funding for a series of pilots designed to run until 2025, the plan is set to be underpinned by new national standards, which children, families and wellbeing minister Claire Coutinho says “will give families confidence in what support they should receive and who will provide and pay for it, regardless of where they live”.
Sector leaders acknowledge reforms across the SEND and AP system are necessary, with Sense's head of policy, public affairs and research Sarah White saying the “transformational reform” being promised is “desperately needed”.
However, questions have been raised over whether plans will amount to anything other than a “promising start”.
Some sector experts warn that measures including changes around access to services and reforms to the redress system could create further barriers for families of children with SEND.
EHCP reforms
The DfE describes its plans to standardise EHCPs and move all offers online as a “vision for greater consistency between local authorities’ processes, to ensure that those who need more specialist support can get it faster and in a more joined-up way”.
Reforms, which will be introduced in phases with pilot projects rolled-out across some local authorities next year, include the creation of a streamlined EHCP system accessible online as part of a national and local inclusion dashboard giving parents and carers tailored choices of settings for their child.
The move towards a digitised and standardised EHCP is something the National Association for Special Educational Needs (Nasen) believes has the potential to transform accessibility and equity for children and young people, their families and agencies.
However, chief executive Annamarie Hassell says: “The plan falls short of Nasen's vision for a swifter route to digitisation, and it is notable that local authorities will be ‘encouraged’ to adopt the standard template, rather than mandated, but it is a step in the right direction.
“We must move towards a future where the power of assistive technology is harnessed to ensure that anyone with accessibility needs can readily interact with the system, therefore amplifying the authentic voice of EHCP owners, i.e. children and young people with SEND and their families. It should also offer the right level of quick and easy access to teachers, parents and multi-agency practitioners, helping to cut red tape and speed up processes to enable timely support.”
The DfE says plans are designed to “deliver better experiences for both families and professionals” as well as reap the benefits of online data collection, giving a greater overview of England's SEND system.
The improvement plan says the success of reforms to the EHCP system, will be judged “in part, by the extent to which we reduce parental complaints about their experiences of the system and the volume of cases parents take to tribunal”.
The redress system
As part of the plan, parents and carers wishing to take a complaint to the SEND Tribunal must first participate in mandatory mediation.
Ambitious About Autism launched a petition gaining more than 7,000 signatures ahead of the plan's release urging the government to “uphold current laws that help children with SEND get the assessments, support and school place they need, and protect their funding, to avoid making things worse and causing active harm to children and families”.
The charity's chief executive Jolanta Lasota says that while “families may be reassured that their vital rights to assessment and support are safe, for now, it is clear the government has no intention of scrapping proposals that deeply worry many parents – such as tailored lists and mandatory mediation”.
“We will need to keep a close eye on the trials of these policies to ensure they do not lead to an undermining of families’ rights,” she adds.
The Local Government Association (LGA) says the introduction could “help the shift to a less adversarial system”. However, it warns that “the concept of mandatory mediation will need careful consideration to avoid it being seen as an additional hurdle for families”.
“As parental confidence in the system increases, the use of redress mechanisms and the Tribunal should reduce and only become necessary in exceptional cases where disagreements can be resolved via mediation,” the LGA says.
National standards
This spring, the DfE says it will set up engagement across the education, health and care sector to develop national standards. A “large proportion” of the standards will be published by 2025.
“This will ensure we consider a wide range of perspectives, including those with expertise across a broad range of needs, and in specific settings such as alternative provision, early years, youth justice and further education,” it adds, noting the standards, which are set to be tested in some areas by the end of the year.
While it is unclear how they will look in the long-term, the national standards are set to lay out for local authorities and partners what types of support should be made available to families, whose job it is to make these types of support available and which budgets should be used to pay for support.
However, experts warn that current plans for the standards to be introduced without legislation means they will be difficult to enforce.
Steve Crocker, 2022/23 president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, says that “without legislative change it is difficult to see how a number of the proposals outlined in the improvement plan can be achieved”.
A briefing on the improvement plan by the LGA adds that while implementing national standards the DfE must ensure that the SEND system “retains a degree of flexibility to reflect available provision and differing levels of need, while focusing on the things most important to children and young people with SEND and ensuring they achieve good outcomes”.
“National standards should also make the case for reducing or removing support where possible, reflecting the improvement plan's focus on early identification of both help and need,” the local authority body adds.
Implementation questions
While sector leaders cautiously welcome elements of the government's plan, questions remain over how it will be implemented without being underpinned by the closely aligned Schools Bill which was scrapped in December last year.
Crocker says: “The government must re-affirm its commitment to the bill and implement the proposals that would create a more inclusive education system at the first legislative opportunity.”
Meanwhile, others have questioned whether funding earmarked for the changes will offset vast deficits experienced by some local authorities when pilot schemes wind up in 2025.
While local authorities and charities working in the SEND sector are keen to work with the government to build an effective new system for children and families and shape national standards, the LGA issues a clear warning to the DfE to “manage expectations with regards to the pace of reform given the planned timetable” as it pushes ahead with plans for improvement.
ALTERNATIVE PROVISION
SECTOR LEADERS PRAISE EARLY INTERVENTION FOCUS BUT WANT CLARITY ON PROVIDER ACCOUNTABILITY
“Alternative provision is an important aspect of our reforms and will be used as an intervention, not a destination,” states the government's SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, laying out proposals for a three-tier AP system.
This is designed to “create additional capacity for mainstream school leaders and staff to address challenging behaviour earlier and re-engage pupils in education”, the report states.
However, sector leaders say that while a renewed focus on early intervention – echoing that seen in the government's response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care – is welcome, “key ingredients” are missing to improve outcomes for children.
Jane Harris, chief executive of charity Speech and Language UK, urges ministers to include “a tool for schools to use to spot children who are struggling with speech and language and to providing better preventative information for families”.
“Otherwise, children will not get the help they need, leaving them at risk of mental health problems, failing in reading, writing and maths and ending up in the criminal justice system,” she warns.
Dame Christine Lenehan, strategic director of the National Children's Bureau and director of the Council for Disabled Children, says that while the focus on early intervention is “key to ensuring needs are met effectively” greater detail is needed around plans to improve accountability of AP and SEND support providers.
The successful implementation of an online public data dashboard, which is due to be launched this autumn, and new national standards is “vital” to ensure children are well supported, she adds.
Physical education
Meanwhile, Vicci Wells, head of sport at the Youth Sport Trust, says fair access to PE for children in AP settings is a necessity if they are to transition well into mainstream education.
“We would like to see the government go further to ensure every educator is supported to create a culture of inclusion and foster a sense of belonging for every child at school. It is vital every AP setting when set up has space where pupils can move and play indoors and outdoors,” Wells adds.
The three tiers planned as part of AP reforms include early intervention schemes to help pupils stay in mainstream schools, short-term placements to both “address and assess” needs with a view to children returning to mainstream school, and transitional placements for pupils moving between mainstream schools or to post-16 settings.
While plans to create a more inclusive system have been commended across the sector, it remains to be seen whether the government will deliver what experts believe is needed to create an education system geared towards the needs of all children.
