Children and Families Act: Special educational needs

What is happening?

A number of changes will come into effect this September, radically overhauling the system in a bid to improve access to good quality support for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN).

Who does it affect?

It is the families of children and young people with SEN and local authorities who will be affected the most by the reforms, with both having to change their approach to support services.

To ensure a smooth transition between the previous policy and the new one, the government has set aside two different pots of funding to support families and local authorities through the reforms.

It has earmarked £30m to recruit and train 1,800 independent advocates from the voluntary, community and private sectors to help families navigate the new process. They will also advise families on how to challenge decisions made by councils on funding and services.

All 152 local authorities will receive a share of £70m to put in place the service infrastructure to implement the reforms.

In addition, professionals working with children and young people with SEN will have to adhere to a new code of practice from September.

Implications for practice

Professionals working with children and young people with SEN have less than six months to understand and work in line with guidance set out in the new code of practice - but this is currently still in draft form only.

It was published last October before the Department for Education held a public consultation on its details until last December.

In addition, the reforms in the act have been shaped by the experiences of the 20 SEN pathfinders, which were set up in 2012 and will continue until September.

Initial findings from the pathfinders suggest that the changes will impact positively on families and professionals, with both reporting advantages to working differently and families experiencing greater choice and control over the support they receive.

However, the interim evaluation, published last June, reveals that the take-up of personal budgets was slow, which the DfE attributed to the "challenges and complexities" of developing a robust process.

The DfE is analysing the feedback collected during the consultation and preparing its response. But some charities say drastic changes need to be made to the code of practice before it is published in its final form.

Dan Scorer, head of policy and public affairs at Mencap, says the document is too ambiguous and lacks clear definitions.

"We believe that the draft code is not user-friendly and seems to reflect the layout of the bill rather than the actual pathways through education that children and young people take. The government should strongly consider amending the structure of the entire document so it is driven by educational phases.

"We also believe the document assumes prior knowledge of the SEN system and, given that a number of new audiences - such as the post-16 sector and various health agencies - are being incorporated into this draft code, there is a danger that this assumption is misplaced and could undermine the success of the implementation of the reforms."

Unresolved issues

In addition to concerns about adequacy of the draft code of practice, some charities question the level of support that will be provided to families under the new legislation.

Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope, says the majority of children and young people with SEN will not receive the new plans.

"EHC plans could make a real difference, by drawing together all the support that a child needs into one plan. However, the majority of children and young people using the new system will not get an EHC plan and the government must ensure that their needs are met through improved, accessible local services and child-focused support in schools."

Simon Parkinson, board member of Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM), shares a similar concern. "This is only the start of a long process of the cultural change that is so urgently needed," he says.

"We will monitor how well the new system is delivering for all disabled children, young people and their families and those with SEN, especially those without an EHC plan, and campaign to ensure they get what was promised to them.

"We will campaign both nationally and locally to ensure that disabled children, young people and those with SEN actually get what has been promised to them."

Meanwhile, the Pre-school Learning Alliance is concerned that reductions in local government funding could undermine the reforms and their delivery, particularly when professional posts such as health workers and SEN co-ordinators are lost as a result.

"The expertise that used to be drawn into settings is disappearing," says national inclusion manager Nicky Gibson.

"There are all these fantastic plans, but the reality is that these services are not even there."

In addition, the act does not specify that the EHC plans will apply to young people in custody - a third of whom, according to studies, have a diagnosable special educational need.

Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, says such an omission could see young people have their EHC plan "suspended" upon entering youth custody.

"When children go into the youth justice system, the last thing we need to do is remove SEN provision when they are so vulnerable.

"It's a potential pitfall in the system, but maybe there are ways to get around it - as it is permissive legislation - and do the right thing."