'Tougher inspections needed' to improve SEND support
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Inspection of special education needs and disabilities (SEND) support by schools and councils needs to be ramped up as young people are being let down by "bureaucratic nightmares, buck-passing and a lack of accountability", say MPs.
The call comes from the House of Commons education committee following its 18-month inquiry into support for children with SEND.
While supportive of the SEND reforms through the Children and Families Act 2014 - which aimed to improve partnership working in support across health, schools and care, including the introduction of education, health and care (EHC) plans - MPs say the measures have been poorly implemented.
They have left councils and schools struggling, and "thrown families into crisis", the MPs claim.
Suicide attempts, stress, depression, anxiety, job loss and relationship breakdowns are among mental health issues parents and carers are facing, they add.
One parent told the inquiry: "The stress these processes have caused me is indescribable.
"I was previously a relatively healthy individual, yet over the past three years I have suffered with anxiety, had episodes of vertigo and now suffer with regular severe migraines."
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To help families, MPs want to see "a more rigorous inspection framework with clear consequences for failure" for councils. In addition, "there should be a greater focus on SEND in school inspections".
"We have found a general lack of accountability within the system," states the inquiry report.
"We do not think the current approach to accountability is sufficient - the absence of a rigorous inspection regime at the beginning set the tone of a hands-off approach.
"This has been perpetuated by the fact that those required, or enabled, to ‘police' the system have been limited in part by an apparent unwillingness to grapple with unlawful practice, while others are limited by the narrowness of their remit."
It adds: "The 2014 reforms have resulted in confusion and at times unlawful practice, bureaucratic nightmares, buck-passing and a lack of accountability, strained resources and adversarial experiences, and ultimately dashed the hopes of many."
The MPs' inquiry details how young people with SEND are often being left isolated at school and are struggling to access the curriculum, due to this lack of accountability.
Among other recommendations is for parents and schools to be able to appeal directly to the Department for Education if they believe councils are not carrying out their legal duties to support children with SEND.
Post-16 support for young people needs to be improved, focusing on employment and training opportunities, say MPs.
"Despite the good intentions of the reforms, many children with special educational needs and disabilities are being let down day after day," said education committee chair Robert Halfon MP.
"Many parents face a titanic struggle just to try and ensure their child gets access to the right support.
"Families are often forced to wade through a treacle of bureaucracy, in a system which breeds conflict and despair as parents try to navigate a postcode lottery of provision.
"A lack of accountability plagues the system as local authorities, social care and health providers too frequently seek to pass the buck rather than take responsibility for providing support.
The local government and social care ombudsman Michael King has backed MPs call for him to be given new powers to investigate complaints against schools.
"As it stands, our ability to investigate all parts of the SEND system stops at the school gate, so I welcome the committee's recommendation to extend our powers to look at issues within schools, including free schools and academies," said King.
Also backing the report is Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of the charity Ambitious about Autism.
"It's simply not good enough that ministers have no idea how schools are spending their SEN funding - we need a full audit and accountability about how this money is used. Doing so will help ensure pupils who need it have timely access to support," she said.
During the summer, ministers announced an additional £700m for SEND support, although the gap in funding is expected to rise to £1.6bn within two years, say campaigners.
The government has pledged to carry out a review into SEND support and progress made since the 2014 Act.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, urged the government to boost SEND funding further.
"The wider picture is that the real-terms funding crisis in schools and colleges has damaged the support available to SEND pupils," he said. "It has resulted in the letting go of teaching assistants and specialist staff."
A DfE spokeswoman said: "No child should be held back from reaching their potential, including those with special educational needs.
"This report recognises the improvements made to the system over five years ago were the right ones, and put families and children at the heart of the process.
"But through our review of these reforms, we are focused on making sure they work for every child, in every part of the country."