Campaigners call for urgent action to plug SEND workforce gaps

They warn that demand for specialist support is increasing and growing gaps in provision are leaving many children and young people missing out on help.

• Analysis: SEND reforms consultation - five key issues sector wants resolved

• Feature: Guide to qualifications and training - education workforce

Providers are struggling to retain staff and “high numbers” are leaving the public sector altogether, warns the coalition of 114 organisations, that includes the National Deaf Children’s Society, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, National Autistic Society, YoungMinds and the RNIB.

They say parents are reporting that services are at “crisis point” which is having a “catastrophic” impact on young people’s wellbeing and life chances.

In a joint letter to Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay, the coalition call for better coordination and workforce planning across government to improve SEND support for children.

They urge ministers to ensure workforce planning is a priority in the government’s response to this year's SEND Green Paper.

“Unless urgent action is taken now on workforce planning, we are also at risk of further challenges in accessing the specialist workforce,” states the letter.

“The long-term future of the specialist workforce must be secured through proper workforce planning so that children and young people now, and in the future, can access the support they need to thrive.

“It’s also essential that children and young people with SEND from disadvantaged backgrounds, and are experiencing inequitable outcomes, are a major focus in the government’s plans and receive targeted action.”

Challenges include “insufficient” number of specialists being trained and a lack of workers to support complex cases.

These challenges have been “exacerbated” by increased demand post Covid-19, they warn.

New open letter to the Government on the specialist workforce📬With over 110 charities, professional bodies, unions, and others, we’ve written to @GillianKeegan and @SteveBarclay to ask they address gaps in the specialist workforce in the #SENDReview. #SENDInTheSpecialists
(1/2) pic.twitter.com/xFnk1yY3Fc

— NDCS (@NDCS_UK) November 3, 2022

Gaps in provision include a lack of specialist teachers of the deaf, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.

For example, the number of teachers of the deaf has fallen by 17 per cent over the last decade.

National Deaf Children’s Society executive director of policy and campaigns Mike Hobday warns that deaf children and young people are “being overlooked, and at worst their essential support needs are completely ignored”.

“Without urgent action, many will never receive the specialist support they need in school to achieve their true potential,” he said.

“Specialist support, such as through teachers of the deaf, is vital in helping deaf children to develop in their early years and have a positive experience throughout their school life, both academically and socially.”

The chief executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists Kamini Gadhok warns that “there are simply not enough speech and language therapists to meet the demand for their services and this has been made worse by the pandemic”.

Also being called for is action to ensure all teachers have improved training in supporting specialist needs.

“The new government needs to take urgent action to train teachers better and train more specialist therapists so that children with short and long-term speech and language challenges can get the help they need,” said Speech and Language UK chief executive Jane Harris.

Seven in 10 councils are struggling to recruit educational psychologists, according to a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Michael King.

The figures emerged during his investigation into delays by North Yorkshire County Council in meeting a pupil’s educational, health and care plan requirements around his dyslexia and social, emotional and mental health needs.

“The problems faced by North Yorkshire County Council are reflected in the investigations we conduct into councils up and down the country – and the very real effects this is having on so many children and young adults with additional needs,” said King.