Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Paragraph: 120
Improved school provision insufficient to address EHC plan demand or short-term financial pressures.
Conclusion
It is clear that the Government’s aim to improve existing mainstream and locally available special school provision will not be sufficient on its own to influence parents’ Financial distress in local authorities 45 or carers’ views on Education, Health and Care plans. The development of improved locally available provision will also take time to realise and is not likely to address the financial pressures affecting local authorities in the short-term.
Government Response Summary
The government highlights its existing efforts, including the SEND Green Paper and Improvement Plan, which aim to establish a single national system, implicitly addressing concerns about sufficiency and timing, and stating a further review is unnecessary.
Paragraph Reference:
120
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
35. On 29 March 2022 the Department for Education published the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper for public consultation. This was the culmination of the SEND Review commissioned in September 2019 and set out our plans to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with SEND and those who need alternative provision, within a fair and financially sustainable system. As part of the SEND Review, we examined how the SEND system has evolved since 2014 and how we could ensure it works best for all families with effective and sustainable use of resources. 36. On 2 March 2023 the Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care published the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan (‘the Improvement Plan’) setting out how we will establish a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment, while enabling local leaders to place local authorities on a stable financial footing. 37. The Government has also made substantial investment to better secure the financial sustainability of the system, with the high needs budget increasing to over £10.5 billion in 2024-25, equivalent to a greater than 60% increase since 2019-20. The Government is also investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to fund new special and AP places and improve existing provision. Building on the 108 special free schools we have opened since 2010, we will create thousands of additional specialist school places for those with the greatest needs – with a further 77 special free schools approved to open. On top of this, the Spring Budget confirmed funding for a further 15 special free schools, and we will announce the locations by May this year. 38. The DfE is currently testing its key reforms through our Change Programme that launched in September 2023. We are working through 9 Change Programme Partnerships, covering 32 local areas, to test and refine key reform proposals and support local SEND and AP systems across the country to manage local improvement. It is important that we are testing the system-level changes to make sure that they will deliver sustainable, better outcomes and experiences for children and families before we legislate to implement reforms nationally. Oversight of reform is being informed by the National SEND and Alternative Provision Implementation Board, jointly chaired by Education and Health Ministers. 39. As the Improvement Plan is implemented, we will carefully monitor the pace of progress towards our aims to improve outcomes and experiences within a fair and financially sustainable system, to ensure that reforms are working as intended for children and young people, their parents and families, and all those that work with them. Given this, the Government believes that a further review of provision for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs would be unnecessary.