Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Rejected
Paragraph: 122
Commission independent review of EHC Plans for fundamental reform and financially sustainable SEND provision.
Recommendation
The Department should commission a cross-government independent review of Education, Health and Care Plans and consider fundamental reform of this system, to put SEND provision on a financially sustainable footing for local authorities whilst ensuring that all children and young people with SEND have access to the services that they need. This review should also address provision in mainstream and special schools. Furthermore, the Government, when considering future financial support for local authorities, should assess the future demand for SEND within the wider context of schools as part of the Dedicated Schools Grant funding.
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation for a new independent review, stating that a comprehensive SEND Review has already been completed, leading to a Green Paper and an Improvement Plan, making a further review unnecessary.
Paragraph Reference:
122
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
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.T he 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.T he 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.