16
Recommendation
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education recovery…
Acknowledged
We have been regularly pressing the Department to improve its support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) since we reported on this subject in May 2020.31 The Department finally published the results of its SEND review in a Green Paper in March 2022, setting out proposals for …
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We have been regularly pressing the Department to improve its support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) since we reported on this subject in May 2020.31 The Department finally published the results of its SEND review in a Green Paper in March 2022, setting out proposals for consultation.32 The Green Paper said that the Department would publish a national delivery plan later in 2022. In the event, the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan was not published until March 2023. The Department plans to establish a change programme which will work over the next two to three years with selected local authorities in nine regions, meaning that putting actions into effect nationally will extend to 2025 and beyond.33
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Government response AI summary
The government commits £2.6 billion to the SEND and AP improvement plan and £2.9 billion in pupil premium funding, stating it is taking the plan forward, but does not address the committee's concerns about the delays in plan publication or the extended national implementation timeframe.
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HM Treasury
17
Recommendation
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education recovery…
Acknowledged
We asked the Department why the process was taking so long and specifically why it was not expecting to have a full set of new national standards even by the end of 2025. The Department said that it had made a commitment to start with the national standards that touched …
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We asked the Department why the process was taking so long and specifically why it was not expecting to have a full set of new national standards even by the end of 2025. The Department said that it had made a commitment to start with the national standards that touched on the things that it knew people wanted most, on autism and mental health for example. It wanted to go as quickly as it could in creating the national standards, but it knew that the standards would only work if it co-created them with others across the SEND system. The Department also said that, as well as making sure that the education, health and care process was streamlined, it planned to focus on some of the national standards that would allow parents, teachers and the public know what should ordinarily available, including in mainstream school settings.34 28 Qq 49–50 29 Q 51 30 Qq 49, 54 31 Committee of Public Accounts, Support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, First Report of Session 2019–21, HC 85, March 2022 32 HM Government, SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time, Government consultation on the SEND and alternative provision system in England, CP 624, March 2022 33 HM Government, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, CP 800, March 2023 34 Qq 55–57 Education recovery in schools in England 11 2 Embedding education recovery Schools’ engagement with the National Tutoring Programme
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Government response AI summary
The government outlines its commitment to investing in the SEND and AP improvement plan and pupil premium funding, confirming it is taking the plan forward, but does not address the committee's concerns regarding the slow timeline for developing new national standards.
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HM Treasury