Recommendations & Conclusions
10 items
2
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Accepted
Without fully understanding why demand for support has increased, the Department’s ability to provide value for money is undermined. Over the last decade, demand for EHC plans has soared. In January 2024, there were 3 576,000 children with EHC plans, a 140% increase since 2015. A further 1.14 million were …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation but states it cannot meet the six-month deadline, promising further detail later this year. It highlights ongoing efforts and existing programmes, such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention and the Partnerships for Inclusion of …
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Acknowledged
The Department has not made clear what it means by inclusive education, a core strand of its approach, or how it will be achieved. A core aim of the Children and Families Act 2014 was supporting children with SEN in more inclusive mainstream schools, but the Department has made little …
Government response. The government agrees to work towards a more inclusive education system but states it cannot meet the six-month deadline, promising further details later this year. It mentions ongoing efforts in teacher training, including a January 2025 review of National Professional …
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Accepted
Accessing health expertise presents a significant barrier to identifying and supporting SEN needs. DHSC plays a critical role in the SEN system. It jointly published with DfE the Code of Practice and 2023 improvement plan and is responsible for overseeing local health service providers. Currently, only 2 out of 32 …
Government response. The government agrees, stating Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) already have board-level executive leads for SEND. It commits to publishing the NHS 10 Year Plan in spring 2025 and a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan in summer 2025, which are intended …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Acknowledged
Departmental witnesses could not provide any potential solution to the critical and immediate financial challenges facing many local authorities due to persistent and significant SEN-related overspends. The impact of these are being deferred under the temporary “statutory override” scheme, which is due to expire in March 2026. This is currently …
Government response. The government agrees with the urgency of addressing local authority SEND overspends and Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits but states it could not set out plans by March 2025. It intends to set out further details for reforming the SEND …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Accepted
In the longer term, the SEN system remains unviable with piecemeal interventions, such as Safety Valve, doing nothing to provide a financially sustainable system. Based on the Department’s current forecasts on the need for SEN support, the annual gap between funding and forecast costs across local authorities will grow to …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to publishing the Delivering Better Value in SEND toolkit and further detailing SEND system reform plans this year. It also launched new data collection for school transport in February 2025, will publish guidance on transport …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Acknowledged
The Department’s ability to reform the system is hindered by a lack of data, targets and a clear, costed plan. The Department accepts the need for major change, but lacks a clear, costed plan to push forward reforms and measure progress. Despite taking years to develop a plan to address …
Government response. The government agrees, highlighting improvements to EHCP (SEN2) data collection from 2023 and the publication of SEND Futures study findings in December 2023. It notes an almost £1 billion funding increase announced in Autumn Budget 2024, but the comprehensive, fully …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Education (the Department), and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) on support for children and young people with special educational needs in England.1
Government response. The government states it is working with Ofsted to improve accountability and expertise, has appointed a Strategic Advisor for SEND, and will continue working with the Ministry of Justice to understand rising appeal rates, potentially delivering SEND training for caseworkers …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Accepted
The Department acknowledged that the SEN system is not working well enough and said it wanted to change the system.10 There has been no consistent improvement in outcomes for children and young people since
Government response. The Department acknowledges the variation in SEN support and states that it has already completed detailed work with local authorities to identify the drivers of these differences and secure improvements. They describe current work and publications regarding this issue.
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Acknowledged
The Department described how parental confidence provided a core indicator of an effective SEN system but that, with a third of parents having children with SEN in the state system feeling their child did not get necessary support, the system was “nowhere near good enough”.16 Families lack confidence in a …
Government response. The department recognises that some families struggle to get the right support they need, when they need it, and aims to address issues causing Tribunal appeals through broader systemic reform. It will work with the Ministry of Justice, the SEND …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
1st Report - Support for children and y…
Acknowledged
Parents are also increasingly appealing EHC plan decisions with the proportion being taken to a tribunal, parents’ final recourse for complaints, increasing from 1.6% in 2018 to 2.5% in 2023. The number of decisions appealed increased from 6,000 in 2018 to 15,600 in 2023. Nearly all (98%) were decided in …
Government response. The department recognises that some families struggle to get the right support they need, when they need it, and aims to address issues causing Tribunal appeals through broader systemic reform. It will work with the Ministry of Justice, the SEND …
HM Treasury