Recommendation 17

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