Recommendation 22

We asked the Department why it had not made more progress in completing the SEND review. The Department told us that the review had been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it had paused work on the review and diverted resources 38 Qq 93–95 39 Q 56 40 Qq 93, 162; C&AG’s Report, para 1.33 41 C&AG’s Report, para 1.35 42 Qq 163, 175–177 43 C&AG’s Report, para 1.30 44 Q 182 45 HC Committee of Public Accounts, Support for children with special educational needs and disabilities, First Report of Session 2019–21, May 2020 46 Q 113, HC Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: COVID-19: Education, HC 944, March 2021 Financial sustainability of schools in England 13 to manage its response to COVID-19, including supporting vulnerable children. Second, when its team had started working on the review again, stakeholders told the Department that the pandemic had changed the context for the review and the things that the review needed to do. Third, the Department had wanted to make sure that the SEND review was well integrated with the Schools White Paper.47