Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who had an EHC plan were eligible...
Conclusion
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who had an EHC plan were eligible to continue attending school throughout the pandemic, provided a risk assessment had determined that they would be at least as safe in school as at home.26 However, SENSE told us that the guidance on how these risk assessments should be conducted or what should be included was insufficient and vague. It said that many of the children it supported had been automatically assessed as being safer at home, and had not been able to access the support they usually received at school, putting them in a vulnerable position. It also suggested that, in some cases, the risk assessments were carried out without the knowledge of, or input from, families.27 The Department explained that it exercised oversight of these issues through local authorities, who took the lead on EHC plans and risk assessments.28 In subsequent written evidence, the Department said that it had not asked local authorities to inform it of the outcome of their risk assessments and therefore it did not know how many children these assessments had placed at home.29
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 3.2 As part of the department’s 2020-21 recovery plan, it is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and Public Health England to establish what impact the pandemic has had on access to therapies so that it has the right actions in place to help children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 3.3 In November 2020, DHSC announced £500 million for mental health and the NHS workforce. As part of that, £31 million will be used to address challenges faced by individuals with a learning disability and autistic people, including £3 million for community respite services for autistic children and young people, and children and young people with a learning disability. 3.4 The department is also investing an additional £79 million in mental health in schools support teams to cover around 35% of pupils in England by 2023. 3.5 The department continues to work closely with DHSC to make children’s mental health and wellbeing a central part of its response.