Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 10
1st Report - Support for children and young people with special educational needs
Published 15 Jan 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Support for children and young people with special educational needs All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
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 favour of families, which the Department explained by decisions being recorded in their favour should they win on any aspect.19 With one in 40 cases going to tribunal, the Department confirmed the SEN system was not operating sensibly and did not represent value for money.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 1st Report - Support for children and young people with special educational needs (HC 353), 15 January 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report for Committee's 1st Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026.
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the First report from Session 2024-25
Published 6 May 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the seven recommendations, but says it cannot commit to the six-month timescales on inclusive education and demand, or to setting out plans on local authority finances by March 2025.
- On variation in SEN identification and support, the government agrees, with a target implementation date of April 2026, and says work "in the next 12 months will continue" to identify and disseminate good practice from better-performing local authorities.
- On demand and inclusive education, the government agrees but states that it "cannot commit to setting out plans in the next six months"; it will "set out further detail later this year".
- On local authority deficits, the government agrees the matter is urgent but "has been unable to set out plans by March 2025". Its SEND reform plans, to be set out "in further detail in 2025", will "inform any decision to remove the statutory override".
- On health, the government says ICBs are legally responsible for SEND duties and that decisions are "taken locally". It will publish the NHS 10 Year Plan in spring 2025 and a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan in summer 2025.