Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Acknowledged
Ensure active parental involvement in all SEND processes with independent advocacy and resources
Conclusion
Parents and carers must be actively and meaningfully involved in all processes that affect their child’s education, support, and overall wellbeing. This includes being fully informed and invited to participate in all relevant meetings where decisions about their child’s needs or provision are being discussed at the school and local authority level. Families should have access to independent advocacy to enable and strengthen their engagement in the process. Parental insights and lived experience are invaluable in shaping effective and appropriate support. Embedding parental involvement as a standard part of decision-making not only enhances transparency and trust but also leads to better-informed, more tailored outcomes for children and young people with SEND. Local authorities must actively engage and be properly equipped to support and respond to parental engagement in a positive way. This requires dedicated resourcing and ongoing training to ensure staff have the skills, capacity and confidence to work effectively with families, build trust, and act on their concerns in a timely and constructive way. These changes would need to be subject to a New Burdens Assessment to ensure that local authorities had the resources to support better parent and carer engagement. (Recommendation, Paragraph 102)
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of parental involvement and outlines engagement activities with stakeholders to shape reform proposals, followed by a formal consultation. However, it does not commit to providing independent advocacy, dedicated resourcing for local authorities, or a New Burdens Assessment as specifically recommended.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Shared. Education, health and care services should work in partnership with one another, local government, families, teachers, experts and representative bodies to deliver better experiences and outcomes for all our children. The Ministerial team and I are continuing to listen closely to families, teachers and experts, as we put together plans to transform outcomes for every child with SEND. Engagement across our stakeholder groups, from children and young people with lived experiences and their families, to experts and charities, allows us to draw on diverse expertise and experiences. Our engagement will centre around 3 core activity strands: SEND Ministerial development group (to meet between now and the end of January to share insight and help shape reform proposals); Regional and online engagement sessions (from early next month, open to everyone); and Ministerial roundtables. The insights and lived experiences shared during these engagement opportunities will be vital in ensuring that our proposals effectively deliver meaningful reforms for families. We will also continue engagement as part of a formal consultation following the White Paper publication, and the responses received will be carefully considered in shaping the reforms.