Select committee: Education Committee
Recommendation 48
5th Report - Solving the SEND Crisis
Published 18 Sep 2025
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Solving the SEND Crisis All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department should review home to school transport and identify costs across regions. Additionally, the Department must mandate that all local authorities provide travel training programmes for young people with SEND in this age group to promote independence and safe travel where this is appropriate. Statutory transport provision should be guaranteed based on clear criteria such as distance from education settings, level of need, and other relevant factors to ensure no young person is unfairly disadvantaged. We welcome the acknowledgement in the Government’s fair funding review of the need for comprehensive costings for current and future home to school transport need. The Department for Education must work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport as they prepare to introduce a bespoke formula to recognise Home to School transport costs. As part of this collaboration, the Department should ensure that there is transparency around how 165 outcomes are measured and reported. We support the recommendation of the Transport Select Committee with regard to the provision of bus passes for under 22-year-olds. (Recommendation, Paragraph 195) Equipping the workforce
From: Education Committee, 5th Report - Solving the SEND Crisis (HC 492), 18 September 2025
Government response
1st Special Report – Solving the SEND crisis: Government Response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 June 2026 (deadline 18 November 2025).
7th Special Report - Solving the SEND Crisis: Government Response
Published 11 December 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government describes its response as "deliberately high-level", says it will "carefully consider" the Committee's recommendations, and says further detail on SEND reform will come in the Schools White Paper "early in the new year".
- On redress, it says it "agree[s] with the Committee" that local authorities and education settings should prioritise good partnership working with families, and retains the SEND Tribunal as an "important legal backstop".
- On the Tribunal's non-binding decisions on health and social care appeals, it says it will "give full consideration" to the Committee's recommendations.
- On workforce, it commits to a "full review" of the delivery of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement, including the ITTECF content, in 2027.
- On funding, it says it will extend the Statutory Override "until the end of 2027–28" and will set out further details on support for local authorities with deficits through the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.