Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 67
67
Accepted in Part
Develop joint SEND workforce plan to address shortages and re-deploy professionals therapeutically
Conclusion
The DfE and DHSC should urgently develop a joint SEND workforce plan to address shortages and build capacity across education, health, and care services. This should include explicit measures to deliver a shift in the deployment of educational psychologists, speech and language therapists and other allied health professionals away from undertaking assessments and writing reports and towards greater deployment in education settings, delivering therapeutic support for children and upskilling early years practitioners, teachers and support staff. This will enable professionals to concentrate on delivering frontline support. Such an approach would help 169 retain skilled practitioners within the system and encourage those who have left the profession, often due to excessive paperwork and limited direct engagement to return. (Recommendation, Paragraph 240) Getting to a sustainable model of funding
Government Response Summary
The government is working with DHSC and NHS England to improve access to health services and ensure more effective deployment of allied health professionals away from bureaucracy. They are investing over £31 million to train 600 more educational psychologists by 2025 and promoting degree apprenticeships for speech and language therapists, but do not explicitly commit to a formal joint SEND workforce plan.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The Department is working closely with DHSC and NHS England to improve access to community health services, such as speech and language therapy, for children and young people with SEND. As set out in the 10 Year Health Plan for England, building on the successes of programmes such as Early Speech and Language for Every Child, we will ensure that education and healthcare providers work together with other local services to plan and deliver evidence-based early interventions for children. We will focus on ensuring allied health professionals, such as speech and language or occupational therapists, who are vital for supporting children and young people with SEND, are more effectively deployed spending time supporting children not on bureaucracy and admin. In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is going into its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist. Educational psychologists also play a critical role in the support available to children and young people, including those with SEND. The Department is already investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists over two cohorts starting their studies in 2024 and 2025. This is in addition to the £10 million being invested in the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.