Ofsted
Catherine McKinnell Excerpts(2 months, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con) (Urgent Question)
To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will make a statement on proposed changes to Ofsted reporting.
The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)
As the Government explained in the written ministerial statement that was laid yesterday, and as was outlined in our manifesto, single headline grades will no longer be issued by Ofsted when it inspects state-funded schools. Our landmark reform will drive high and rising standards for children, and will increase transparency for parents.
Today Ofsted published the outcome of its Big Listen consultation exercise, the largest engagement with parents, children and professionals in its history, which, as the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) will know, began under the last Government. The Big Listen contains some difficult messages. It is clear that significant change is needed, and Ofsted has responded by committing itself to improvements.
Holding schools accountable for children’s education is vital, but single headline grades are low information for parents and create high stakes for schools, so this Government are acting, making inspections both more powerful and more transparent. For this academic year, parents will continue to see four inspection grades for the existing sub-categories, and from September 2025 the introduction of school report cards will provide a more complete picture of a school’s performance. We will develop those over the coming months, working closely with parents and schools.
We want high and rising standards for every child, and we will act decisively when those standards are not being met. We will continue to intervene when performance is a serious concern. Ofsted’s legal duty to identify schools causing concern will remain. They will still be required to notify the Secretary of State of these inspection outcomes, and she will retain her legal duty to issue an academy order to local authority-maintained schools when that is required. However, we will change the way in which schools are supported to help them succeed. From early 2025, we will introduce regional improvement teams, which will partner with struggling schools to drive improvement quickly and directly. This marks the beginning, not the end, of our journey towards an accountability system that is fit for purpose and will help to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child throughout the country.
Damian Hinds
The system can certainly improve. After the terrible tragedy of Ruth Perry, changes were made, and, as the Minister said, Ofsted initiated its wider Big Listen consultation. We supported that, and I welcome much of what was in Ofsted’s announcement today, but I fear that the Government have not thought through the consequences of their own announcement yesterday. The overall effectiveness assessment is a vital indicator for parents, and it also plays a specific role in the statutory framework.
Can the Minister confirm that Ofsted will still have a legal duty to identify schools needing “special measures” or “requiring significant improvement”, that the Department will still intervene, and that this will be based on the same criteria as before, with the use of the same word, “inadequate”, but now in any one of four categories? When will there be clarity for other sectors—early years, colleges, prisons and social care? Crucially, what are the implications for intervention if children’s social care in an area is failing, with all the terrible consequences that that can bring? There is already a wealth of report card information on schools, from pupil progress to attendance. What will actually be new in the report cards that the Minister mentioned?
A rather less discussed aspect of yesterday’s announcement is the introduction of the ominous-sounding regional improvement teams to monitor struggling schools, rather a good fit being found with an academy trust. Apparently, they will be funded by—yes, you guessed it—VAT on independent schools. In respect of schools with successive “requires improvement” judgments, can the Minister tell us what reason there is to believe that regional improvement teams will be more effective in delivering improvements than a strong academy trust?
Between 2010 and 2024, the proportion of schools rated less than good came down from about one in three to one in 10. What worries me is that these changes mean less transparency for parents and a step backwards, from a proven school improvement approach with academy trusts to a directive top-down approach. I urge the Secretary of State and her Minister to assess the true impact that this will have on young people's prospects before it is too late.
Catherine McKinnell
The shadow Secretary of State was a Minister in the Department for Education, and he knows these issues well. He also knows that the work we are announcing today is about clearing up the mess that the previous Government left. The Big Listen was announced under his Government, and his former colleague, the previous Chair of the Education Committee, was persuaded of the case for reform of the single-headline grades. Labour is a party of high and rising standards for all our children in all our schools.
Reforming inspection to enable improvement in our schools is urgent. Inspection and accountability are crucial tools for achieving better outcomes for all our children. We will take no lessons from a party under whose watch one in four children left primary school without meeting the standards expected in maths and reading. One in five children are persistently absent from school, and it is not good enough. We are determined to fix it, and the announcement that we have made is the first step on that road.
Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)
May I thank the Minister for taking swift action? As a former teacher and children’s lead at a local authority, I know how high-stakes and low-information Ofsted judgments had started to become for local families. Indeed, having spoken to parents in my constituency ahead of my Westminster Hall debate on education for children with special educational needs and disabilities tomorrow, I know that the lack of a focus on inclusive education is a real issue for a lot of parents. Can the Minister confirm that when looking at a new scorecard, we will make the most of this opportunity to ensure that Ofsted is holding schools to account on the breadth of their inclusion in the local area?
Catherine McKinnell
My hon. Friend puts the issues very well. We will consult on the report card system and take the time to ensure that we get it right, but we want to ensure that we have a clearer picture for parents by putting a clearer spotlight on a greater range of areas of performance, rather than a one-word overall judgment. For example, we want to give parents a better picture of the support that a school is providing for children with special educational needs. As part of the process, we will explore how to demonstrate that within the report card system.
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)
The death of Ruth Perry was a tragedy and underscored the high-stakes nature of Ofsted inspections. I have witnessed at first hand how headteachers and teachers in my constituency have suffered under the strain and stress of Ofsted inspections, but others have also told me how helpful they have found them and how brilliant Ofsted inspectors have been. We Liberal Democrats certainly welcome the move away from one-word judgments, which we have long been calling for. At the same time, we believe that a robust and fair inspection and accountability regime is essential to ensure that schools are operating at a high standard and are safe, nurturing and inclusive environments in which our children and young people can thrive.
Although the change is a welcome first step, could we have some reassurances that it will be followed by proper root-and-branch reform? For too long, Ofsted has been seen as an adversary, but it should be seen as a helpful friend. Can we see the announcement as a first step towards a world where Ofsted is a helpful, respected partner for schools? Perhaps the regional improvement teams will provide that—I sense that local authorities used to do so before they had that function taken away from them. Finally, Ofsted should be looking at a broad, varied and rich curriculum. How will the Minister’s curriculum review connect with the Ofsted changes?
Catherine McKinnell
I thank the hon. Lady for welcoming today’s changes, which are welcomed by many people in the sector and across the country, who rely on a strong inspection system that is fair, clear and transparent. I echo her comments about the death of Ruth Perry, which was a tragedy. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to her sister Julia, who has fought so hard over the past year to ensure that lessons are learned.
We know that Ofsted has reported on its Big Listen today, and copies will be available in the House of Commons Library. It is a very large report. Ofsted has undertaken a huge exercise, which shows that it is listening. It will take time to see the changes implemented, but Ofsted is determined to change and, as the hon. Lady says, we are determined to work in partnership with it to deliver the changes required. That applies across the board in our education sector, where we want to work in partnership with schools and those who are delivering the excellent education that we want to see for every child.
The hon. Lady mentioned the curriculum review. I may get in trouble for the length of response that her question requires, but the curriculum review is a key part of reforming our education system and ensuring that it gives a breadth and depth of experience to young people, their teachers and their schools.
Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for her statement to the House on the long-awaited Ofsted reforms. Given the welcome focus on inclusion, SEND and improved training for inspectors, can she update the House on how this will support children with SEND in Wolverhampton North East and beyond?
Catherine McKinnell
I concur with my hon. Friend that this is about ensuring we have an inspection system that drives high and rising standards for every child, which includes supporting our aim to see an inclusive school system that delivers the outcomes that we want to see for children with special educational needs. It is about providing greater transparency in our school system and an inspection regime that focuses on a whole variety of areas where schools should be striving for improvement. We know that schools work incredibly hard and are doing an incredible job for our children, but every school can always do better, and an inspection system that supports and drives improvement will be welcome across the board.
Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)
Across Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, we have some amazing “outstanding” and “good” schools. Across the country, however, we see schools that are failing and in need of intervention. Could the Minister set out what she envisages as the trigger mechanism for intervention?
Catherine McKinnell
The right hon. Gentleman raises an important point, and we will work with Ofsted on developing the new report card system over the next year. We will engage and consult as part of that process, because we want to get it right. He is right to suggest that where there are serious failings in schools, we will continue to intervene in the best interests of children, and we will continue to intervene where the Government currently have a legal duty to do so. We will continue to intervene but, through our regional improvement teams, we will also look to put improvement support in place for schools that are struggling, because no child should be left in a school that is letting them down.
Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)
Schools across the country, including in my constituency of Hartlepool, will welcome today’s judgment. As they start the new term, will my hon. Friend join me in thanking them for their extraordinary hard work, including on behalf of my children, who started their school term today? The decision demonstrates that in this Government, schools have a partner who will work with them to improve every child’s future.
Catherine McKinnell
I agree, and I wish my hon. Friend’s children all the best as they start school today. Many children across the country are having their first day back at school. I remember my first day at school very well; I remember it being terrifying and not dissimilar from one’s first outing at the Dispatch Box. I concur that this Government’s priority is to drive high and rising standards—not in some of our schools and for some of our children, but for every child in every one of our schools—and we will work tirelessly to deliver that. The reforms that we are announcing are a crucial part of ensuring that it is delivered.
Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)
In my career as a teacher, I had the dubious pleasure of being inspected by four different regimes. I am afraid to say that Ofsted was the most brutal, the least personal and the least useful of all the regimes. At its best, an inspection regime can help to drive up improvements and celebrate what is great about a school. Inspections hold up a mirror and make teachers ask themselves what more they can do for the children they care about so much. What lessons is the Department learning from other inspection regimes around the world?
Catherine McKinnell
The hon. Lady raises an important point, and her experience is obviously valuable to the House for the lessons that we can learn. She is absolutely right to say that a good inspection regime drives improvement and identifies in all schools not only those areas where they are doing well—which should be celebrated—but those where there is room to improve. We will consult on the report card system extensively over the next year. We want to make sure we get this right, and we want to do it in partnership. We will look to see how this is done elsewhere to make sure that we learn from best practice, and we will continue to ensure that this is an inspection system that should be welcomed by schools, as it helps them to identify how they deliver for their children, as she rightly says. I know that that is the priority for every school.
Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for her statement and for the excellent, practical reforms that are being set out. Will she join me in thanking in advance all the hard-working teachers and support staff across Southampton Itchen, and offer them an assurance that this Government intend to work in real partnership to ensure that every child gets the best start in life?
Catherine McKinnell
I thank my hon. Friend and very much welcome the opportunity to thank all our teachers as they go back to school this week. They will be putting in a really hard and rewarding year ahead, and will give the best to the children in their care.
I absolutely echo what my hon. Friend says. We were clear from day one in government that we want to work in partnership with the sector. We know that the Government do not deliver education to children: our teachers do; our schools do; our support staff do; and the parents who make sure their children get to school do. We support them all in that endeavour, but where we can do more to support them in delivering that, we will. The announcements that we are making are part of that endeavour.
Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
When my sister Lee took what were then called her GCE exams in the early 1960s, she was given a specific mark for each exam result. By the time I took mine in the late 1960s, that system had been replaced by one of grades, which merged together all sorts of different results and was likely to lead to subjectivity and relativism henceforth. Could not the simplistic one-word system that is now being replaced be replaced by a proper marking system, where individual aspects of a school are specifically marked and an overall figure given, which would therefore not be subjective, but would give parents an easy guide as to the performance of the school?
Catherine McKinnell
The right hon. Gentleman makes a characteristically thoughtful point. As part of our consultation, we will look at how best to deliver our aim, which is to provide greater transparency, greater clarity and greater information for parents, for schools and for the staff who are working to drive improvement. As he says, no child would be given a single grade for their overall school performance, which begs the important question of why we have been doing that for schools.
Oliver Ryan (Burnley) (Lab/Co-op)
When the previous Conservative Government left office, education standards were declining, schools were crumbling, and they claimed to have maxed out on their support for children. Does the Minister agree that schools, parents and pupils deserve better, and that with this Government, they will get it? [Interruption.]
Catherine McKinnell
My hon. Friend puts it incredibly well, although those on the Opposition Front Bench seem to protest against his appreciation of the reality that schools up and down the country have been facing, which has been letting children down. That is our key focus today. Yes, it is about schools, it is about an inspection framework, and it is about the organisation, Ofsted, that delivers that, but actually this is about children. It is about ensuring the best outcomes for every child. If we get this system right and we put education back at the heart of national life again, we will deliver on our pledge to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child, wherever they are in this country.
Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)
I welcome the announcement by the Government, as do many schools and parents in my constituency, who want more information rather than just one-word ratings. Can I urge the Minister to give parents more power through greater detail, while ensuring that ratings are easy for parents to understand?
Catherine McKinnell
The hon. Gentleman has very much set out our aim and intention, and that is why we will consult extensively on this. We have given ourselves till September 2025 to have the report cards in place, and we want to ensure that we have input from education experts, parents and children, and that we maximise this opportunity to, as he put it, maximise the information that parents will find useful and the information that schools will find useful, to drive the improvement that they want for their children.
Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)
York Outer is home to many inspirational teachers and I am proud that my wife is one of them, but heads tell me that there is a recruitment and retention crisis. Does the Minister agree that the end of Ofsted headline judgments will improve teacher retention, and can she update the House on the plans to recruit 6,500 specialist teachers?
Catherine McKinnell
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and I wish his wife, and all teachers starting their new school term, well. It is an incredibly exciting time. It is a little bit daunting for some, but it is an important opportunity to reset their school life at the beginning of a new year.
Similarly, this is an opportunity for us to reset our relationship with the sector. In doing so, we must ensure that we can recruit the necessary teachers. We must make teaching the attractive, respected and admired profession that it should be, to ensure that we meet the pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers. We have already started the work. We have reset the relationship and the tone, we have obviously made progress on the pay review, and we will continue to strive to reach our target to ensure that every school has the teachers it needs, and that every child has the teachers they need, especially in the subjects that require specialist teaching.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for her response to all the questions and wish her well in the role that she now plays to make education better for our children. That is what we all wish to see. The Minister will understand the need for parents to easily and simply determine which school best fits the needs of their child and family, and that any review of a school must be accessible not only to those with an educational background but to those who are perhaps not familiar with educational terminology. This needs to be clear in the reporting. Does the Minister also acknowledge that, rather than having teaching staff focus on an area that appears to be getting a lower grade than the rest, and directing resources to improving that one area, the resources and attention must instead go to children and their educational needs, which are more varied and complex than ever before?
Catherine McKinnell
The hon. Gentleman makes a characteristically thoughtful point, and I do not disagree with anything that he said. In fact, the report card system should give a much more holistic picture of school life. A parent knows their child, and they know the sort of school environment that will suit them. A report card system will enable the highlighting of areas where a school may be doing particularly well, and the areas where it may need to strive to improve. That will be useful for parents. It will also be useful for schools to know where they can improve, and it will be useful in driving high and rising standards for every child. We are absolutely determined to deliver that, and we see this as a key part of ensuring that that happens.
Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
If I were to pick a single word to describe Ofsted’s grading system, it would be “inadequate”, so I welcome the Government’s commitment to reviewing Ofsted’s review system, and particularly to reviewing its focus on special educational needs. Will the Minister engage with families with special educational needs when developing the new school report card system?
Catherine McKinnell
Ensuring that we meet the needs of children with special educational needs and their families is a key priority for the Government. We recognise that the system is broken and that there are too many families and too many children not getting the education that they deserve. We see this as part of the process of resetting that relationship and resetting the system so that we can have a school system that is inclusive, where that is appropriate, and so that we can have mainstream schools that serve the whole community. We will endeavour, as part of wider reforms that we are looking at, to ensure that we have a special educational needs system that meets the needs of every child in this country.
Nesil Caliskan (Barking) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for her statement, and for her clarity on the next steps to drive improvement in schools across the country. Many teachers and parents will welcome the news that we will move away from one-word inspections, but intervention is not the same as driving improvement. Can the Minister reassure me that, alongside intervention, there will be a plan and support for schools so that we see the improvements necessary to give every child the best start in life?
Catherine McKinnell
We will continue to intervene in the worst-performing schools. Where a school would previously have been rated “inadequate”, the Government will still take action. We will issue academy orders, if required, in line with legal requirements. Inspection reports will continue to make it clear to parents if a school is in this situation, and Ofsted will continue to make it clear where a school is causing concern and if intervention is required by law.
We will also ensure that, where schools need support, they get that support. We will roll out regional improvement teams to ensure that, where schools are struggling, they get the support they need, through a system that partners them with high-performing schools in the area to ensure that schools work together for the benefit of their whole community. We see that as a key part of driving the reforms that we want to see for every child.
Mike Amesbury (Runcorn and Helsby) (Lab)
I welcome the Minister’s changes to Ofsted inspections. This holistic approach is genuinely common sense. In the future, will similar measures apply to children’s services?
Catherine McKinnell
We recognise that this is a first step on the journey towards removing single headline grades, which we see as reductive—we have widespread agreement on that—across all educational remits. At this stage, we are implementing it in schools as a matter of priority, but we will work with Ofsted and the sector over the next year to develop reporting arrangements across a whole range of areas for which Ofsted has responsibility.
Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)
I congratulate the Minister on this rapid work. The Conservatives had 14 years, but Labour Ministers have done it in a matter of weeks. Can I have a commitment that Ofsted’s focus on attainment, SEND and attendance will be laser-focused?
For the benefit of the House, there are only two more Conservatives Members in the Chamber for this statement on education standards than are standing for the Conservative party leadership.
Catherine McKinnell
My hon. Friend is right. We have delivered at pace and hit the ground running when it comes to improving our education system. Just as every day at school matters, every day in government matters for driving high and rising standards for every child.
My hon. Friend rightly identifies attendance as a key issue, and we share that concern. The previous Government talked a lot about that, but did very little to turn the tables. We want to see attendance prioritised, as we know that far too many children are missing far too much school, which is harming not only their educational opportunities but their life chances and the whole school community. We want to send the message loud and clear, in this first week back at school, that every day at school matters and every child should be attending school.
Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield) (Lab)
The decision to end single-word judgments will be welcomed by education professionals across Birmingham. I have seen in my own household the mental and physical toll that the old system could impose. Can the Minister confirm that the new school report card will allow Ofsted to assess SEND inclusion alongside SEND attainment?
Catherine McKinnell
Yes. We know that the current system is not working for anyone, which is why the changes we have outlined are so important. We know that we need to spread best practice and drive standards across all of our schools, including for children with special educational needs, who are a key priority for this Government, and we will consult on the best ways to do that.
Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for her statement. Anyone who has visited a school in their constituency before or after an Ofsted inspection cannot help but know the impact on staff. I welcome this opportunity to reset our relationship with educators and families, because it is so important right now that those young people who are looking to become teachers see it as a worthwhile profession in which they will be welcomed and appreciated by the Government. I hope this is an opportunity for the Minister to work with the education sector and families to build a report system that is fit for purpose and encourages people to work in the education system.
Catherine McKinnell
Hear, hear. We know that the system has been letting down children and families, and that we have a shortage of people who want to be teachers. We need to make sure we have a teaching workforce that can deliver the education that every child deserves. My hon. Friend puts it incredibly eloquently, and I very much agree that this is about resetting our system and resetting the Government’s relationship with families, so that they send their children to school and believe that school is the best place for their child, and with teachers, so that they know they are trusted, valued and supported to deliver what I know they went into teaching to deliver, and so that we encourage more people to become teachers.
SEND Provision: Somerset
Catherine McKinnell Excerpts(2 months, 3 weeks ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) on securing a debate on this incredibly important subject. She is right—three such debates are scheduled for this week, which shows how important and pressing the matter is.
The hon. Lady has a keen interest in special educational needs and disabilities, which she has expressed today in her comments, and she demonstrates strong advocacy for the children and families in her constituency. She described the SEND system as broken, and I agree. She made some very thoughtful comments on how we can seek to address some of the current challenges, which I will come on to.
As a Government committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life, we know that that means ensuring that all children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, receive the right support to succeed in their education and lead happy, healthy and productive lives.
There are more than 1.6 million children and young people in England who have special educational needs. For far too long, too many families have been let down by a system that is not working. The previous Secretary of State for Education said the system was “lose, lose, lose” and she was right. For years, the Conservatives knew the system was not working, but they left families to be failed.
Despite high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities rising to higher and higher levels, confidence in the SEND system is low. Tribunal rates are rising, as the hon. Lady described, and there are increasingly long waits for support. Far too many children with special educational needs fall behind their peers and do not reach the expected levels in fundamental reading, writing and maths skills. Just one in four special educational needs pupils achieve expected standards at the end of primary school.
Families are struggling to get their children the support they need and, more importantly, deserve. This must change. After years in which parents have been frustrated by empty promises and by reform programmes that have been delayed time and again, this Government will be honest with families.
We are utterly committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools—as the hon. Lady highlighted, that is an important part of solving this issue—as well as ensuring that special schools can cater to those with the most complex needs. We are determined to restore parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need to flourish.
We know that effective early identification and intervention can reduce the impact that a special educational need or disability may have in the long term. That is why in July we announced that funded support for 11,100 schools registered to the Nuffield early language intervention programme would continue in the year 2024-25. That will help pupils who need extra support with speech and language development to find their voice.
There are no quick fixes for these deep-rooted issues. After 14 years, I can scarcely see a system that is not broken or in desperate need of reform, and which is so important that we fix. Let me be clear. We have started the work already. Fixing our SEND system will be a priority for this Department, but it will take time. A decade of national renewal is what we must deliver to give every child the best start—one that they deserve. However, the Government cannot do it alone. We will work with the sector as an essential and valued partner, to ensure that our approach is fully planned and delivered with parents, schools and councils, and with the expert staff who go above and beyond to help children.
We are acting as quickly as we can to respond to the cost pressures in the SEND system, which are causing real financial problems in some local authorities, including in Somerset. Before the parliamentary recess, we announced a new core schools budget grant, which will provide special and alternative provision schools with over £140 million of extra funding in this financial year of 2024-25, to help with the extra costs of this year’s teachers’ pay award and the outcome of the negotiations on an increase for support staff. That is in addition to high-needs funding allocations for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities, and to the existing teachers’ pay and pension grants, which total £10.75 billion this year.
The Department for Education budgets for 2025-26 have not yet been decided, and how much high-needs funding is distributed to local authorities, schools and colleges next year will depend on the outcome of the first stage of the Government’s spending review, which is due to be announced at the end of October. That means that next year’s allocations of high-needs funding to local authorities have not been published within the normal timescale, but we are working across Government and we will announce next year’s funding allocation for Somerset and all other local authorities as soon as we can.
We are acutely aware not only of the financial pressures that local authorities are facing because of the increasing cost of supporting young people and children with complex needs but of the financial pressures that the Government as a whole are facing because of the economic climate that we have inherited. As I have said, resolving these problems will not be quick or easy, but I am keen that we develop long-term solutions and I welcome contributions across the House, such as the one by the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton, on these very important issues.
It is important that there is a fair education funding system that directs funding where it is needed and where it can best provide support. One aspect of that is the national funding formula that is used to allocate high-needs funding to local authorities, so we will take time to consider whether or not to make changes to the formula and the impacts of any such changes on local authorities, including in Somerset.
Every young person with special educational needs or disabilities should have access to high-quality services, and local authorities are critical in ensuring that children and their families can access the support they need. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission jointly inspect local authorities’ SEND provision to ensure that there is joined-up support for children and young people. These inspections enable the Department for Education to intervene in cases of significant concern and to work with local authorities and professional advisers to address areas of weakness.
We therefore welcome the publication of the Big Listen response today. We will work with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities or in alternative provision are better reflected in the educational inspection framework and the area SEND inspection framework in the future.
I am concerned that a joint local area inspection of Somerset’s SEND services, which was undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in March 2020, identified nine significant areas of weakness. Following the actions that were taken, the CQC has subsequently confirmed that seven of the nine areas have made sufficient progress and were therefore stepped down. Somerset was required to produce an accelerated progress plan to address the two remaining areas, and progress against the plan is being closely monitored by officials from the Department for Education and NHS England.
The Department has implemented a support programme in Somerset, which included workshops and support focused on the importance of the data in joint commissioning. Somerset has drawn on the specialist advice of a SEND adviser, whom the Department commissioned earlier this year, and it also receives ongoing support and challenge from the Department and NHS England at six-monthly accelerated progress plan meetings. The combined impact of these interventions has shown improvements over the last three years.
As the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton also expressed, we want a holistic approach to school place planning, which considers how mainstream settings can offer high-quality support to children and young people with SEND, alongside sufficient special school places for those with the most complex needs. Local authorities are able to use their high needs capital funding allocations to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings. That will also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Somerset council, for example, has been allocated just under £20 million in high needs capital funding between 2022 and 2025. A new special free school, Hillview school, opened this month in Martock, in the constituency of the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton. It joins the eight existing special schools in Somerset. In addition, seven mainstream schools in Somerset have established resource provision that provide access to a mainstream curriculum and classroom, alongside specialist support. Enhanced learning provisions have also been created in five mainstream secondary schools to provide informal support to young people with moderate learning difficulties as they transition from primary education. This Government are committed to working with Somerset council, school leaders, and other sector partners, as well as their national counterparts, to develop and improve inclusive education in mainstream schools.
The hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton mentioned the challenges around exclusion, and I appreciate her concerns. Every pupil deserves to learn in a safe, calm classroom and we will always support our dedicated, hard-working teachers to make this happen. Schools can use sanctions as a measure to improve behaviour. In the most serious cases, a suspension or permanent exclusion may be necessary to ensure that pupils are protected from disruption and can benefit from education. Our statutory guidance is very clear in all cases: decisions to exclude a pupil must be lawful, reasonable, and fair. The guidance sets out that headteachers should consider underlying causes, or contributing factors of misbehaviour before issuing an exclusion, including where a pupil has special educational needs. That should ensure appropriate support is put in place when concerns are raised about a pupil’s behaviour, rather than waiting for it to trigger action.
The hon. Lady also referenced the letter sent to the Secretary of State for Education by Somerset council. I thank Somerset council for writing directly to the Secretary of State to set out its thoughts on the SEND system. The Government recognise that, for too long, the education and care system has not met the needs of all children, with too many parents struggling to get their children the support they need and deserve. My officials will be pleased to meet representatives from Somerset council, who have set their thoughts out very helpfully, and they will be in touch in due course to organise a meeting.
I want to thank the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton again for bringing this matter forward, and also those who have contributed and attended the debate. Somerset SEND services, along with SEND outcomes across the country, are issues we all care passionately about. I absolutely recognise that the SEND system needs to improve. I acknowledge the hardship that too many families face when seeking to secure the right support for their children with special educational needs and disabilities. I am determined that this will change.
I also want to acknowledge the hard work taken on by so many working in education, health and care, to support children and young people with special educational needs, both in Somerset and right across the country. I thank them for their commitment and service.
Question put and agreed to.