Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to address the concerns raised by the report by Special Needs Jungle Education, Health & Care Plan annual review, published 10 December 2019, and in particular the findings relating to the low completion rates of statutory Education Health and Care Plan annual reviews by local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The annual review process for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Code of Practice, requires local authorities to ensure reviews are conducted within twelve months from the final EHC plan being in place, or within 12 months of the last review of the plan.
The department has sought to strengthen local area’s knowledge and understanding of their duties in relation to the completion of annual reviews. Between January and April this year, a series of regional workshops have been planned. A number of have already been delivered, with good levels of attendance from local authority education and social care teams, health teams from clinical commissioning groups, and parents. Part of the workshops include planning for improvements and this will be followed up through the department’s team of SEND advisers.
More broadly, we recognise that there are a range of concerns with the SEND system. We announced the SEND Review in September 2019 to ensure the system is working best for all families, and that support in different areas is consistent, available and joined up across health, care and education services.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which transfers to date of Statements of Special Educational Needs to Education, Health and Care Plans meet the expectations set out by the Minister of State for Children and Families in a letter to Directors of Children's Services on 12 September 2017, for example, that "good quality assessments are undertaken and high quality plans are in place".
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government has commissioned several pieces of research on user satisfaction with the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan process since the 2014 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms were introduced. ‘Experiences of Education, Health and Care plans: a survey of parents and young people’, attached, asked young people and parents/carers of children and young people about their experiences of and satisfaction with the EHC plan process. Over two-thirds of respondents (67%) agreed that the help and support outlined in the EHC plan had improved the child/young person’s experience of education.
We are also using other sources of evidence to inform our assessment including the findings from Ofsted / Care Quality Commission SEND local area inspections to understand progress and quality at a local and national level, as well as feedback from our team of professional SEND advisers, from lead tribunal judges and parents.
Local authorities are working hard to complete the transfer of all Statements of special educational need (SEN) to EHC plans by the statutory deadline of 31 March and we are monitoring progress closely and providing support and challenge. The latest published data shows that there were 287,290 statements of SEN or EHC plans maintained by local authorities as at January 2017, of which 61% were EHC plans. The data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2017.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the progress across all local authorities in England in transferring Statements of Special Educational Need to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs); and, based on that assessment, how many Statements they expect to miss the deadline for transition to an EHCP of 31 March.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government has commissioned several pieces of research on user satisfaction with the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan process since the 2014 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms were introduced. ‘Experiences of Education, Health and Care plans: a survey of parents and young people’, attached, asked young people and parents/carers of children and young people about their experiences of and satisfaction with the EHC plan process. Over two-thirds of respondents (67%) agreed that the help and support outlined in the EHC plan had improved the child/young person’s experience of education.
We are also using other sources of evidence to inform our assessment including the findings from Ofsted / Care Quality Commission SEND local area inspections to understand progress and quality at a local and national level, as well as feedback from our team of professional SEND advisers, from lead tribunal judges and parents.
Local authorities are working hard to complete the transfer of all Statements of special educational need (SEN) to EHC plans by the statutory deadline of 31 March and we are monitoring progress closely and providing support and challenge. The latest published data shows that there were 287,290 statements of SEN or EHC plans maintained by local authorities as at January 2017, of which 61% were EHC plans. The data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2017.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of each of the funding streams to support implementation of Special Educational Needs and Disability reforms as listed by the Council for Disabled Children in its July Digest.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As set out in the Council for Disabled Children’s digest, the government has provided significant resources to support implementation of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms. This includes £223 million to local councils between April 2014 and March 2018 and, during the same period, £60 million for around 1,200 Independent Supporters to help families with the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan process.
We have also funded training and a SEND leadership programme to support local councils and health services deliver their SEND services and a school improvement programme to further embed good SEND practice in schools. This includes a ‘what works’ resource, drawing on evidence-based practice on SEND in good and outstanding schools and colleges, published earlier this month.
These resources, among a wide range of others, can be found at: http://www.sendgateway.org.uk and https://send.excellencegateway.org.uk.
We gather intelligence from a wide range of sources to understand where services are working well, where they could do better, and to focus our resources on where we can make a difference. This includes activity the government funds, surveys, research and inspections, feedback from our team of professional SEND advisers (who work directly with local councils to improve the delivery of services) performance information and feedback from lead tribunal judges and parents. We welcome the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s report, published on 23 October 2017.
We are beginning to see some very positive feedback from parents and young people. A large-scale survey of over 13,000 families who gained an EHC plan in 2015 found that two thirds of those families were satisfied with the overall experience of getting a plan, and three-fifths agreed the help and support set out in the plan would achieve the desired outcomes. The Inspection report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which looks at SEND in local areas, also identifies that many areas have strengths with aspects of services. For example, in North Yorkshire, inspectors found a “large majority of EHC plans evaluated by inspectors were strong and effectively supported the progress of children and young people.”
Where local area performance is a particular concern, departmental officials working closely with partners, including NHS England, have engaged with local areas to provide support and challenge, and have seen a proactive and positive response. On the specific finding on the exclusion of pupils, we are also clear that any decision to exclude should be lawful, reasonable and fair. As announced by the Prime Minister, the Department for Education will take forward an external review of exclusions practice, focused on the experiences of those groups who are disproportionately likely to be excluded.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission Local Area SEND inspections: one year on, and in particular, the common areas of significant concern listen in that report.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As set out in the Council for Disabled Children’s digest, the government has provided significant resources to support implementation of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms. This includes £223 million to local councils between April 2014 and March 2018 and, during the same period, £60 million for around 1,200 Independent Supporters to help families with the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan process.
We have also funded training and a SEND leadership programme to support local councils and health services deliver their SEND services and a school improvement programme to further embed good SEND practice in schools. This includes a ‘what works’ resource, drawing on evidence-based practice on SEND in good and outstanding schools and colleges, published earlier this month.
These resources, among a wide range of others, can be found at: http://www.sendgateway.org.uk and https://send.excellencegateway.org.uk.
We gather intelligence from a wide range of sources to understand where services are working well, where they could do better, and to focus our resources on where we can make a difference. This includes activity the government funds, surveys, research and inspections, feedback from our team of professional SEND advisers (who work directly with local councils to improve the delivery of services) performance information and feedback from lead tribunal judges and parents. We welcome the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s report, published on 23 October 2017.
We are beginning to see some very positive feedback from parents and young people. A large-scale survey of over 13,000 families who gained an EHC plan in 2015 found that two thirds of those families were satisfied with the overall experience of getting a plan, and three-fifths agreed the help and support set out in the plan would achieve the desired outcomes. The Inspection report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which looks at SEND in local areas, also identifies that many areas have strengths with aspects of services. For example, in North Yorkshire, inspectors found a “large majority of EHC plans evaluated by inspectors were strong and effectively supported the progress of children and young people.”
Where local area performance is a particular concern, departmental officials working closely with partners, including NHS England, have engaged with local areas to provide support and challenge, and have seen a proactive and positive response. On the specific finding on the exclusion of pupils, we are also clear that any decision to exclude should be lawful, reasonable and fair. As announced by the Prime Minister, the Department for Education will take forward an external review of exclusions practice, focused on the experiences of those groups who are disproportionately likely to be excluded.
Asked by: Lord Lingfield (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Education, Health and Care Plans: our first 100 investigations, and in particular, of the recommendations concerning good practice for councils.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As set out in the Council for Disabled Children’s digest, the government has provided significant resources to support implementation of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms. This includes £223 million to local councils between April 2014 and March 2018 and, during the same period, £60 million for around 1,200 Independent Supporters to help families with the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan process.
We have also funded training and a SEND leadership programme to support local councils and health services deliver their SEND services and a school improvement programme to further embed good SEND practice in schools. This includes a ‘what works’ resource, drawing on evidence-based practice on SEND in good and outstanding schools and colleges, published earlier this month.
These resources, among a wide range of others, can be found at: http://www.sendgateway.org.uk and https://send.excellencegateway.org.uk.
We gather intelligence from a wide range of sources to understand where services are working well, where they could do better, and to focus our resources on where we can make a difference. This includes activity the government funds, surveys, research and inspections, feedback from our team of professional SEND advisers (who work directly with local councils to improve the delivery of services) performance information and feedback from lead tribunal judges and parents. We welcome the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s report, published on 23 October 2017.
We are beginning to see some very positive feedback from parents and young people. A large-scale survey of over 13,000 families who gained an EHC plan in 2015 found that two thirds of those families were satisfied with the overall experience of getting a plan, and three-fifths agreed the help and support set out in the plan would achieve the desired outcomes. The Inspection report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which looks at SEND in local areas, also identifies that many areas have strengths with aspects of services. For example, in North Yorkshire, inspectors found a “large majority of EHC plans evaluated by inspectors were strong and effectively supported the progress of children and young people.”
Where local area performance is a particular concern, departmental officials working closely with partners, including NHS England, have engaged with local areas to provide support and challenge, and have seen a proactive and positive response. On the specific finding on the exclusion of pupils, we are also clear that any decision to exclude should be lawful, reasonable and fair. As announced by the Prime Minister, the Department for Education will take forward an external review of exclusions practice, focused on the experiences of those groups who are disproportionately likely to be excluded.