SEND Provision: Hampshire

Debate between Catherine McKinnell and Luke Murphy

Thursday 31st October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Catherine McKinnell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman and I will take that away, because we are open to examples of good practice and ideas for reform that can be rolled out and used in other settings. We do not want the SEND system to work only in pockets; it must work everywhere and we must have a reformed system across the board.

[Luke Murphy]

Will the Minister give way?

[Catherine McKinnell]

I am glad that my hon. Friend has intervened, because it reminds me that I have still not answered a couple of his questions—I will come to them.

[Luke Murphy]

The Minister talked eloquently about how the Government intend to work with councils, providers and others on the reform of the system. How can parents like those I represent in Basingstoke and those represented by other hon. Members present inform and provide input into the future review and reform? Their experience and expertise would be incredibly useful.

[Catherine McKinnell]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, which the hon. Member for North West Norfolk also made. We are clear that the Government cannot deliver this work alone; it must be delivered with partners who are serving children in the community and in partnership with the families who we know are crying out for change. We are keen to consult and engage, and that must be done on as localised a basis as possible to get a real sense of the challenges in different areas. There are many common themes across the country, but there will be issues in particular areas that need to be addressed. I will take that point away and consider it.

Regarding the questions about education, health and care plans, figures released by the Department in September clearly show that children with special educational needs and disabilities are not having their needs addressed and are waiting far too long for action from a system that is currently creaking at the seams. Without further improvements, it is clear that it will just deteriorate further because a growing number of families need support. We know that local authorities have been affected by an increased demand for education, health and care plans, and that their workforce capacity to meet the demand has also been affected. A more efficient and effective service delivery, alongside communication with schools and families, is therefore central to improving the situation.

From this year, we are investing £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists to support workforce capacity in local authority services, including for the delivery of statutory assessments. We will work as quickly as possible to ensure that there is more effective early identification, because, as I have already said, it is important to provide training to early educators so that we can identify the challenges that a child might face early in their life.

We will continue to monitor and work closely with any local authorities that have issues with their education, health and care plan timelines. Where we have concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make improvements, we will work with it to identify the barriers and to put in place effective recovery plans, which includes securing specialist SEND adviser support to help to identify the barriers to ECHP process timeliness and put in place plans for recovery.

There were questions about private schools and the VAT change. Private schools can provide choice, high-quality education, economic benefit and public benefit through partnerships, but most parents cannot choose private schools. We need to improve the provision for the 93% of pupils who are at state-funded schools—that is our focus. Parents who use private schools can pay to support that process by paying the VAT that would apply to other optional services. Ending the tax breaks that private schools currently enjoy will raise revenue to improve public services, including through the provision of 6,500 new teachers in our state-funded schools. Children whose place at a private school has been commissioned by a local authority—for example, under an education, health and care plan—will not be affected by the VAT change.

I absolutely acknowledge the hardship that too many families face when they try to secure the right support for their child with special educational needs and disabilities. I am determined that the situation will change, so I conclude by thanking all those working across the education, health and care systems in the interests of our children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, both in Hampshire and across the country. We need to deliver the very best for all our children and young people, including children with special educational needs and disabilities, and the Government are determined to do that.