SEND Provision and Reform
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(6 days, 10 hours ago)
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Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
The Minister is probably sick of hearing me bang on about the local picture up in the East Riding of Yorkshire and the fact that ours is the lowest-funded local authority for SEND. We have roughly £1,000 per pupil per year, while Camden is at the other end of the league table: the funding in the Prime Minister’s constituency amounts to £3,800 per pupil. That discrepancy, that inequality, is simply insane. It is an historic problem caused by a funding formula that does not work for larger rural authorities, and it is an issue on which Members on both sides of the House have campaigned for many years.
This is one of those “almost too difficult to do” problems that Ministers, both on our side and on the Labour side, have perhaps shied away from. I ask the Minister tonight to grasp this unique opportunity, given that the Government are now consulting. I am pleased that I shall be meeting her next week, along with my right hon. Friends the Members for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) and for Goole and Pocklington (David Davis), and I hope that we can find a way forward.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford) for giving us a chance to debate these issues again today. In the limited time available to me, I will draw attention to a few of the specific problems that the system is throwing up. One problem involves EHCP drafting—if, of course, it is possible to obtain an EHCP in a timely manner in the first place. We often see only a vague recognition of need, which means that delivery on that need and the action plan is unenforceable from a legal perspective. The routine breaches of timelines are outrageous: people are waiting four years for an autism diagnosis. As a parent of a child with SEND, I was extremely lucky, in that my son’s nursery recognised his developmental issues when he was two and was very supportive during the process on which we then embarked, but I then became aware of how adversarial that process can become when one begins to engage in the issue of local authority provision.
I found out at 3.30 pm on a Friday, via an email, that my son would not be able to take up the school placement that was, perhaps, most suitable for him at that point. The email did say that I could appeal against the decision, but it gave no reasons for why it had been made, and of course at 3.30 pm on a Friday everyone had finished work for the weekend, so replying was not an option. We can address, and should be addressing, such simple problems in the system to ensure that the journey for parents is easier and less challenging, because the more we can get the children into the right settings, the better it will be for them. Fewer will lose time in education and it will be possible to avoid the long-term problems that lead to further issues in adulthood, so that we do not find a child heading into a journey of never-ending care.
Gregory Stafford
I entirely support what my hon. Friend is saying, and I think the idea that anyone on this side is wholly endorsing the current system is a false one. My fear, however—which I think my hon. Friend is expressing—is that, under the current proposals in the White Paper, if he unfortunately has to proceed through the tribunal system, the tribunal will be no longer be able to allocate a specific provision for parents and child, which essentially renders the whole thing null and void. Does he agree that we should be asking the Government not to rip up their proposals, but to listen to the concerns that parents are expressing about their changes and tweak them, so that they can be responsive to the problems that he is raising?
Charlie Dewhirst
One of the problems for the children involved is that their journey is uncertain, and the system becomes inflexible. The reviews are not carried out in a timely fashion, which means that a child gets stuck in a placement that may not be right, which exacerbates the problem for the future. We end up with much bigger, more costly issues—not just costly in terms of local authority or central Government spending, but costly for parents and children. As a parent, I think that one of the biggest challenges is not knowing where that journey is going to end—not knowing what my son’s outlook is likely to be in two years, five years or 10 years. If we felt confident that the system would be there to provide support and the necessary safeguard in respect of that schooling provision—perhaps provision into adulthood, if required—perhaps we could start to break down some of the barriers.
I appreciate that much of this comes with costs, and that local authorities need more provision in certain areas. I plead with the Government once again to ensure that the inequality in the funding gap is addressed, but I hope we now have an opportunity to find a better way forward for SEND provision.
Oral Answers to Questions
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(3 months ago)
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The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)
I thank my hon. Friend for our recent discussion about this issue. The £3 billion we are investing in schools is precisely for sensory rooms and other investments to make schools more accessible for young people. I would be delighted to join her on a visit.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Bridget Phillipson
I would of course be happy to meet, or to arrange for a Minister to meet, the hon. Gentleman and colleagues. He will appreciate that changes of the manner he describes will often take time, to make sure we get them right. It has been necessary, because of the timelines available to us, to provide funding on the basis on which it was allocated previously, but we are considering other options through the schools White Paper.
Oral Answers to Questions
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(10 months ago)
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Catherine McKinnell
I absolutely agree with the importance of financial education. We are looking at the curriculum and assessment system and making sure that we take the advice of the independent review on these matters. I would be more than happy, given my hon. Friend’s enthusiasm—and parents’ enthusiasm—for this subject, to discuss it further with him.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Last week the Chancellor committed £9.6 billion over the next four years to the school rebuilding programme. Hornsea school and language college in my constituency is in dire need of a full rebuild, so can the Secretary of State commit today to including it in the next tranche of rebuilds? If she needs any persuading, I would be delighted to invite her to make a short detour on her way back to Sunderland and to come and have a look for herself.
Oral Answers to Questions
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(11 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
This Labour Government inherited a lose, lose, lose SEND system, in the words of the Tories’ last Education Secretary, but we have invested an additional £1 billion in high needs budgets and £740 million to pave the way for pupils with SEND to achieve and thrive in mainstream schools. Just last week in Derbyshire, I met families with experience of the SEND system who had been badly failed by the Tory county council. This Labour Government know that the SEND system needs far-reaching reform to deliver better life chances for all our children.
Charlie Dewhirst
The Secretary of State is well aware that the East Riding of Yorkshire receives the lowest level of funding for children with SEND, and I hope that the current review gives the Government an opportunity to rectify that. On a wider point, parents like me often look ahead to the school holidays with a sense of dread, because the provision for out-of-school activities for children with SEND is so limited and what is available is often expensive. As part of this review, will she look at what more can be done by local authorities to provide opportunities for young people with SEND outside term time?
Bridget Phillipson
I know that the hon. Gentleman cares deeply about this issue, and brings real passion and determination to trying to ensure that all children, including those with SEND, are given the support that they require. For the purpose of wider reform, I will look carefully at the funding issues that he has identified and also at the issue of broader support. Parents have the right to request wraparound holiday childcare places, and we updated the relevant guidance this year. We want to ensure that all children receive the support that they need, and that applies to childcare for SEND children aged up to 18.
Education
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Stephen Morgan
I note the hon. Member’s point on that specific college. As he will know, the Chancellor committed £1.4 billion at the Budget to drive the delivery of the current school rebuilding programme for next year. Over the coming weeks and months, we will work with trusts and local authorities to identify which schools will be in scope.
[Official Report, 4 November 2024; Vol. 756, c. 19.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan):
Oral Answers to Questions
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(1 year, 5 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
Foster carers provide some of the best care for children who are looked after. Some £4 million of new funding has been allocated for regional foster recruitment hubs, bringing the total amount of funding to £15 million. I am pleased to say that these hubs will generate hundreds of new foster placements.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Stephen Morgan
I note the hon. Member’s point on that specific college. As he will know, the Chancellor committed £1.4 billion at the Budget to drive the delivery of the current school rebuilding programme for next year. Over the coming weeks and months, we will work with trusts and local authorities to identify which schools will be in scope.
SEND Provision
Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(1 year, 7 months ago)
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James Wild
The hon. Gentleman makes his point. It underlines the need for reform of the system, which is precisely why mediation was part of the proposals that we brought forward.
The reforms were based around national standards so that there was a consistent approach. The first area we were going to bring forward was developing standards for speech and language, which is so important, and improving the timeliness of the EHCP process by introducing a standardised approach. As part of our focus on SEND, the last Government opened 15 new free schools, approved a further 40 and invested in training—which again is so important—for over 5,000 early years SEND practitioners. I know that the Minister is committed to delivering better outcomes, so can she confirm whether the Government have committed to implementing the national standards and the approach that we put forward in those reforms?
Funding in the SEND sector remains a significant challenge, increasing pressure on councils; the recent County Councils Network and Local Government Association report set that out clearly. As other hon. Members have referred to, in government we set out the safety value and delivering better value programmes, which 90 local authorities are involved in. Additionally, the statutory override was introduced to prevent SEND-related deficits from overwhelming council budgets. However, that override is set to expire in March 2026, and without clear direction, local authorities face the prospect of making significant cuts. Can the Minister clarify the Government’s intentions, and whether the statutory override will be extended to give councils the flexibility to work with schools and families to make the necessary changes? Local authorities are also seeing huge pressures from home-to-school transport costs. In Norfolk alone that is £60 million, with more than 80% allocated to SEND pupils. That is money spent on journeys rather than delivering better education, so improving mainstream education and specialist provision closer to where children live is vital.
One of the first of over 40 visits that I undertook in my first term as an MP in my constituency was to Greenpark academy, where the head raised the issue of speech and language therapy and access to therapists, which has been referred to. The Conservative Government made progress in improving access, recognising the long-term benefits of early intervention, but there is still much more to do, which I concede readily. I welcome the Government announcement in July that they will continue the Nuffield early language intervention programme this school year, and I hope that it will continue beyond that. However, there is still considerable disparity of access, so what steps will the Government take to address that, so that every child with speech and language needs gets the support that they deserve?
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a travesty that a child with SEND in the London borough of Camden receives more than three times the funding of a child with SEND in my constituency? Every child should have access to the same support, funding and opportunity.
James Wild
Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes the point that our right hon. Friend the Member for Goole and Pocklington (Sir David Davis) made earlier, as well as in a debate in the previous Parliament. I am sure the Minister will touch on that in her response.