Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a new national agency for SEND to help address variation in provision.

As part of our Plan for Change, the department is determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore the trust of parents. We will do this by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate.

We will publish further details about plans for SEND reform in a Schools White Paper shortly. Our reforms will be underpinned by five principles: ‘early’, ‘local’, ‘fair’, ‘effective’ and ‘shared’.

To support the reforms, we are strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice and help address variation in provision.

For example, recently published evidence reviews from University College London highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective strategies to identify and support children with different types of needs.

The department also funds a What Works in SEND programme. Their research and effective practice models are included at: https://whatworks-send.org.uk/.

New research delivered by UK Research Innovation will also aim to develop effective approaches to early identification of children needing tailored educational support.