Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve decision making by local authorities on special educational provision for children.

To support strategic decision-making, the department will introduce new local Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) partnerships that bring together delivery partners across local systems to support local authorities to strategically plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and in AP. Partnerships will be expected to co-produce a Local Area Inclusion Plan based on robust evidence that will explain how the needs of children and young people aged 0-25 in the area will be met. The department is providing local authorities with guidance on partnerships and plans throughout the year to strengthen local governance and decision-making for SEND and AP and services. Soon, the department will be launching a national and local inclusion dashboard that will present published data on system health and performance to enable better decision-making at a national and local level and drive self-improvement across local areas.

The department is also testing, via the Change Programme, whether using Multi Agency Panels for decision making about individuals in the Education, Health and Care plan process improves decision-making and parental confidence.