Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of conducing cross-departmental review on the use restrictive practices for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

No specific assessment has been made. However, the Government states that restrictive practices should only ever be used as a last resort, using the least restrictive option, when all attempts to de-escalate a situation have been employed.

The Department for Education has commenced a programme of work to minimise instances of the use of reasonable force and restraint in all schools, starting with extensive evidence gathering in early 2023, including a public call for evidence. The call for evidence will help inform revisions to the current guidance, use of reasonable force in schools, to provide school staff with advice on alternative and preventative strategies to using reasonable force or restrictive practices, as well as guidance on when and how it is appropriate to do so. This will empower school staff with a range of safe and effective approaches when dealing with extremely challenging situations. The Department for Education will ensure that the updated guidance will consider the age and needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.

We welcomed the Care Quality Commission, Out of sight – who cares?, report into restraint, seclusion, and segregation. Although this report did not focus specifically on children it did include findings from some children’s services. We published our response in July 2021, in which we accepted in full or in principle all recommendations.