Special Educational Needs: Staff

(asked on 12th January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the SEND review has identified gaps in the specialist workforce.


Answered by
Claire Coutinho Portrait
Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
This question was answered on 17th January 2023

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, published in March 2023, recognised that too many families faced difficulties and delay in accessing specialist support for their child and referenced examples where this was particularly acute. The review can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1063620/SEND_review_right_support_right_place_right_time_accessible.pdf.

In the review, the Department of Health and Social Care committed to working with the Department for Education, alongside Health Education England and NHS England, to build the evidence base on demand from children and young people with SEND for the therapeutic and diagnostic workforce, to support effective workforce planning. Since the review was published, the department has already taken steps to increase the capacity of the workforce. In late 2022, we announced an investment of £21 million for the training of 400 more educational psychologists, who play a critical role in the educational support available to children with SEND.

The consultation for the SEND review closed on 22 July 2022. The department is currently reviewing the feedback received and using this, along with continued engagement with the system, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families.

The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an Improvement Plan in early 2023.  We will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change, and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.

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