Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the local authority decision-making process when deciding specialist placement for SEND children; and if she will make a statement.

Local authorities are responsible for deciding on the educational placement of a child or young person with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, following the statutory process set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.

In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department sets out the proposal to support parents and carers, or young people from the age of 16, to express an informed preference for a suitable placement, by requiring local authorities to provide a tailored list of settings that are appropriate to meet a child or young person’s needs. This would allow local authorities to give clear choices to families and better meet the needs of children and young people, while supporting the management of placements in a sustainable way.

The department is testing an advisory tailored list in participating local authorities through the Change Programme, to gain feedback on the best way to support families as they chose a placement. During the Change Programme, participating families will receive clear information about which settings are able to meet the needs of their child, but there will be no change to the existing statutory framework and their existing rights will be unaffected.