Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timeframe is for the restarting of in-person tutoring for people with Special Educational Needs as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Supporting all children and young people and keeping them safe is the highest priority for the government, especially at this time. That is why, throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, educational settings have been asked to ensure that children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans can continue to attend where appropriate and, following a risk assessment, where their needs can be safely met in the educational environment.

From 1 June, we asked special educational settings to welcome back as many children and young people as could be safely catered for in their setting, informed by their risk assessments. In mainstream settings, we asked that children and young people with EHC plans in eligible year groups experience the same return to settings as their peers without EHC plans in the same year group, informed by their risk assessments.

The department has now published detailed plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September. The guidance provides specific advice on approaches for reducing the risk of transmission as well as other operational considerations for educational settings to follow as they prepare for welcoming back all pupils and students with special educational needs and disabilities in both mainstream and special educational settings.

The guidance for special educational settings is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.

The guidance for mainstream settings is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Shielding advice for all adults and children will pause on 1 August, subject to the continued decline in the rates of community transmission of COVID-19, which will mean that pupils and students on the shielded patient list can return to their educational setting in September. For those currently identified as clinically extremely vulnerable, decisions about returning to school in September should be based on a consultation with their paediatric specialist or GP. Further advice on shielding is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-young-people-on-shielding-and-protecting-people-most-likely-to-become-unwell-if-they-catch-coronavirus#understanding-the-clinical-risk-to-children-and-young-people.

Guidance on shielding from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is available here: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/covid-19-shielding-guidance-children-young-people#frequently-asked-questions-on-shielding.

Where a pupil is unable to attend their setting because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, we expect settings to be able to immediately offer them access to remote education.

Since May, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, it has been necessary to modify Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 so that local authorities and health commissioners must use their ‘reasonable endeavours’ to secure or arrange the specified special educational health care provision in EHC plans. We are committed to removing these flexibilities as soon as possible so that children and young people can receive the support they need to return to school. As such, unless the evidence changes, we will not be issuing further national notices to modify the EHC duties but will consider whether any such flexibilities may be required locally to respond to outbreaks.