Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support he plans to provide to schools to ensure that the needs of children with an Education, Health and Care plan are able to safely return to school during the covid-19 outbreak.

On 2 July, the government published detailed guidance for schools, including special education settings, to help them plan for a full return of their pupils in September. The guidance, which has been developed with medical experts from Public Health England, provides specific advice on how schools should implement a ‘system of controls’ to reduce the risk of transmission.

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

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

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 education, health and care (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. This means that children with EHC plans will be able to receive support as usual, upon their return to school.

We know that transport arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities will be critical to ensuring a safe return. We will publish guidance for local authorities who provide dedicated school transport shortly.

We will continue to work closely with and support special educational settings, parents and carers, local authorities and other partner organisations, as they plan for the autumn term.