Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with the SEND in the Specialists coalition on the specialist workforce for children and young people with SEND; and what the outcome was of those discussions.

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, set out that the Department for Education will work with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning, and a steering group has now been established to oversee this work.

As part of the steering group for joint SEND workforce planning, officials are working closely with the SEND in the specialists coalition to seek their views and have regular meetings with representatives from the coalition to gain sector insight and collaborate on ongoing policy work. On the 14 November 2023, officials from the Department for Education attended a coalition meeting where they presented ongoing policy work relating to SEND Practitioner Standards and introduced the department’s new ‘Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools’ (PINS) programme. Officials have taken on board the coalition’s feedback, and that of other stakeholders they have engaged with, in the development of products and guidance to support the delivery of the programmes. In addition to engagement at official level, the former Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing met with the representatives from the coalition last year, and the minister looks forward to continuing these important discussions when he meets with members in the coming months. The department will continue to engage and work together with a range of stakeholders to discuss ways in which we can improve access to the specialist workforce for the many children and young people who need support.