Special Educational Needs: Finance

(asked on 20th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of each of the funding streams to support implementation of Special Educational Needs and Disability reforms as listed by the Council for Disabled Children in its July Digest.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Agnew of Oulton
This question was answered on 4th December 2017

As set out in the Council for Disabled Children’s digest, the government has provided significant resources to support implementation of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms. This includes £223 million to local councils between April 2014 and March 2018 and, during the same period, £60 million for around 1,200 Independent Supporters to help families with the Education Health and Care (EHC) plan process.

We have also funded training and a SEND leadership programme to support local councils and health services deliver their SEND services and a school improvement programme to further embed good SEND practice in schools. This includes a ‘what works’ resource, drawing on evidence-based practice on SEND in good and outstanding schools and colleges, published earlier this month.

These resources, among a wide range of others, can be found at: http://www.sendgateway.org.uk and https://send.excellencegateway.org.uk.

We gather intelligence from a wide range of sources to understand where services are working well, where they could do better, and to focus our resources on where we can make a difference. This includes activity the government funds, surveys, research and inspections, feedback from our team of professional SEND advisers (who work directly with local councils to improve the delivery of services) performance information and feedback from lead tribunal judges and parents. We welcome the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s report, published on 23 October 2017.

We are beginning to see some very positive feedback from parents and young people. A large-scale survey of over 13,000 families who gained an EHC plan in 2015 found that two thirds of those families were satisfied with the overall experience of getting a plan, and three-fifths agreed the help and support set out in the plan would achieve the desired outcomes. The Inspection report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which looks at SEND in local areas, also identifies that many areas have strengths with aspects of services. For example, in North Yorkshire, inspectors found a “large majority of EHC plans evaluated by inspectors were strong and effectively supported the progress of children and young people.”

Where local area performance is a particular concern, departmental officials working closely with partners, including NHS England, have engaged with local areas to provide support and challenge, and have seen a proactive and positive response. On the specific finding on the exclusion of pupils, we are also clear that any decision to exclude should be lawful, reasonable and fair. As announced by the Prime Minister, the Department for Education will take forward an external review of exclusions practice, focused on the experiences of those groups who are disproportionately likely to be excluded.

Reticulating Splines