SEND improvement plan – sector response

The Government has pledged to end the postcode lottery in SEND provision

What the plan says: ‘We need to address the “postcode lottery” of SEND and alternative provision support that exists currently. Children, young people and their families do not know what to reasonably expect, settings are ill-equipped to support needs and needs are identified late or incorrectly.’

What they say:

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive, National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA)

‘We know from feedback from our nursery members that the current system for supporting children with SEND has huge variation across the regions and different services. This sadly means that children with additional needs are not receiving the same level of support, according to their needs.

‘So we welcome this plan for national standards to support children with SEND to address this postcode lottery and make sure all children and their families get the support they need.  

‘A child’s early years is the critical stage when professionals can identify special needs and begin getting support for children. That specialist early intervention can have the biggest impact on a child’s life chances.’

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND ALTERNATIVE PROVISION STANDARDS

What the plan says: ‘(“National Standards”) will set clear and ambitious expectations for what good looks like in identifying and meeting needs, and clarify who is responsible for delivering provision and from which budgets, across the 0-25 system…

‘The delivery of National Standards will be supported by new SEND and alternative provision practice guides for frontline professionals and an amended SEND Code of Practice for all system partners (which we will consult on). These will set out the wider processes and systems to ensure children and young people get the right support, in the right place, at the right time.’

What they say:

Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU)

‘Whilst we welcome ambitions to transform the landscape of SEND, we remain unconvinced that the measures proposed will improve the standard of provision that is currently on offer. Throughout the consultation process, teacher unions, parents and expert associations raised concerns about the “National Standards” which will replace the SEND Code of Practice, yet the Department for Education have pressed ahead with this ill-advised change.  

‘There is no evidence that National Standards for SEND will improve access to the specialist support services that schools tell us is the most challenging aspect of keeping students in mainstream provision. The proposals place the emphasis on already stretched schools doing more through the current available provision.Without funding and a more timely expansion of professional support, such as speech and language therapy and Camhs, schools will buckle and more SEND young people are likely to fall between the cracks of the system.’

Annamarie Hassall, CEO and Chair of Whole School SEND at Nasen – National Association for Special Educational Needs

'The standards will clarify who is responsible for delivering provision and from which budgets, which should result in the financial responsibility for SEND being shared more fairly across education, health and social care, and provide clear sightlines of accountability, reducing the need to pursue routes of redress.

'Since the intention is that the National Standards will raise the quality of universal provision, it is hoped that more needs will be met at an earlier stage. The National Standards will be also provide the basis for developing a national approach to funding bands and tariffs, leading to greater equity between local areas. 

‘As an organisation, nasen will look to work closely with decision makers to shape thinking around the development of National Standards, so that they achieve their goal of ordinarily available access to the right provision for each and every child in England. We will continue to stress the importance of sufficient funding throughout the system, and to influence how funding is shared.’

Iryna Pona, Policy Manager at The Children’s Society

‘The introduction of national standards and testing new approaches in 32 areas will go some way towards ending the current postcode lottery of support that exists, but there is still an urgent need to help children already struggling in school. We need to see earlier interventions in communities and improved mental health support in schools, backed with funding and resources to protect these children and help them thrive.’

FUNDING

What the plan says: ‘Despite significant investment, local authority spending continues to outstrip funding. That is why we have already announced investment to support delivery of this Plan: £400 million of the £2 billion additional funding for schools, announced in the Autumn Statement, will be allocated to local authorities’ high needs budgets in 2023-24. In 2023-24, high needs funding will be rising to £10.1 billion – an increase of over 50 per cent from 2019-20 allocations.’

What they say:

Councillor Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board

'Councils share the Government’s ambition of making sure every child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) gets the high-quality support that meets their needs. It is good the Government has set out new national standards which will clarify the support available, and the focus on early intervention will also ensure needs are met more effectively.

'However, while the measures announced will help to fix some of the problems with the current system, they do not go far enough in addressing the fundamental cost and demand issues that result in councils struggling to meet the needs of children with SEND.'

Neil Leitch, CEO, the Early Years Alliance

‘It is positive to see that the government's SEND Improvement Plan acknowledges the importance of high-quality SEND provision that starts from the early years, and critically, the need for a review into the existing early years SEND funding system.

‘However, warm words will only take us so far. It is absolutely pivotal, therefore, that this review leads to a significant and long-term increase in early years SEND funding – because, as it stands, funding does not come anywhere near close to what is needed. We know that early educators  are extremely committed to supporting children with SEND, but the fact is that the current system is not fit-for-purpose and as such, it is increasingly impossible for them to be able to do so sustainably.' 

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive, NDNA

‘From our research into council budgets, most high needs budgets are not keeping up with local demands. This is putting pressure on other budgets like early years as they try to offset deficits within the high needs block. Any plan that is to work for all children, their families and providers needs to have sufficient investment from the start.’ 

NEW SENCO NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION (NPQ)

What the plan says: ‘We will introduce a new leadership level SENCo NPQ (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator National Professional Qualification) for schools, and practice guides will offer evidence-based support for frontline professionals…

‘Currently, SENCOs must complete the mandatory National Award for SEN Co-ordination (NASENCo) within 3 years of taking the role. To ensure the qualification provides the skills needed for the role, aligns with wider teacher training reforms and is completed consistently, the green paper proposed introducing a new mandatory leadership level SENCo National Professional Qualification (NPQ) and strengthening the mandatory timeframe requirement in which the qualification must be undertaken…

‘We intend to replace the NASENCo with a mandatory level SENCo NPQ for SENCos that do not hold the current qualification, including those that became a SENCo prior to September 2009.’

What they say:

Annamarie Hassall, CEO, Nasen

‘The absence of a SEND focused NPQ has been an omission from the NPQ portfolio for too long, so we welcome all prominence to SEND and inclusion across the NPQ suite.’

‘SENCOs holding the NASENCO Award will not be expected to acquire the SENCO NPQ. As the content and structure of the new NPQ is likely to be at an early stage, nasen would be delighted to input to the development. I would caution any suggestion that the SENCO NPQ replaces the NASENCO Award, these will be different qualifications. Indeed, it is the DfE requirement and subsequently the Code of Practice that will change.

‘Despite common misconceptions, the NASENCO Award does not belong to nasen nor do we derive any kind of income from it, however we recognise the quality of this Masters level award and the depth of knowledge and understanding that it delivers, and we would encourage the current providers of the NASENCO Award to maintain their offer for those wishing to study SEND and inclusion at a higher level.’ 

EARLY YEARS SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS CO-ORDINATORS (SENCos)/ WORKFORCE

What the plan says: The Government will fund up to 5,000 early years staff to gain an accredited Level 3 early years SENCo qualification to support the early years sector, with training running until August 2024.

What they say:

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive, NDNA

‘In order to be successful, this plan must be sufficiently resourced. We recognise the investment the Government has made in training 5,000 early years SENCos, but there must also be sufficient external specialists including speech and language therapists to be able to work with the children. 

“Early years providers are facing a workforce crisis and extreme financial pressures. If these challenges are not addressed immediately, they won’t have resources or the capacity to deliver this high quality support that all children should be entitled to.’

Sian Marsh, Programme Director, Early Years and ITT at Best Practice Network

'The commitment to expanding investment in early years SENCOs is especially welcome. All of us working in the early years sector are acutely aware of increasing demands for specialist support and we at Best Practice Network, working with a national network of partners, are already delivering an early years SENCo qualification. The programme has been oversubscribed and we are on course to meet our objective of 3,000 SENCos on the programme or finishing it by the end of the first year.'

National Officer Helen Osgood, Community, the union for education and early years professionals

'We welcome the plan, but it’s long overdue. There is already a huge backlog and overload in the system, and it will take many years to implement the measures outlined in the plan.

'Thousands of children and families, and those who work with them, need help and support right now.

'The plans to recruit new staff are impressive and ambitious, but both schools and the health service are already struggling to recruit and retain staff so, realistically, it is unlikely these recruitment targets will be met.

'Questions also remain about the amount of funding available.'

EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND CARE PLAN (EHCP)

What the plan says: '[We will introduce] a reformed, nationally consistent EHCP (Education, Health, and Care Plan) process.’

‘We will develop digital requirements for EHCP systems to improve experiences for parents, carers and professionals, reduce bureaucracy and improve our ability to monitor the health of the SEND system.’

What they say:

Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary of the NEU

‘Since 2015 the number of children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) has increased by 97 per cent. The Department for Education has only increased funding by 65 per cent and that is before seven years of inflation is taken into account. There is now a £3.3 billion gap between funding the DfE provides through the High Needs Block and the cost of restoring the value of an EHCP to its real terms value in 2015-16.

Annamarie Hassall, CEO, Nasen

‘The move towards a digitised and standardised EHC Plan is something nasen believes has the potential to transform accessibility and equity for children and young people, their families and agencies. The plan falls somewhat short of nasen’s vision for a swifter route to digitisation, and it is notable that LAs will be ‘encouraged’ to adopt the standard template, rather than mandated, but it is a step in the right direction. 

‘The details of standardised, digitised EHC Plans offer a promising start, but we believe there could be more pace and ambition shown in this area. We must move towards a future where the power of assistive technology is harnessed to ensure that anyone with accessibility needs can readily interact with the system, therefore amplifying the authentic voice of EHC Plan owners, i.e. children and young people with SEND and their families. It should also offer the right level of quick and easy access to teachers, parents and multi-agency practitioners, helping to cut red tape and speed up processes to enable timely support.’

SPECIAL SCHOOLS

What the plan says: ‘We will invest £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to fund new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. We are approving a tranche of applications from local authorities to open new special free schools in their area. We will shortly launch competitions to seek high-quality proposer groups to run these schools. This is in addition to 92 open special free schools and a further 49 which are in the delivery pipeline.’

What they say:

Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary, NEU

‘We welcome additional special school places for those students who need them but remain concerned that with limited numbers of new areas accessing funding to build 33 new special schools, there continues to be a postcode lottery of provision which will not meet the current, let alone future, needs of SEND young people.’

Iryna Pona, policy manager at The Children’s Society

‘A worryingly high proportion of teenagers that are victims of child criminal exploitation have also been excluded from school and placed in alternative provision or have special educational needs. That’s why it is so essential that we focus on what will improve the experiences of adolescents as well as younger children.’

• The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan is available here