Putting children and young people first
Consultations have closed on the Government’s proposals for a more inclusive education system in England, with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at its centre.
The LGA is clear that the reforms – set out in the recent Schools White Paper, ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ and an associated SEND consultation – are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this right for our children.
For them to be successful, the Government must work closely with councils as key partners to deliver reforms and ensure they are empowered to drive changes that improve the lives and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.
We welcome the principles of the proposed reforms and want to work with government and all SEND partners to ensure they are implemented and delivered successfully and that the practical implementation challenges can be resolved.
First, working in partnership with clear accountability is critical: all partners must continue to work together positively to make these reforms a success.
Tackling the SEND crisis requires a cross-government response, and we look forward to working with all relevant departments as well as partners in health, education, early years and post-16 settings, parent-carers, and children and young people themselves, to co-produce these reforms with a clear focus on improving outcomes.
SEND reform will be taking place at the same time as closely linked reforms to children’s social care, early years, integrated care boards (ICBs) and local government reorganisation.
We want to work with government to ensure that councils are sufficiently resourced and supported to deliver across all these reform agendas.
It is equally important that reforms take into account the recommendations made in last year’s Curriculum and Assessment Review, and that Ofsted’s school inspection activity has a strengthened focus on encouraging inclusive practices in mainstream settings.
To succeed, government must ensure that meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND is a core function and priority for ICBs, that they have capacity to deliver this function, and that there are robust accountability measures in place if they do not.
We acknowledge the challenges facing ICBs as they go through their own reforms, which have reduced capacity to work strategically on SEND and heightened anxiety of their role in reform – but the role of health partners is critical in effective joint working in local SEND systems.
Second, timescales need to be kept under review to ensure they are realistic, and sufficient funding will be needed to both build capacity now and ensure that the transition to the new system is effective.
The DfE’s timescales for responding to the White Paper consultation and for councils to submit local SEND reform plans (due in on 19 June) were, and are, ambitious, particularly in the absence of critical supporting documents such as detailed guidance on the ‘Experts at Hand’ programme of specialist support.
These documents must be issued as a matter of urgency to support the development of effective plans.
Third, councils need sufficient powers, resourcing and capacity to deliver.
The LGA has already welcomed the inclusion of the early years in the reforms, the national roll-out of Best Start Family Hubs with a specific role for supporting SEND families, changes to the law on independent special schools and the costs of pupil placements, and £1.8 billion over three years to fund ‘Experts at Hand’.
Our recommendation is for this latter funding to sit with councils, who can then use it to commission ICBs to provide specialist support.
Councils, as leaders of place and with a strong understanding of local need, are ideally placed to hold this funding while the number of ICBs is shrinking, resulting in them working across many council areas.
Councils are already reporting shortages of specialists, as evidenced by research undertaken by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the Education Policy Institute.
We want to work with government to develop cohorts of specialists and build on work already being undertaken by councils working with local universities and other education providers.
Local innovation must be supported by a clear national ambition that emphasises the importance of this work and without which risks undermining the ‘Experts at Hand’ programme.
As per our initial response, SEND reforms must be financially sustainable to ensure they can deliver the right outcomes for children both now and in the future. This must include writing off all councils’ dedicated school grant deficits, ahead of the statutory override ending in March 2028.
Additional funding will be needed to meet the growing need for home-to-school transport in the short to medium-term, before we start seeing more children with SEND being educated in their local mainstream school as reforms are implemented.
The LGA is also calling for a review of home-to-school transport legislation to make it fit for the 21st century and reflective of our education system – for example, that education and training is now compulsory to the age of 18.
- You can read the LGA’s full response to the SEND consultation on the LGA website