SEN reforms failing young people and parents

A group of MPs have warned that a generation of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities is failing to receive the support it deserves.

The Education Committee has published a new report into the topic, finding that poorly implemented legislation from the government is leaving families facing a nightmare of bureaucracy, buck-passing and confusion.

Having heard from more than 70 witnesses and received more than 700 submissions of written evidence, the committee concluded that while the reforms to the support for children and young people contained in the Children and Families Act 2014 were the right ones, poor implementation has put local authorities under pressure, left schools struggling to cope and, ultimately, thrown families into crisis.

Poor support can result in young people being isolated in school, unable to access the curriculum and find it hard to make friends. As adults, the training and employment opportunities were found to be poor, deriving from a fundamental lack of ambition for young people with SEND across the country.

Among its recommendations, MPs say that there needs to be a more rigorous inspection framework for local authorities, with clear consequences for failure, with a greater focus on SEND in school inspections. Additionally, the government should introduce a direct line for parents and schools to appeal directly to the Department for Education where local authorities appear not to be complying with the law, and that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman should be given greater powers to investigate complaints about schools.

Robert Halfon, chair of the committee, said: "Despite the good intentions of the reforms, many children with special educational needs and disabilities are being let down day after day. Many parents face a titanic struggle just to try and ensure their child gets access to the right support. Families are often forced to wade through a treacle of bureaucracy, in a system which breeds conflict  and despair as parents try to navigate a postcode lottery of provision. A lack of accountability plagues the system as local authorities, social care and health providers too frequently seek to pass the buck rather than take responsibility for providing support.

“Children and parents should not have to struggle in this way – they should be supported. There needs to be a radical change to inspection, support for parents, and clear consequences for failure to ensure the 2014 Act delivers as the government intended."

The Local Government Association’s Judith Blake said: “This report supports our long-term concerns that the services for children with special education needs have reached a tipping point. Extra funding for SEND services next year is recognition of these pressures and will help councils in meeting demand for support next year, but we agree with the Committee that system reform is necessary alongside additional funding.

“We are pleased that MPs have also echoed our call for Ofsted to assess inclusion by schools – rather than focussing primarily on academic results - during an inspection and hold schools with low numbers of children with SEND to account..  Councils support the reforms set out in the Children and Families Act in 2014, but we were clear at the time that the cost of implementing them had been underestimated by the government.

“Since the introduction of the Act, which extended eligibility for SEND support, councils have seen a near 50 per cent rise in children and young people with Education, Health and Care plans– which state the support a child with SEND can receive. There are currently 354,000 pupils with EHCPs, and is a 11 per cent increase since last year alone, government funding has simply not kept up with the increased demand. Councils want to work with the government and families and children with SEND to make the system work more effectively for everyone.”

Angela Rayner, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, responded: “This devastating report exposes a system on the verge of breakdown. Even a senior Conservative MP is now warning that parents have been ‘let down’ and left ‘in despair’ without the support they and their children need. It is the latest evidence that the most vulnerable children are paying the highest price for this government’s cuts.”