Today, the Public Accounts Committee published their report on support for children and young people with special educational needs. They conclude that the current SEN system is inconsistent, inequitable and not delivering in line with expectations. The report is highly critical of the Department for Education (DfE). The committee found the Department lacked understanding of why demand for support has increased and that it had insufficient data and targets and no clear, costed plan for reforming the system. DfE officials could not offer any potential solution to the critical and immediate financial challenges facing many local authorities, and interventions to date, such as the Safety Valve programme, had been piecemeal and no fit for purpose in the longer term. The committee also noted that the DfE has yet to clarify what it means by ‘inclusive education’ or how it will be achieved, despite this being a core tenet of their proposed reforms.
Clare Howard, CEO of Natspec said:
In the Public Accounts Committee Report, we have yet another set of findings setting out the failings of the current SEND system. These findings largely echo those in other recently published reports. Broadly speaking, we welcome the committee’s conclusions and recommendations but once again, the specific needs of young people aged 16+ and the differing context of further education (FE) are not acknowledged. Planning for improved SEND provision requires an understanding of the whole system, including the experiences of 16–25-year-olds and the different context within which further education operates.
In responding to the committee’s calls to action, we hope the DfE will consider how the report’s recommendations might be applied so that they are meaningful across the full range of the 0-25 system.