A summer breather before a busy autumn
With Parliament in recess and providers heading into the holidays, August may offer a brief period of respite before policy activity picks up again in the autumn. According to the June Spending Review, the autumn period is when we can expect to see the publication of plans for FE and skills strategy and the long-awaited reform of the SEND system.
What was once described as a SEND White Paper has been subsumed into a broader schools White Paper, with SEND reform folded in. This shift to a focus on SEND in the context of schools could mean FE becomes an afterthought in the thinking around reform and similarly, specialist FE is unlikely to be topmost in government minds when it sets out its FE and Skills reforms. But in theory at least, both White Papers have the potential to result in significant change for our sector.
Details of the SEND reforms remain scarce. The government’s narrative continues to revolve around achieving more inclusive mainstream settings, but with inclusion tsar Tom Rees’s inclusion panel being extended until April 2026, it seems as if the government itself is still investigating how this might work in practice. Suggestions from Dame Christine Lenehan that EHCPs could be limited to specialist settings sparked public backlash, with a campaign led by Special Needs Jungle making headlines and triggering debate on the future of EHCPs.
Meanwhile, the Education Committee is finalising reports from two major inquiries: Solving the SEND Crisis and FE and Skills. Natspec CEO, Clare Howard, was back in front of the Committee in June, this time to provide evidence on FE and Skills, including on the role of specialist colleges within the wider sector. We are expecting reports from these inquiries to be published in the autumn; it will be interesting to see how (or if) they align with government reforms.
Ofsted’s autumn tightrope
Come September, Ofsted is set to publish its revised inspection framework, toolkits, operating guidance and report cards, following its consultation earlier this year. Originally due before the end of summer term, the publication has been delayed, but there will be no delay to the rollout of inspections. Providers will see the outcomes of the consultation and the new framework in September and start being inspected against it just two months later in November. Training for inspectors will also be squeezed into the same period.
Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, defended the timing, saying it would be “dangerous” to pause inspections through the autumn. To ease the transition, Ofsted has said only the most senior inspectors will lead visits in November, and that most teams will include at least one member with relevant sector expertise. A series of webinars and regional briefings will also run that month to help providers prepare.
Meanwhile, Ofsted and CQC have published a review of their revised approach to area SEND inspections. The findings are stark: just 26% of local areas demonstrated strong performance. The biggest problems identified were weak partnership working, delays and poor quality in EHCPs, and a lack of leadership buy-in, but the report offers little in terms of how Ofsted, the DfE, DHSC and local authorities will work to improve performance.
Wales: funding and ALN reform updates
As we head into the Senedd summer recess, we’re still waiting on the Welsh Government to publish details about the devolution of funding held by the Support for Learners Division for placements for learners with ALN in specialist colleges. There’s an ongoing worry that once this funding moves to local authorities, it won’t be ringfenced. Without that protection, learners whose ALN can’t be met in mainstream settings risk being pushed into day services straight from school.
In July, the Cabinet Secretary for Education confirmed there won’t be a published legislative review of the ALNET Act and Code as expected. Instead, Welsh Government plans to work with partners to co-produce practical solutions focused on five priorities: clarifying how to support children and young people with ALN; improving consistency; ensuring families have the right information; strengthening multi-agency collaboration; and exploring a longer-term vision for inclusive education. Welsh Government has promised a further update to the Senedd in the autumn.
The Safety Valve Programme
The government recently published a report on the Safety Valve programme, authored by the Isos Partnership. The aim was to gather views on how the agreement is operating and what its impact has been. The emphasis was very much on views and it was lacking in robust evaluation or strong evidence.
Special Needs Jungle published a detailed summary and response to the report. Stakeholders have highlighted some major issues, including that the report almost exclusively draws on a local authority perspective, focusing on internal processes, financial “breathing space” and system changes. It gives minimal attention to the impact on families or learners and even less to the experience of providers in FE.
There’s no real consideration of the challenges mainstream and specialist colleges face in accessing high needs funding in Safety Valve areas. Concerns raised publicly in recent years, like reduced access to EHCP assessments, ceased plans, or cuts to specialist provision, are largely absent. In short, the report paints a very partial picture which does not reflect the experiences of many colleges.
Transport
The Isos Partnership has had a busy publishing season. Alongside its report on the Safety Valve programme, it also released a review of home-to-school transport. The report highlights rising demand and explores the pressures on the current system, but as with many transport discussions, post-16 provision receives only limited attention.
The report emphasise that SEN travel support must be addressed as a strand within broader SEND reforms. In particular, the authors point out that increased use of mainstream schools will reduce the distances children and young people need to travel and hence the bill for travel support. Recommendations include simplifying eligibility criteria so that any child or young person living more than 3 miles from their nearest suitable school would be eligible for transport, compulsory personal transport budgets, and a stronger push for independent travel. There’s also support for giving local authorities more discretion to fund transport only to the “nearest suitable school.”
The intention is to reduce costs by encouraging more local, inclusive placements. But for many learners, particularly those in specialist settings or FE, distance and need aren’t easily separated. Specialist FE students often travel further because suitable provision is less local, and greater independence will not be achieved simply by withdrawing support when a learner turns 16.
There is certainly no reference to the tightening of access to support for 16-19 year olds that we know to be happening or to the fact that recent rulings have found that some LAs like Birmingham and Derby are adopting blanket approaches to restricting access to travel support that may be unlawful.
Ministerial attention on capital funding
There was a small but welcome win in Parliament this week when Laurence Taylor, MP for Birmingham Northfield, raised a question to the DfE on why specialist FE colleges still don’t have access to capital funding. DfE Minister, Stephen Morgan, who is responsible for ‘the education estate’ acknowledged the issue and agreed to meet to discuss further.