Grading the Government’s SEND proposals: “needs more work”
The Government’s SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper has been opened up for public consultation, but parents are already saying it’s missed the point.
Words: Felice Southwell. Images: iStock.
The Government has published what it calls an “ambitious” green paper of proposals to reform the national system for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
It's been a much anticipated document, along with the Schools white paper published in tandem designed to be reviewed together. Of course, this makes for dense, heavy reading.
A public consultation on policies to improve the national SEND support system and boost parent confidence will take place from yesterday for 13 weeks, which should give frustrated families the ability to shape and influence how new systems will work in the future.
The green paper is the result of the SEND Review, which was commissioned to improve the system.
To summarise, the system has been described as inconsistent, process-heavy and adversarial. Too many parents have been left facing difficulties and delays in accessing the right kind of support for their children.
However, many parents of SEND children are already highlighting that the green paper’s proposals do nothing to mitigate some of the biggest flaws in the system.
We’ll explore what the proposals are, what they mean for the system, and what still needs to be addressed to better serve the support needs of SEND children.
What does the green paper say?
The green paper proposes ways to improve the SEND support system for children and young people across education, health and care settings.
Some of the detailed proposals include:
New standards across education, health and care
A simplified Education health and Care Plan (EHCP) to reduce bureaucracy
A new legal requirement for councils to introduce ‘local inclusion plans’ which merge services and create accountability
Publication of new “local inclusion dashboards” to improve oversight and transparency
Changing the culture and practise in education to be better at identifying and supporting SEND
Responding to the new proposals, Councillor Lucy Nethsingha, Deputy Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, says:
“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.
“Despite the best of intentions, the current system is not working, and we are pleased the government has set out reforms to address this. They will only succeed if parents and carers have confidence in the system,” she states.
The proposals are backed by £70 million to implement them, on top of the £9 billion in funding for local authorities’ high needs budgets next year.
The Department of Education says these proposals could be significant and “transformational” to children who need support.
What does the paper get right?
Paediatric physiotherapist and SEND consultant, Jo McMeechan, told Paranting:
“The challenge for SEND is the need for a very individualised approach in a one size fits all education system.
“Many educators are severely let down by the lack of training and knowledge around additional needs, which in turn creates inequality and significant social, emotional and development challenges for children and young people with additional needs,” she explains.
Unintentional harm in education settings has also affected McMeechan’s neurodivergent son:
“My own son is out of school with PTSD due to unmet needs and poor inclusive practice and provision at just 6 years old.”
McMeechan says that if the green paper’s proposal of better training on SEND is delivered correctly—regularly and not just at the point of teacher qualification—there is potential for a positive impact on education.
The green paper’s proposals outline how the Government wants the system to improve, but many parents are highlighting that some problems are left unaddressed by these proposals.
What’s missing from the green paper?
The paper addressed education, health and care settings but failed to identify the role local authorities play in ensuring that full needs assessments are done and providing funding.
McMeechan says: “The problem is the process by which providers and local authorities are held to account. It is long, drawn out and there is a move towards mandatory mediation rather than this only being a consideration for parents.
“As a parent who has fought for support for my Autistic ADHD son, with the local authority being barred from tribunal proceedings due to lack of engagement with the case, I am concerned that mediation will draw the process out further and support the system rather than the child.”
SEND provisions can be costly for councils, and when parents appeal a council’s decision it creates costly legal battles at tribunals.
According to the SEND blog, SpecialNeedsJungle, councils wasted £253 million fighting parents at the SEND tribunal since the 2014 reforms. Collectively, local authorities allocated around £60 million of their resources towards defending SEND appeals in 2020-21.
Statistics from the tribunal body show that most families who appeal a local authority’s decision at Tribunal are already in the EHCP system.
If the green paper doesn’t establish accountability for local authorities to spend their SEND budgets on provisions instead of the legal costs of tribunals, then the consultation will be skewed.
What can paranters do to help?
It’s important to remember that parents who are fighting local authorities are trying to advocate for their children’s support needs to be met. Those who win their appeals are definitely not “winners”, but are simply trying to uphold the law.
The green paper being open to public consultation means that those with the most to gain from a well-functioning, efficient and fair SEND support system are the children.
“We just cannot lose sight of the children at the centre of this being individuals who need a different approach,” McMeechan concludes.
“As a parent who relies on the legal process to support our fight for provision, I'm concerned that some of the protective factors could be at risk. However, there are some fantastic potentials for better training support and inclusion, particularly within mainstream education.”
The Paranting Conclusion
We need to arm ourselves for one more bureaucratic round in the ring with democracy; this is the opportunity to fight to make sure that parents with SEND children have an easier time securing provisions for their family in years to come.
If you can, submit your comments and evidence on the proposals in the green paper. You have until 11:45 p.m. on 1 July 2022.
It’s not just parents’ voices that the consultation should hear from; the opinions of children and young people, carers, SEND advocates and local system leaders should all be considered.
If that’s you, Paranting would encourage you to respond to the consultation with your feedback on the proposals.
More and more of you are joining us with a paid subscription using our tiered pricing levels of membership, and we’re so thankful!
If you didn’t already know, we’ve decided to make sure that there are accessible options of monthly or annual subscriptions for all of our readers.
To help fund our independent quality journalism here at Paranting, the options range from £1 a month to £4 a month.
As an independent publisher we are entirely reader-funded. You can read more about our tiered pricing in our About page here on Substack.
