Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to SEND tribunal powers on the ability of parents and carers to secure named school placements for children with education, health and care plans.

Under the government’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform proposals, education, health and care plans will be underpinned by clear evidence-based Specialist Provision Packages (SPPs). All providers approved to deliver SPPs will be required to meet standards necessary to deliver the full range of provision specified by the SPP. Local authorities will have to provide parents with a list of suitable schools, approved to deliver the relevant SPP, and parents can select a school from this list or request an alternative school. If the latter, the local authority will take account of parents’ preference alongside evidence of effectiveness, good value, and the needs of other children when offering a place.

If parents disagree with the placement, they would have to consider early resolution through mediation and can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. The Tribunal would consider if the local authority’s decision is reasonable. If it upholds the appeal, the Tribunal could order the decision to be retaken but would not name the placement.

This is intended to ensure placement decisions are made in a more consistent and fair way, with preferences made less in isolation and more holistically, focusing on quality and naming a suitable placement closer to home.

After a 12-week consultation period including over 200 engagement events, meetings and roundtables, the department’s consultation “SEND reform: putting children and young people first” has now closed. We are carefully reviewing and taking into account all responses submitted to the consultation and continuing to engage widely on our proposals.