Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Ofsted Annual Report 2021/22: education, children’s services and skills, published 13 December 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed reforms to the SEND system on the (a) availability and (b) accessibility of SEND assessments for children.

The Children and Families Act 2014 (part 3, section 36) sets out that a request for a local authority in England to secure an education, health and care needs assessment for a child or young person may be made to the authority by the child’s parent, the young person themselves or a person acting on behalf of a school or post-16 institution.

The department’s aim is to create a more inclusive education system with excellent local mainstream provision, which will improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) and those who need alternative provision.

In the Green Paper, the department proposed to establish a new national SEND and alternative provision (AP) system that will set new standards for how needs are identified and met across education, health and care. It has been suggested that there are currently inconsistencies in how and when needs are identified and met. The national standards will include guidance on how and when a child or young person should be identified as requiring SEN Support, and best practice in reasonable adjustments. These standards should improve consistency of identification, reducing the likelihood of misidentification driven by place, setting or other factors.

The department is committed to publishing a full response to the SEND and AP Green Paper in an improvement plan early in 2023. The department will continue to support the system in the immediate term to deliver change, and continue to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those who need AP.