Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidelines on support for SEND children in the mainstream education system.

To support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we will help mainstream settings to make the necessary changes to embed inclusive practice. We will develop new National Inclusion Standards to bring greater clarity and evidence to this space. These will set out, for the first time, support that should be available in every mainstream setting, and we will appoint an expert panel to develop and make recommendations regarding the content of the National Inclusion Standards.

The SEND Code of Practice provides statutory guidance for organisations supporting children with SEND. We have committed to updating the Code to reflect changes in the SEND system and findings of recent independent scrutiny, including from the Education Select Committee. The updated Code will clarify responsibilities for mainstream settings and establish a consistent approach to supporting children with SEND.

We are consulting on proposals to reform the SEND system, and the consultation is accessible at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/. We will undertake a separate, full public consultation on the proposed changes to the Code of Practice to reflect best practice and the views of children and young people, families and professionals.