Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what involvement his Department had with (a) setting the terms of reference and (b) recruiting members of the National SEND Reference Group.

The SEND Reference Group is an external body, organised and managed by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen) so that special schools, colleges and alternative provision could report experiences and issues arising from COVID-19 to the department.

In establishing the group, nasen invited a range of system leaders intended to represent the breadth and diversity of the specialist sector, including across the regions and settings serving different pupil populations.

Minutes of the group’s meetings are available on request from nasen, together with further information on the group at: https://nasen.org.uk/about-nasen/national-send-reference-group.html.