Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she could set out how her Department enforces duties placed on Local Authorities by a) Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014, b) Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 and c) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.

If my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is satisfied that a local authority is failing to carry out its statutory special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) functions to an adequate standard, the department may intervene directly, using statutory powers and the deployment of SEND Advisers and Commissioners. The Secretary of State can, in accordance with powers under section 497A(4B) of the Education Act 1996, issue Statutory Directions to local authorities to ensure that SEND functions are performed to an adequate standard. The department also issues Improvement Notices to local authorities to require action to improve SEND services. Current Improvement Notices and Statutory Directions are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/improvement-notices.

The Secretary of State has the power to consider complaints, for example, from parents or schools, about local authorities’ compliance with the statutory framework for educating children with SEND, including duties as set out in section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and section 19 of the Education Act 1996 and relevant secondary legislation, including the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. If these complaints are upheld following our review, the Secretary of State can, if appropriate, issue a direction to remedy any adverse findings.

We intend to go further by ensuring clearer roles and responsibilities for all partners and more collective responsibility for the outcomes of children and young people with SEND in a local area. For example, as part of the government’s SEND reform proposals, we will update the SEND Code of Practice as well as updating the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission Area SEND inspection framework.