Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition is being used for ‘complex needs’ under the proposed reforms set out in the consultation, SEND reform: Putting children and young people first.

In the department’s consultation ‘Special educational needs and disabilities reform: putting children and young people first’, the term ’complex needs’ is used to describe children and young people who require support at the specialist level which will be set out in Specialist Provision Packages. We are appointing an independent expert panel to develop the full packages in discussion with families and professionals working across education and healthcare.

The department is considering responses to the consultation, including how we best provide support to children with high levels of need and who require significant join-up between education and health services.

As part of this consultation, we have published an outline of the proposed Specialist Provision Packages. These packages will set out the broad support children requiring specialist provision need across education, health and social care.

The department’s reforms are still proposals and not final decisions. We are continuing to listen and carefully reviewing feedback before setting out the government's response and next steps.