Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what communications the Department for Education plans for local authorities, schools and parents where the national standards as outlined in their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan (CP 800) will be trialled. explaining how that Plan complies with existing legislation and guidance, in particular the Equalities Act 2010, the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice.

The new National Standards will build on the comprehensive legal framework relevant to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) by clarifying what good evidence-based provision looks like, who is responsible for securing it and from what budgets.

The department has heard through the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper how important it is that National Standards are evidence-based and that children, young people and their families are able to feed into the development process. We are setting up a steering group of cross sector representatives, that will include parent-carer representatives, to oversee the development of standards. The department will test the National Standards in the context of our £70 million Change Programme to ensure they are iterated and set up for success.

The development of the National Standards may require updates to both the legislation on SEND and to the SEND Code of Practice. The department will publish the National Standards in full for consultation.