Part Two: What does the Improvement Plan say?
The Department for Education has published its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan. This is the outcome of a long process where parents and carers were consulted about changing the SEND and AP system. Parentkind responded to government citing evidence from 276 parents of children with SEND who completed our online poll about the proposed changes.
Now that the government’s plan has been published, we can see if what parents told us they wanted has been listened to. These are the key areas that the government proposes in order to improve SEND and AP provision.
Establishing new National Standards
New National Standards are intended to reduce the number of children needing an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) as well as make consistent the provision across education settings in all parts of the country. The government’s guidance says, “With the right resources and accountability in place, our intention as we deliver the new national system is for children’s needs to be identified earlier and met more effectively.” The idea was popular with parents responding to our poll, with 84% supporting the measure. The small print includes a promise to engage parents in the development of National Standards and Parentkind is happy to support the government and represent parent voice during that process. A “significant proportion” of the National Standards will be published by the end of 2025.
Standardised EHCPs
The government suggests that standardised Education, Health and Care Plans will reduce bureaucracy and ensure that families experience a less-adversarial system. This proposal was also popular with our poll respondents, with 82% backing standardised EHCP templates and processes. Overall, the government’s plans are intended to reduce, “the need for an EHCP and, where an EHCP is needed, to ensure that parents do not endure lengthy, adversarial and costly processes.” Additionally, almost three quarters (74%) of parents backed the proposal to digitise the EHCP process. Children’s Minister Claire Coutinho is responsible for the SEND and AP Improvement Plan. On ECHP’s, she’s said, “We will ensure that children and young people who require an education, health and care plan or specialist provision will get prompt access to the support that they need, within a less adversarial system. We will introduce new standardised EHCPs, and will support local authorities in increasing their use of digital technology, so that the process is easier and quicker for families.”
Local inclusion plan / tailored list of settings
The government says that it is committed to, “Ensuring parents, children and young people continue to be involved in the decision-making process and will have the right to request a mainstream setting for their child, even when they are eligible for a specialist setting.” The Improvement Plan says that the government will “Require local authorities to improve information available to families and provide a tailored list of suitable settings informed by the local inclusion plan. We have heard agreement that a tailored list of settings would provide parents and carers with clearer information, supporting them to express an informed preference for a placement.” However, this will not be available to all parents straight away as it will be piloted in certain places. “We will first test this proposal through the Change Programme in a limited number of areas.” When Parentkind fed back to the government’s consultation, we told them that 73% of parents who responded to our poll supported the notion that they will be able to choose from a tailored list of settings that meet their child’s needs with the local authority allocating the first available place in order of the parent’s or carer’s preference. There was a high degree of parental scepticism, with 77% saying they weren’t confident that the proposal is achievable. The government acknowledges that “significant concerns, particularly from groups representing parents, carers and children and young people, about the introduction of the tailored list.” This may in part account for the government’s approach in trialling this aspect of the Improvement Plan before rolling it out across the country. Children’s Minister Claire Coutinho has said, “By providing a tailored list of settings that are able to meet the needs set out in an EHCP, we will ensure that families can express an informed preference for a placement, so that children and young people can get the right support in the right setting. We will continue to work closely with families and local authorities as we test this proposal.” In providing parents with more oversight of the process, she has said, “From this autumn, parents will be able to monitor the performance of their local systems through the establishment of local and national inclusion dashboards.”
Creating an Implementation Board
The most popular change to current SEND provision that would make the biggest difference to families that was proposed in our parent poll was that schools/local authorities should be accountable for meeting their statutory obligations. Parents felt that this was a significant area where too many families were being let down by the current system. The creation of a National SEND and Alternative Provision Implementation Board aims “to hold partners to account for the timely development and improvement of the system”. The Implementation Board will be “comprised of parents, sector leaders across education including schools, early years and post-16, health and care and local and national government”. The Children’s Minister will have oversight. The Implementation Board will publish updates on progress in implementing the Improvement Plan and will gather “regular input from a wide range of stakeholders, including children, young people and parents”. Our poll had also found parents wanting improved relations between parents and schools/local authorities, and parental input into the Implementation Board may be one useful way of fostering this. Some details have yet to be divulged, such as what powers the Implementation Board will have to make their concerns heard at a governmental level, how often it will meet, what the commitment will be for parents who wish to be involved and how other parents who are not involved can still make their voices heard.
Mandatory mediation
Parentkind’s poll showed strong parental resistance to the proposal for mandatory mediation. Over half (53%) disagreed that mediation should be compulsory for parents and their child before making an appeal to the SEND Tribunal, compared to just under a third (32%) who agreed.
The government’s Improvement Plan says that it expects the new National Standards to prevent disagreements from rising in the first place. However, the Plan states that government remains committed to delivering proposals for mandatory mediation. The Improvement Plan states, “To help maintain positive relationships locally, we will refresh the model set for coproduction at a local level including clear and transparent communication with parents. This will set out expectations for how local areas should work with families in their area to engage constructively and, as a result, prevent issues from escalating.” There will still be instances where concerns arise and families feel that the service they have received from their Local Authority has not been good enough. Here, the government proposes, “To make it clearer for families how SEND-related concerns and complaints should be dealt with, we will amend the SEND Code of Practice so that it is clearer about who is responsible for resolving concerns. We will set out the routes of escalation if families remain unhappy with the way their concerns have been addressed.” In strengthening the mediation process, the government proposes, “To ensure that mediators understand the SEND system and are properly equipped to understand all views and appropriately guide families through the process, we will review and build on existing professional standards for SEND mediators. Local authorities will remain responsible for commissioning and funding mediation at no cost to families.”
Alternative Provision
The Improvement Plan sets out the government’s ambition to, “Create a three-tier alternative provision system, focusing on targeted early support within mainstream school, time-limited intensive placements in an alternative provision setting, and longer-term placements to support return to mainstream or a sustainable post-16 destination.” This will allow a focus, “…On targeted early support within mainstream school, time-limited intensive placements in an alternative provision setting, and longer-term placements to support return to mainstream or a sustainable post-16 destination.”
The proposals for reforming Alternative Provision received a lukewarm response from the parents we polled. Under half (43%) agreed that the DfE’s new vision for alternative provision will result in improved outcomes for children and young people, where a third 33% disagreed.
