PAC calls on the government to address SEND crisis
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published a report which calls upon the government to take action to improve support for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN).
The PAC has found that too many families are unable to access SEN support, with a system inherently favouring parents and carers who are better equipped to navigate a difficult process liable to produce marked inequalities.
The report sheds light on a postcode lottery, where wait times for education, health and care (EHC) plans vary widely across the country, including between neighbouring boroughs. 71.5 per cent of EHC plans were written on time in Lambeth, while only 19.2 per cent were in Southwark. Areas with notably poor performance also include the South, South-West and East of England.
The DfE admitted to the PAC that it had not looked hard enough at the barriers to encouraging inclusivity in mainstream schools, leading to the PAC to recommend that the DfE set out provision which children with SEN should expect, how inclusive education should be achieved, and how schools will be held to account, within six m months.
The government was also unable to respond to the PAC with any potential solutions to the critical and immediate financial challenges facing many local authorities following persistent and significant SEN-related spends. If left unresolved, the situation risks undermining the finances of local government across England. The government is urged to collaborate with local authorities to find an appropriate solution.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, chair of the Committee, said: “Urgent warning have long been issued to government on the failing SEND system from every quarter. This is an emergency that has been allowed to run and run. Families in need of help have been forced to spend precious energy fighting of the support they are legally entitled to, and local authorities to bear an unsustainable financial burden.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, continued: “As a nation, we are failing countless children. We have been doing so for years. At the same time, we are creating an existential financial risk for some local authorities, caused by that same failing system. This report must serve as a line in the sand for government. Every day that goes by for families not receiving the right support is another day closer to a lost generation of young people.”
The PAC includes a number of recommendations for the government to consider. This includes the Department for Education working with local authorities and the Ministry of Justice to better understand the reasons for differences in identifying and supporting SEN needs across local areas and schools, routinely identify and share good practice from better performing areas, and to improve local authority decision-making by analysing tribunal decisions.
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