The Government's Policy Paper on SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan
On the 2 March, the DfE published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan (the Plan).
The Plan sets out how the DfE intends to deliver "a single national system that delivers consistently for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision". In this article, we set out an overview of the proposals.
New National Standards for SEND
The standards are designed to "set clear and ambitious expectations for what good looks like in identifying and meeting needs, and clarify who is responsible for delivering provision, and from which budgets, across the 0-25 system".
The delivery of the national standards will be supported by new SEND and AP practice guides for schools and other providers. The timescale is not imminent, the DfE plans to publish a significant proportion of the national standards “with a focus on those that are most deliverable in the current system” by the end of 2025. The DfE has said it will start testing elements of the national standards with new regional expert partnerships this year.
Digitising EHCPs
The DfE will develop digital requirements for the EHCP process with the aim of:
- reducing the burden of administrative process in the system
- improving the experience and satisfaction of parents, carers and professionals
- improving the DfE's ability to monitor the 'health' of the SEND system
Again, commencement will be in 2025.
The Plan, states that this will also be "dependent on digital solutions tested and agreed upon".
New System of Funding Bands and Tariffs
The Plan states that it will introduce a national framework of banding and price tariffs to meet the expectations set out in the national standards. The aim here is that there will be a more - but not wholly - standardised system of funding bands and tariffs so that consistent national standards (above) are backed by more consistent funding across the country.
The idea is that bandings will cluster specific types of education provision, and tariffs will set the rules and prices that commissioners use to pay providers to deliver what is set out within the national standards. These bandings and tariffs will only be introduced with new legislation, so this is not imminent.
Local SEND and AP Partnerships and Inclusion Plans
There will be local SEND and AP partnerships that "bring together partners to plan and commission support for children and young people with SEND and in alternative provision, meeting the national standards". The partnerships will have responsibility for developing and spreading best practice of partnerships through a change programme. They will also create evidence-based local inclusion plans that will set out how the needs of children and young people in the local area will be met in line with national standards.
This will start in Spring 2023 with the creation of regional expert partnership areas (below).
Regional Expert Partnerships
The Government’s vehicle for introducing some of its reforms will be the creation of nine regional expert partnerships.
These will be funded by a £70 million Change Programme that will test and refine "longer-term systemic reforms, including developing and testing national standards, creating strategic partnerships and inclusion plans, a proposed AP service and tailored lists".
Tailored Lists
This proposal in the Green Paper met with some significant concerns from parents who fear that this will reduce choice and, that the list would not give effect to meeting the children and young people's needs.
Despite these concerns, the Government is pressing on stating that a "tailored list would allow local authorities to give clear choices to families and better meet the needs of children and young people, while supporting them to manage placements in a way that ensures financial sustainability for the future."
The DfE is planning to consult on this proposal.
New Sendco Qualification
A new leadership level Sendco National Professional Qualification for schools will be introduced and the Government will fund up to 5,000 early years staff to gain an accredited Level 3 early years Sendco qualification to support the early years sector, with training running until August 2024.
The plan says that, currently, Sendcos must complete the mandatory national award for SEN Coordination (NASENCo) within three years of taking the role.
Alternative Provision Plans
There will be an extension of AP specialist taskforces, which work directly with young people in AP to offer intensive support from experts, including mental health professionals, family workers and speech and language therapists, backed by £4.8 million funding.
A new approach will focus on preparing students to return to mainstream school and prepare for adulthood. AP will act as an intervention within mainstream education, as well as high quality, standalone provision, which will either be short or longer term.
New School Places
The Government will approve a number of applications from local authorities to open new special free schools and will shortly launch competitions to seek 'high-quality proposer groups' to run them.
The DfE has said that 33 local authorities have been selected to have new special free schools built in their areas to add to the 49 already in the pipeline. These new places are part of £2.6 bn investment between 2023 and 2025 to increase special school and AP places.
Fair Access Panels on Pupil Movement
The DfE has said it will work with local authorities, trusts and school leaders to develop options for ensuring transparent decision making on pupil movement with the child’s best interest at heart.
It said these will include reviewing arrangements for fair access panels - in line with new national standards around the role of specialist and mainstream schools in making arrangements for AP.
Alongside this, the DfE is looking at the process for applying for a secretary of state direction where a school place has not been secured through fair access.
Ladder of Intervention Alongside New Ofsted Inspections
There will be a new ladder of intervention for local areas from 2023 with robust action taken where statutory duties for children and young people with SEND and in AP are not met.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission launched a new SEND area inspection framework this year which is already being rolled out.
Inclusion Dashboard
From Autumn 2023, the Government will publish a local and national inclusion dashboard giving information of how inclusive schools in a local area are. This information will support the development of local inclusion plans and provide parents with transparent information.