Urgent reform needed for Send 'crisis'

Plans to manage a "crisis" in educating children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) are expected to be published at the start of the year as parents and politicians rally for change.

A government White Paper addressing the needs of 1.7 million Send pupils in England was due to be published in autumn but was delayed.

All of the West's councils are overspending on their budgets to meet care plans for Send children with Linda Cohen, Gloucestershire County Council's cabinet member for education, saying: "It's a huge problem for us in terms of balancing the books."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education (DfE) said the White Paper would be set out in the "coming months".

"We have launched the biggest national conversation on SEND in a generation alongside work already underway, including investing at least £3 billion for more specialist places, and dedicated Send leads in every Best Start Family Hub nationwide," they added.

Jo Roberts a mum and teacher, from Cirencester, said getting the right support for her seven-year-old son has dominated her life.

Her child was given an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in September 2023 but after two primary school placements did not work out, she is now teaching him at home.

She said: "It's been really, really tricky. I'm supposed to be working [but] I can't at the moment because I've got my son at home.

"He is no longer able to attend school."

All of the West's councils are spending more money than they are allocated while trying to deal with the increase in demand.

Ms Cohen said while it is an issue for councils, it is a bigger problem for parents of Send children.

"[Parents] are frustrated in their attempts to actually have a workable solution which will give their children the education they need," she added.

MPs have demanded action, with Parliament's public accounts committee warning the Send system was at a "crisis point".

Committee chairman and North Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said: "I've got a grandson who's got an EHCP statement [and] it is a real problem. There isn't enough provision in our schools.

"The only way his parents - my son and daughter-in-law - could get the right provision for him in school was to go through this massive bureaucratic system to get these statements."

Councillor Amanda Hopgood, chair of the Local Government Association's children, young people and families committee, said: "The system is failing children and families, while councils have been pushed to the brink by rising high-needs deficits.

"We have been urging the government to set out its reforms of the Send system, and it should do this at the earliest opportunity. Urgent reform is needed."

However, the chief executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, Tom Rees, who is chairing the Department for Education's expert advisory group on inclusion, said it was important to take the time to get reform of the Send system right.

"Reform of this scale can't be rushed and I welcome the additional time so both the [expert advisory group] and the government can continue to listen, develop and test ideas which build on the clear principles of reform set out by the Education Secretary," he added.

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