Children’s Commissioner SEND report is published

Background

The Office of the Children's Commissioner has published their report into the SEND system in England. This report aims to sit alongside the recommendations for changes to SEND already made in the Care review, Schools White Paper and the SEND Green Paper. The Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, has said the report sends a simple message: 'A child's experience of support and care is only as good as the worst part of the system. We need to work together to ensure that all parts of the system are delivering excellent support. What I heard, I have transformed into three simple ambitions that I feel will help create the support network children deserve.' These ambitions are as follows:

1. To ensure all children and young people get support that reflects their ambitions

2. To ensure that all children are getting timely and effective support, locally, with a focus on early intervention

3. To ensure that all children have consistent, excellent experiences wherever they are in the system

Recommendations

The report makes recommendations grouped into the three key ambitions above. These are positive recommendations which, if acted upon, would improve the lives and experiences of autistic children and young people. They include:

1. To ensure all children and young people get support that reflects their ambitions

• A strong focus on timely Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs), with delays closely monitored by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) through a strengthened SEND inspection.
• Updated statutory guidance to lay out the different forms of support available at different levels (for example SEND funding and EHCP assessments).
• This statutory guidance should include the Parent Pledge, and how this interlinks with other types of support children can access.
• The digitalisation of EHCPs should be used as an opportunity to reform the way EHCPs are drafted:
• Personal targets set for children and young people should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART)
• Targets should be co-created with children and their families.
• More focus should be placed on the voice of the child, and digitalisation creates opportunities to do this more creatively, and to update it more frequently.Improved advocacy for children to shape and challenge their support.

2. Children getting timely and effective support, locally, with a focus on early identification

• Increased training for the early years workforce so they can provide early intervention for children who are failing to meet key developmental benchmarks.
• Easier access to speech and language therapists in early years settings.
• Children who are below the age of formal education rarely have an EHCP, if an additional need or developmental delay is identified before school, these children should be automatically entitled to free childcare hours.
• Supporting schools to be able to identify children who require additional needs. Persistent absence should be used as a trigger for considering additional need.

3. Consistent, excellent experiences for all children wherever they are in the system

• No child should go without an education because an alternative provision placement cannot be secured. Mainstream schools should be given the resources to support children with SEND, and if alternative provision is required then this should be available from day one.
• There should be no ‘cliff edge’ or sudden end of alternative provision support when a child reaches 16. Local authorities should have the statutory duty to arrange alternative provision for those young people with SEND aged between 16 and 18.
• Government implements an overarching framework for alternative provision which outlines how every child will receive outstanding education.
• Ensure that mainstream schools are better equipped to support young people with SEND. This should include more support for schools looking to develop in-house alternative provision offers.
• Develop new ways for mainstream schools to offer a variety of subjects and skills training to young people with SEND which aligns with the bespoke training provided in specialist settings.
• The Supported Internships Programme should be better utilised.
• A new cross-Whitehall body should be established to drive through reforms across education, health, and social care. Ensure that Government plans for a new funding formula for schools recognises the disparities between SEND provision in different local areas and supports additional provision in mainstream schools.

Our Response

This is a strong report which addresses significant problems within the SEND system. The report correctly identifies the unacceptable lack of support disabled children receive both in mainstream and alternative provision schools. Parents speaking to our helplines, often tell us that they are worried that mainstream schools will not provide a sufficient level of support for their child, and they are unable to put their child in an alternative provision school. It is promising that this report recognises that gap in support.

The Government needs to take action following its SEND Green Paper consultation earlier this year, to end the fights and delays that autistic children and their families are facing. No autistic child should be held back from reaching their potential.

Tim Nicholls, Head of Influencing and Research at the National Autistic Society, said: “We welcome the Children’s Commissioner’s report, which rightly highlights the importance of recognising the individual needs of all children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic. The report also reflects what we often hear from parents calling our education helplines, that mainstream schools are failing to provide adequate care for children with SEND. This is why we need mandatory autism training for all teachers and school staff, to improve understanding of autism in mainstream schools.

“Schools and councils must work together to make sure they meet the education needs of all autistic children and young people. Government must also address longstanding problems with the education system in its SEND review. Every autistic child and young person deserves access to quality education, but we need a properly funded system to make that happen.”

Further information

• Read about the Government’s SEND review  
• Read our School Report to find about the issues affecting autistic children in school
• Read our advice and guidance about education and getting the right support in schools.
• We have a number of specialist case work services to help those struggling to get the right education.