Minister for Children, Families, and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho MP, gave evidence this week to the Education Select Committee, speaking about the Government’s SEND and AP improvement plan.
Chair of the Committee, Robin Walker MP, opened by asking if the minister felt that measures in the SEND and AP improvement plan go far enough to meet the unprecedented increase in demand for SEND provision in the education sector.
Claire Coutinho responded by first outlining the challenges in the sector. Currently 16.5% of the school population have some form of special educational need or disability, and 4% have an EHCP. Coutinho said that as well as increases in the numbers, the last few years have seen a rise in complexity of cases and need, in part as a result of better diagnosis.
The minister said to meet this demand, the Government is looking at systemic reform, with improved teacher training, more specialist school places and specialist school provision, and closer working across the system.
Robin Walker went on to ask about the funding challenge, with schools facing delayed funding following a student getting an EHCP, and the significant high needs deficits in local authorities. Coutinho said that DfE has set out enormous increases in funding, with the high needs block going up by 50%.
Through the SEND and AP reforms DfE wanted to ensure that money was being spent well. Coutinho said it was essential to ensure early identification in order to deliver the right support at the right time. An early identification system, the minister added, would allow for more support ‘ordinarily available in mainstream schools’, and as such would reduce the demand for EHCPs. However, she said the purpose of the reforms was not to target a specific reduction in EHCPs.
In December 2021, Schools North East held a roundtable in response to the then upcoming SEND review. The feedback from school leaders in the SEND and AP sector highlighted the need for system reform, which would give stability to the sector, and greater collaboration between schools and those agencies that support students. In more recent roundtables, school leaders have expressed concern about the lack of a clear and well resourced strategic plan to meet the rise in complex needs.
