Commission independent inquiry into delays in SEND education provision

Many children with SEND are being failed. Some families can wait months or even years for support, leaving children without the education they are legally entitled to and causing long-term harm.

Thousands of SEND children are affected by this. We call for accountability and an urgent, independent investigation into systemic failings in SEND provision, to hold authorities to account and deliver real change for children and families.

Every child in our country deserves the best possible school experience – one that is academically stretching, where every child feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.

Both the Public Accounts Committee and the Education Select Committee have undertaken their own independent inquiries into SEND provision across England and published their findings earlier this year:

Support for children and young people with special educational needs - Committees - UK Parliament (https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8582/support-for-children-and-young-people-with-special-educational-needs/)

Solving the SEND Crisis - Committees - UK Parliament (https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8684/solving-the-send-crisis/)

Both inquiries highlight that children with SEND and their families are being let down by a system that is failing to meet their needs, hampering their outcomes at school and chance to get on in life. The government is therefore not planning to commission a further independent inquiry into delays in SEND education provision.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the SEND system and restore the trust of parents. We will do this by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate to crisis point.

We will strengthen accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive including through the newly introduced Ofsted inspection framework; support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise and encourage schools to set up Resourced Provision or SEN units to increase capacity in mainstream schools. This will enable children to receive specialist support whilst learning alongside their friends and wider community.

This government is determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families. That is why we launched a further period of listening and engagement – seeking the views of parents, young people, teachers and experts in every region of the country, so that lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions.

We know that families are crying out for change, and that is exactly why it is critical we get this right. Proposals will draw on the National Conversation, which was not a formal consultation but an expansion of ongoing engagement, to ensure parents’ voices are heard. Information and learning will also be taken from both the Public Accounts Committee and the Education Select Committee reports, following two separate inquiries into SEND provision. We will set out our full proposals in the upcoming Schools White Paper, building on the work we’ve already done to create a system that’s rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school.

Department for Education

This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/738484)