The government has said it aims to produce a fully costed plan to improve the support system for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by April next year.
The Department for Education has also said it intends to announce a plan for dealing with council SEND deficits this summer, and to set out what inclusive education in schools should look like by the end of the year.
The plans are set out in a to a report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee on the SEND crisis.
The cross-party committee of MPs earlier this year published a critical report warning that urgent action was needed from the government to fix the SEND system.
In its response, the government has accepted the committee’s recommendations - but said that in some cases it cannot commit to meeting the deadlines set by MPs. Here are its key points:
Fully costed plan for SEND system by April
The DfE has accepted a recommendation that it should urgently improve its SEND data, then use this information to develop a new fully costed plan to improve the system.
The department has said its target date for this is April 2026.
Solution to council debts crisis by the summer
It has also accepted the MPs’ recommendation that the government needs to urgently work with councils to develop a “fair and appropriate solution” to the looming council deficits.
Ministers were warned by the committee that a plan was needed to ensure that almost half of councils do not face effective bankruptcy as a result of deficits on SEND spending.
A statutory override is currently keeping these deficits on SEND spending off councils’ books, but this is due to expire in March.
In its January report, the committee gave the government a deadline of March this year to find a solution.
The DfE has now said it agrees that the matter is “urgent” and it will “work with the sector on a way forward”, but added that it has “been unable to set out plans by March 2025”.
The department has said its target date for implementing a way forward is this summer.
Working with health officials to understand SEND demand
The DfE has also accepted a recommendation that it needs to work with the Department of Health and Social Care to better understand the reasons for increasing and changing demand for SEND support in schools.
More detail on efficiencies later this year
The MPs’ report also set the DfE a deadline of six months to set out how it will provide SEND support more efficiently, such as through group support, identifying needs earlier and ensuring that special schools reflect value for money.
In its response, the DfE said it recognised the “urgent nature of these matters and has already committed to delivering a more inclusive education system based on early intervention”.
However, it added: “While [the DfE] cannot commit to setting out plans in the next six months, it will set out further detail later this year.”
Vision for inclusive education by December
MPs also gave the DfE a deadline of six months to set out what provision children with SEND should expect, and to set out what inclusive education means and looks like.
The government has said it agrees with the committee’s recommendation and has a target implementation date of December 2025.
Last year it appointed multi-academy trust CEO Tom Rees to lead a panel of inclusion advisers.
And this year it has issued a call for evidence to find examples of effective inclusive practice in schools to help with its planned reforms for pupils with SEND.
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