MPs’ report calling for ‘root and branch’ SEND transformation ‘should have been bolder’

A cross-party report by MPs has called for “root and branch transformation” of how disabled children and young people are treated within mainstream schools and colleges, but inclusive education campaigners say its conclusions should have been even bolder.

The Commons education committee said special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support must become an “intrinsic” part of the mainstream education system, rather than just an “addition”.

And it called on the government to publish a clear definition of “inclusive education”, which would include examples of good practice.

The committee called on the Department for Education (DfE) to work “urgently” with the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to secure the funding needed to “realise the vision of an inclusive mainstream education system”.

But the Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) said this morning (Thursday): “While ALLFIE recognises that some of our concerns have been reflected in the committee’s findings, we remain disappointed that the recommendations do not go far enough to phase out segregated provisions.

“Nor do they adequately hold the government accountable or improve enforcement mechanisms to move towards inclusive education as a universal right.”

The committee’s report, Solving the SEND Crisis, says that disabled children “are not consistently receiving the high-quality support to which they are entitled” and that the current system “is not designed with inclusion in mind”.

In its 176-page report, the committee calls for inclusivity to be embedded in all education settings, from early years to post-16.

It says: “Delivering an inclusive mainstream education system is essential both for the quality of provision for individual children and the long-term financial sustainability of the system.”

The committee called on the government to develop national standards for the support that disabled children can expect in school, so it can establish “clear, enforceable expectations”.

The committee said today (Thursday) that making the whole school responsible for SEND would create a “cultural shift” that would “calm the rising need for complex, costly education health and care (EHC) plans in the long-term” and help put finances on a “sustainable footing”.

The report says: “We have seen evidence that the delivery of genuinely inclusive education with well resourced, thoughtfully designed whole-school approaches to SEN support and ordinarily available provision significantly reduces the need for EHC plans.”

The report also calls for more state-run special schools, so more disabled children can be educated closer to their homes and local councils can cut spending on expensive independent school places.

Since the 2014 Children and Families Act, the number of children and young people identified with SEND has risen from 1.3 million to 1.7 million.

Last year, more than 1.2 million children and young people were receiving SEN support at school, and nearly half a million had an EHC plan, with the committee describing rising demand as “unsustainable”.

Helen Hayes, the committee’s Labour chair, said: “Our report presents a vision for how the government can realise its laudable aim of making mainstream education inclusive to the vast majority of children and young people with SEND, who are present in every classroom.

“Making sure every child in the country with SEND can attend a local school that meets their needs will require a root and branch transformation.”

But Dr Edmore Masendeke, ALLFIE’s policy and research lead, said the committee had “missed a crucial opportunity to propose the bold, systemic changes needed to realise the rights and justice for all pupils”.

Among ALLFIE’s concerns is that budgets would retain “a bias towards segregated schools and segregated settings within mainstream schools, rather than promoting inclusive education for all”, if the recommendations were accepted.

ALLFIE backed the call for a single government definition of inclusive education, but it said the committee should have “explicitly stated that this definition must be based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities rather than a new or modified version created by the government”.

Dr Masendeke said ALLFIE agreed that there must be increased investment in inclusive education within mainstream schools, but “strongly disagreed” with the committee’s call for an expansion of SEN units and “resource provisions” within mainstream schools, which it said should help reduce spending on EHC plans.

He said: “Our position is that schools must be properly resourced, accessible, and held to account for delivering inclusive education.

“ALLFIE opposes the expansion of SEN units and resource provisions as a means to achieve inclusion in schools.

“We want to see provisions that support disabled children and young people to be in mainstream classrooms, not placed in separate settings within mainstream schools.

“These segregated provisions must be phased out, not expanded.”

Amerdeep Somal, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, welcomed the report and its recommendation to extend her powers so she can investigate complaints about the delivery of SEN support in schools, which she said was “something we have championed for many years”.

Responding to the report, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “This report highlights the deep-rooted issues which have plagued the SEND system for too long.

“I am continuing to listen closely to families, teachers and experts, as we put together plans to transform outcomes for every child with SEND, building on the work we have already started.

“The report rightly highlights the need for actions we’re already taking, to make sure that evidence-based support is available as routine, without a fight, for every child who needs it – from significant investment in places for children with SEND, to improved teacher training, to our Best Start Family Hubs in every local area.”

DfE said it would set out its plans for the SEND system in further detail in a schools white paper later this year.

It said measures it had taken already included the launch of a curriculum and assessment review; setting up an expert advisory group on inclusion; improving SEND training; and spending £1 billion more on SEND this year and £740 million to deliver more specialist places, with local authorities encouraged to create more of these places in mainstream schools.

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