SEND: Disabled Children’s Partnership sets out its vision for reform

A new report from the Disabled Children’s Partnership has outlined its vision for a reformed education system for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), aiming to help families access the support their children need without unnecessary fights.

The report follows weeks of speculation about whether the Department for Education (DfE), as part of its planned Schools White Paper due for publication in September, will remove the right to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for children attending mainstream schools.

Earlier this month, the DfE was unable to guarantee that the current system of EHCPs would remain in place.

The Fight for Ordinary report urges the government not to dilute existing rights and protections or restrict EHCPs for those who continue to require them, and to strengthen support for children who do not have plans, ensuring sufficient funding and accountability for all parts of the system.

Recommendations for a new SEND system

It states that the white paper presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the lives of children and their families. Getting this wrong would make it even harder for families to get the support their children so desperately need.

Recommendations include:

• Legally guaranteed support for children with and without EHCPs (putting the current SEN support arrangements on a statutory footing).
• Nurseries, schools and colleges are set up to succeed for children with SEND, with the training, tools and access to specialist advice and support
• Every local area has a plan in place to provide a good education, with the right mix of mainstream and specialist placements, and sufficient therapists and educational psychologists.
• The progress and experiences of these children are carefully measured to ensure that no one is left behind.
• Sufficient funds in the system and the right incentives to ensure it functions effectively.

Anna Bird, chairwoman of the DCP and chief executive of charity Contact, said: “Children with SEND want ordinary things – a place to learn safely, the opportunity to take part in after-school activities and the chance for parents to work to support their children, rather than having to put their working lives on hold. “

What is the Fight for Ordinary?

The Disabled Children’s Partnership say that children and young people with special educational needs want the same, ordinary things that other children take for granted, such as:

• A nursery, school or college place where they are happy, belong and can achieve
• The opportunity to make friends and take part in activities and clubs outside and after school
• The health and support they need, when they need it

In addition, their parents want the same, ordinary things as other parents, such as:

• To get the support their children need without an unnecessary fight
• Not having to stop work or put careers on hold
• To have time for their friends and their interests.

Why does the SEND system not currently work?

The report notes that the statutory process for obtaining an EHCP is not functioning as intended. Local councils are routinely making unlawful decisions – in part driven by funding and capacity constraints. As a result, children either never get what professionals say they need and are legally entitled to, or they wait many months and sometimes years to get the complete package of support they need to learn and thrive.

Health services are also failing to play their part in planning and delivering proper support, with long waiting times for educational psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists.

It adds: “The result is that parents have to battle through a bureaucratic maze, at great cost to themselves, while public money that should be spent on supporting their children is spent fighting them. But the biggest cost is to the children in the middle of all of this, who miss out on the ordinary education that every other child takes for granted.

“There is currently very little scope or incentive to resolve disagreements and address their root causes. In conversation with parents, the language of the battlefield – of fights and struggles – is pervasive. That is their daily lived reality. Consequently, many end up having to turn to the law to enforce their child’s rights at tribunal – and in 98% of cases the final decision is in favour of the parent. But by that time, their child may have spent months or even years without the support they need. This is wrong and serves no one well.”

The Disabled Children’s Partnership is a growing coalition of over 100 organisations that have joined forces, working closely in partnership with parents, to campaign for improved health and social care for disabled children, young people and their families.

Alison Bloomer

Alison Bloomer is Editor of Learning Disability Today.

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