Why SEND needs reform

This article appeared in the Birmingham Mail on 23 February.

It was written before the Government’s proposals were published, but I think it holds up.

SEND needs reform

Our education system should give all children and young people the best possible start in life.

It is for that reason that special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) requires reform on the scale put out for consultation this week.

Everyone who has seen SEND education up close knows that it must change. Some children in the Northfield constituency are out of education, or in dangerous situations, because they cannot access support early enough. Parents are being forced to give up work for want of provision. It cannot go on.

Schools, too, are at their limits. The SEN Co-ordinators – the SENCos - are burning out. At constituency surgeries, I meet teachers and social workers who are battling for support for their own children. When people who are part of the system cannot navigate it, we need a new approach.

The last government had some good intentions when they redesigned SEND in 2014. The idea was to unite health and schooling entitlements for complex needs under a single, legally binding plan, an EHCP. But the flaws, which are now brutally exposed, were there from the start.

Local authorities were given sweeping new duties while their resources were being sharply cut back (Birmingham City Council lost more than half its staff).

There are no common standards for good provision. The system remains, to a shocking extent, paper-based. How can councils and schools provide services in common when they don’t know what all the individual entitlements add up to?

The old, tiered system was reduced into just two categories: SEN Support (which has no legal status, and attracts no funding), and EHCPs. SEN Support has become so squeezed out that an EHCP has become the ‘passport’ to resources. Thousands of families in Birmingham are now locked into a confrontational and exhausting process that delays access to support. It is cruel to tell families that they have rights that exist on paper but not in practice.

I understand why people who have fought those battles may now worry about change. It is important to say that these proposals are out to consultation. To date, education ministers have genuinely engaged and listened. I have faith that they will continue to do so. 

It is reported that, while fresh investment is being made, the new system will be phased in gradually, with protections for people who already have an EHCP. And sensible efficiencies, such as limiting the cost of private school placements, which are often of questionable value, will help resources go further for everyone.

On what we know so far, there is much to welcome. It should be easier to fund shared services. EHCPs will still exist, but the introduction of new tiers of support under the new school-level Individual Support Plans (ISPs) - of Targeted, Targeted Plus, and Specialist levels – should mean that most pupils get support faster.

As an MP with an interest in SEND, there are particular improvements that I want these reforms to deliver.

In theory, all schools should accommodate a range of needs and learning styles. In reality, they can still be ‘one size fits all.’ A lot of stress and disruption could be avoided if simple and cheap changes like dimmer switches and noise insulation became the norm for new buildings and renovations.

‘Zero tolerance’ policies often don’t take into account the realities of neurodivergence. Sometimes, it can seem like the Equality Act and the duty to make reasonable adjustments do not apply in schools. We know that reasonable adjustments can help keep people in employment and thrive. It is the same in education.

I have made the case in Parliament for much clearer guidance and expectations on reasonable adjustments, and I hope that it will be part of the reforms.

Alongside mainstream inclusion, we need to recognise and value specialist provision. Specialist FE colleges – like Victoria College in Northfield – need access to the same capital funding as mainstream FE. And there is a real shortage of autism-specialist places in Birmingham. Funding for the new Frankley Hill specialist school, in my constituency, was confirmed just before Christmas, following extensive work in Parliament. It now needs to go ahead.

And we must not overlook the majority of people who work in schools. Teaching assistants spend the majority of their time supporting SEND learners. School support staff in general are crucial for inclusive education. They are the majority of people who work in schools, but they have been undervalued for far too long. Under the incoming School Support Staff Negotiating Body, which we fought for years to establish, they must receive the decent pay and training opportunities that they deserve.

SEND is an issue that is close to my heart. I was once one of those pupils. I know the invisible limits that stigma, misunderstanding, and low expectations can bring. Without support, my life might have followed a very different path. And the barriers I faced are higher, and harder, today – in breach of the promise that life for each generation will be better than for the last.

We have both an opportunity and a duty to change the system for the better. We owe it to that next generation to try, and I believe that these changes will make life better for children and young people. I urge everyone with an interest in SEND to read and respond to the Government’s consultation.