SEND update
SEND
I wanted to provide an update on some my work on SEND.
SEND update
Frankley Hill School
I asked the government’s Department for Education for an update on the new Frankley Hill special school.
Birmingham City Council successfully applied in 2022 for a new autism-specialism school to be built. There is a known problem of a lack of places in autism-specialist settings in Birmingham, which results in some children from Northfield travelling for hours each day across th city. The school will be large (at 400 places) and its intake will be ‘all-through,’ from ages 4 to 19.
The latest update is that the school progressed to ‘pre-opening stage’ in March - by one reckoning, this stage can last two years. The Department for Education told me that:
‘[Government] officials are working closely with the local authority and the trust to agree an opening date.’
I will post further updates as I get them.
Birmingham SEND Commissioner - new report coming
The Government’s ‘SEND Commissioner’ has published reports on Birmingham’s provision for the last two years. The reports suggest that SEND services are improving, but personally I think the reports focus too much on statistics and not enough on the actual experience of young people and their families.
It appears that a third report was delayed by the election, and Ministers told me that:
The [Department for Education] aims to publish the report within the coming months, in line with existing practice.
I am sure that the report, when it is published, will be read closely by everyone who follows SEND provision in Birmingham.
BBC Midlands
I was glad to have the opportunity to speak to BBC Midlands Today, who ran a piece on Friday about SEND provision in the West Midlands (with a focus on Worcestershire). The BBC’s article - which sets out some more details - can be found here.
Birmingham - SEND tribunals outcomes
I wanted to establish a clear local picture of what is happening with SEND tribunals. When families and young people and the local authority cannot agree on support, the cases often end up in court.
The figures I was given show that, in Birmingham, 97 per cent of parents’ appeals against the City Council’s decisions were successful (of the cases that got a hearing) in 2022. This is in line with the national average, as 98 per cent of cases were successful at tribunal last year. These extremely high rates clearly show that the system is not working as it should.
The cost to taxpayers of defending these cases is significant. A report for Birmingham City Council put the figure at £10.1 million between 2014 and 2021 - or ‘half a new school.’ These issues are replicated in other local authorities.
The full figures are below.
SEND Tribunal outcomes - Birmingham
| Academic year | Total appeals registered | In favour of the appellants | In favour of the local authority | Total appeals withdrawn | Conceded before the hearing | Awaiting a hearing date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 291 | 180 | 10 | 32 | 65 | 0 |
| 2021 | 547 | 367 | 31 | 48 | 89 | 1 |
| 2022 | 525 | 365 | 10 | 52 | 84 | 12 |
Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) recruitment
It is important to recognise good news when it comes along.
Speech and Language Therapists (or, SALTs) are in short supply. The lack of SALTs has been a major cause of delays in accessing assessments for particular conditions.
The Department of Health and Social Care told me that there has been an increase in the number of SALTs in Birmingham - from 200 six years ago, to 284 today. There has been a similar increase across the West Midlands too.
On paper, this looks like progress (although, of course, demand has gone up too). The test will be whether waiting lists actually start to fall.
A new government - a new focus on SEND
The new Government is bringing a welcome focus on SEND. It is early days yet, but I think a fresh pair of eyes was needed to assess what has gone wrong.
Ten years have passed since the 2014 legislation that created the system as we know it today. Bridget Phillipson - the new Education Secretary - gave a briefing to MPs on Monday. I was unable to attend due to other Parliamentary commitments, but I caught up with education officials afterwards.
Ahead of recess, I briefed MPs on the trail of devastation left across education by the Conservatives.
We’ve been left a SEND system that is ‘lose, lose, lose’ in the Tories’ own words.
We’ll work tirelessly to overhaul the system, but there is a long way to go. pic.twitter.com/wcWLJdXfDe— Bridget Phillipson (@bphillipsonMP) July 30, 2024
Over the coming months, I will be talking to young people, families, and professionals in the system, and making sure that their voices are heard in government. One early change is set out in the Children’s Wellbeing Bill.
Local councils - including Birmingham City Council - have a legal duty to plan SEND services, but there aren’t effective obligations on academies and the NHS to work with those councils.
The Bill will start to address this problem by applying a new duty to co-operate on all schools in the local area. It represents an important start on the long road to SEND reform.
SEND issues are a top priority, and I will report further on these and other points.