Empower councils to drive changes that improve lives of children with SEND, says LGA

In its response to the Department for Education’s consultation on SEND reform, the LGA said: “Reform of the SEND and education systems cannot be delivered in isolation and will be taking place at the same time as closely linked reforms to children’s social care, early years, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and local government reorganisation. We want to work with the government to ensure that councils are sufficiently resourced and supported to deliver across all of these reform agendas.”

It added: “For reforms to the SEND system to succeed, the Government must ensure that meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND is a core function and priority for ICBs, that they have capacity to deliver this function and that there are robust accountability measures in place if they do not.

“We acknowledge the challenges that ICBs are currently facing as they go through their own reforms, which have reduced capacity to work strategically on SEND and heightened anxiety of their role in reform, but the role of health partners is critical in effective joint working in local SEND systems.”

The LGA described the Department for Education’s timescales for responding to the consultation and for submitting Local SEND Reform Plans as “ambitious”.

It said: “Timescales need to be kept under review to ensure they are realistic and there will need to be sufficient funding to both build capacity now and ensure that the transition to the new system is effective.”

Turning to resourcing and capacity, the LGA warned that councils will need additional funding to meet the growing need for home-to-school transport for children and young people with SEND in the short to medium-term, before more children with special needs start being educated in their local mainstream school as reforms are implemented.

It added: “We are also calling for the government to commit to reviewing home-to-school transport legislation to make it fit for the 21st century and reflective of our education system, for example, that education and training is now compulsory to the age of 18.”

The organisation welcomed the Government’s proposal to change the law on independent special schools to ensure that children get suitable, high-quality placements, and that councils pay a reasonable price for them.

However, it warned: “These plans will only work if accompanied by sufficient powers and resources for councils to create additional specialist provision to meet need. At a national level, the role of SEND tribunals in directing the use of Independent and Non-Maintained Special Schools (ISS) should also be reviewed.”

The full consultation response can be read here.

Last week law firm Stone King suggested in its consultation response that the Government’s proposed reforms to the SEND framework were “largely welcome” but added that greater clarity about rights and responsibilities for key players in the system was required.

Stone King noted that without greater clarity, there is the potential for increased disputes between parents, schools and local authorities about the availability of support for individual children.

Lottie Winson