Since I last wrote, April ended with NAHT’s action-packed Annual Conference in Telford, of which more below. As we moved into May, there was the crowning of a king, followed by a slew of local elections, when just about everyone managed to pick up seats at the expense of the party in power. This was a reminder that the next general election is hoving into sight, which may or may not be helpful in terms of moving forward with the SEND and AP Improvement Plan.

Annual Conference 

Much to my disappointment, I was prevented from attending Annual Conference due to family illness. However, thanks to live streaming, I was able to watch much of it from a distance. In addition, I’m indebted to Marijke Miles, chair of NAHT’s SEND sector council, for giving me a very full account of what went on.

She writes: “Motions touched on recurring themes of: funding (including in Northern Ireland), statutory assessment, special school capacity, perverse system incentives and disincentives for inclusion, gaps in portage teams and early diagnosis and intervention, and the ALNCo role in Wales. We heard impassioned speeches from school leaders across a wide range of contexts, indicating how universal the challenges are and how widespread the adverse impact of current shortcomings are on our young people. All SEND-related motions were endorsed unanimously. This gives NAHT’s staff, executive and SEND sector council clear direction on actions and priorities for the year ahead.”

An additional feature in the programme this year was a fringe event, The Time is Now – Reforming the SEND and AP System. This took the form of a panel discussion, with Marijke, Rob Gasson, the CEO of Wave Multi Academy Trust and NAHT SEND council member, and Alison Willett, education director of nasen. Even after a busy afternoon, and with regional dinners still to come, the session was said to be very well attended with some lively debates reflecting the depth of feeling and concern among delegates. 

SEND and AP Improvement Plan 

This leads directly into the main item of this summary, which continues to be the SEND and AP Improvement Plan – Right Support, Right Place, Right Time. In addition to the discussions the SEND sector council has had, it has been the focus of many of the other meetings I attend. As well as trying to understand more about how all the various strands fit together, there has been some concern about whether anything is getting off the ground, and, happily, things are starting to happen.

Firstly, I will mention first some of the points that have been raised at various events, and I will move on to the information that is beginning to emerge.   

On 18 May, the Special Educational Consortium (SEC) held its monthly meeting, which included preparation for a team from the Department for Education (DfE) to be in attendance at our June meeting. The focus will be on two central themes of the Improvement Plan, namely i) national standards and what they will look like and ii) alternative provision (AP) and what incorporating AP and SEND into one system will mean in practice. 

• Moving on to discuss SEC members’ overriding reactions to the Improvement Plan, the three main issues raised were:
• The timescale being far too long before everything is rolled out, even without a general election likely to cause a hiatus
• The need for sufficient staff who are well trained: teachers, teaching assistants, specialist teachers and specialist support teams
• Enough funding to underpin everything that needs to be put in place.

A few days later, I listened to MPs on the Education Select Committee holding their second session on the Improvement Plan. Present to answer questions were Claire Coutinho, minister for children, families and wellbeing, and Alison Ismail, director for SEND and AP at the DfE.

During the 90-minute session, both Claire and Alison managed to remain calmly optimistic, while MPs’ questions flagged up some of the difficulties that could arise from getting the new SEND and AP system in place. In responding to some of the MPs’ concerns, the duo from the DfE gave the following replies:  

• There is no target for reducing the number of children and young people (CYP) with SEND, but we hope earlier identification and support will stop needs escalating and fewer education, health and care plans (EHCPs) will be required. It will take until 2025 to have a standardised template for EHCPs and then to have them produced digitally
• National standards will help to reduce the variation between areas and spread best practice. Work on them has already started and most of them will be published by the end of 2025
• As much of the rise in numbers is to do with ASD, particularly girls, speech and language difficulties, and mental health issues, we are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The first three practice guides, which will be published alongside the National Standards, will be on these three areas of need
• The new SENCO qualification will be quality controlled by the Education Endowment Foundation and will be practical. Studying for it won’t necessarily take more time as it depends on how the hours are counted in terms of taught and study time
• A system of bands and tariffs is needed to ensure money is well spent and similar needs don’t attract different amounts in different areas. Local inclusion plans and dashboards will also help to highlight differences between local authorities (LAs). However, we recognise the need for flexibility and that some children have very complex and individual needs 
• Tailored lists are to give parents clearer information and once they have been tested and are in use, the DfE will work with parents to make sure they remain accurate. Although part of the reason for increasing specialist provision is to educate pupils nearer to where they live, we accept that some will need to travel further afield to receive the right specialist support
• We’re not testing mandatory mediation, but we want to provide high-quality mediation through better training for those involved. This should lead to a reduction in tribunal cases, saving both time and money
• We recognise that the usual academic measures won’t always be appropriate for pupils with SEND and those in AP. Destination outcomes are useful but we need to do more work on what else might be used to measure progress.

When talking of the need to work closely with colleagues from other departments, Claire and Alison referred to Josh McAlister’s review of children’s social care, which ran alongside the SEND Review. Whereas the latter has resulted in the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, the former has led to an Implementation Plan, with the title: Stable Homes, Built on Love: Strategy and consultation. As the title makes clear, this included a further consultation which closed on 11 May. At the same time, there were separate consultations on Children's Social Care National Framework and Dashboard, and Proposals for the child and family social worker workforce. The outcomes of these three consultations are awaited.

Moving on to more recent announcements, the first is the membership of the SEND and AP Implementation Board. The board’s role is to oversee the rollout of the key reforms and to provide challenge and advice to the government, in order to ensure that the Improvement Plan makes progress and results in significant changes.  

SEND and AP Implementation Board

On 6 June, the day the board held its first meeting, the names of the 21 members were announced. Claire Coutinho and Maria Caulfield, minister for mental health, are the co-chairs. Alison Ismail and Fiona Walshe, director of mental health and disabilities at the DHSC, are also on the board. The rest of the names are as follows:

Representing NHS England 

• Sue North, head of CYP for learning disability, autism and SEND
• Professor Sarah O’Brien, chief nurse, Lancs and S Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB)
• James Sanderson, joint SRO for SEND, NHS England
• Alison Stewart, head of SEND, South West London ICB.
   

Representing councils 

• Nigel Minns, Warwicks LA and Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS)
• John Pearce, director CYP Durham County Council and president of ADCS
• Simon Wellman, director of education and skills, Telford and Wrekin Council.
   

Other members

• Christopher Russell, national director of education, Ofsted
• Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner
• Christine Lenehan, director, Council for Disabled Children (CDC)
• Leora Cruddas, chief executive, Confederation of Schools Trusts
• Susan Douglas, CEO, Eden Academy Trust
• Mark Vickers, chair AP/SEND CEO Network 
• Richard Gill, chair, the Teaching School Hubs Council 
• David Holloway, Association of Colleges (AoC)
• Tina Emery and Sarah Clarke, co-chairs, National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF)

Terms of reference for the board have also been published – National SEND and alternative provision implementation board: terms of reference.
 

Shortlisted LAs to pilot the reforms

Although the LAs listed below are said to be the ones being offered the chance to lead on piloting the SEND and AP reforms, it isn’t entirely clear yet which of these have agreed to take part, and at least one has said it would prefer not to be involved, so this is unlikely to be the final list. 

• North East: Hartlepool, Northumberland
• North West: Blackburn with Darwen, Manchester, Trafford
• Yorks and Humber: Leeds, N Lincs, Wakefield
• East Midlands: Lincs
• West Midlands: Coventry, Herefordshire, Telford & Wrekin
• East: Herts
• London: Barking and Dagenham, Camden, Islington
• South East: Brighton and Hove, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth
• South West: Swindon

Most of these LAs, but not all, are good or outstanding. None are in the government’s ‘safety valve’ programme, whereby they receive additional funding to plug their high needs deficits, but with strict strings attached. Wherever possible, they are within a single integrated care board (ICB) to make it easier to work closely with health.

And finally…

As developments around the SEND and AP Improvement Plan have taken up most of this summary, I will be sending another update before the end of term which will include:

• Any further progress on the implementation of the SEND and AP Improvement Plan
• Any update on the DfE’s Use of reasonable force and restrictive practices in schools. A call for evidence ran until 11 May and the DfE is now analysing the responses, before publishing long-overdue updated guidance
• The Education Select Committee’s progress with its inquiry into Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils, which, after the call for evidence closed on 9 Feb, has been holding a series of oral evidence sessions
• Any further information on the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into Teacher recruitment, training and retention following a call for evidence which ended on 21 April. 

In the meantime, I hope the summer term will have far more highs than lows for you, and by the time I write again, there will have been further progress on the Improvement Plan and that the result will be a better SEND and AP system – eventually!