The SEN and Disability Reforms: o ne month in, and counting…

Ann Gross

Director, Special Needs and Children Services Strategy

Annual Parent Carer Participation Event

1 October 2014

The ‘old’ system of SEND support was complicated, expensive and delivered poor outcomes

• Parents struggle to find the services that should be helping them, have to battle to get the help their children need, and have to tell their stories time and again.

• Moving from children’s to adults’ services can be very difficult.

• English LAs spend over £5 billion a year on SEND provision, and yet those with special needs are far more likely to achieve poorly at GCSE, Not be in Education, Employment or Training, or be unemployed. • These issues affect a lot of people: 1 in 5 children are currently identified as having some form of SEND, with 2.8% having a more complex need. 2

Aims of the reforms

We want all children and young people to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support.

The SEND reforms will implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working.

Working with children, young people and parents

Section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 lays the foundation for working in partnership with children and young people and their parents and carers.

It states that local authorities must have regard to:

• The views, wishes and feelings of the child, young person and their parents • The importance of allowing them to participate in decisions relating to themselves (or their child) • The importance of providing information to enable active participation in decision-making • The need to support the child, young person and their parents to facilitate development and enable the best possible outcomes, educational or otherwise. 4

Managing transition to the new system

• •

Children and young people who have a Statement or LDA will be transferred to the new system gradually: young people in further education with an LDA will transfer by 1 September 2016; and children and young people with a Statement will transfer by 1 April 2018 .

To ensure that support continues, statements and LDAs will remain in force during the transition period.

Local authorities will be expected to transfer children and young people to the new system in advance of key transition points in their education. They must develop a local plan.

There will be support on hand for families

Changes for young people aged 16+

Key developments

• New rights for young people alongside an ongoing role for parent carers • Applying the Code to FE colleges and beyond • Children and Adult services – preparing for adulthood • YP Participation – not as well developed as for parent carers

Support and advice

• New legislation and the Code • EPIC, YP materials • FE Guide to the reforms, presentation for FE college leaders, Preparing for Adulthood support to local areas • Study programmes for 16-19, or up to 25 if they have LDA/EHC Plan

Looking ahead

• Monitoring of YP participation (as part of overall monitoring) • Workshop on YP Participation in November 2014

Working with health partners

Legal Framework

• Children and Families Act 2014 / SEND Code of Practice • Care Act 2014: • NHS Mandate 2014

Resources and activity

• Joint DfE/DH Ministerial letters about the reforms • Guide for health on new reforms published - 9 September • DH published information about the reforms aimed at Health and Well-being boards • Other health-specific materials published by RCs • Working closely with NHS England, who are providing support to CCGs about the reforms • Working closely with DH on outstanding policy issues – eg, redress and data collection

Challenges and opportunities

• Feedback from Parents about lack of engagement • Major reform programme – take time for the culture to change • Need to work on a number of fronts – local and national

Supporting, monitoring and challenging

Support LA Champions Delivery Partners Published Materials PCFs DfE/DH LA/PCF survey SEND Advisers Monitor and Challenge Performance Data

Communications

DfE NNPCF Parent Carer Forums Delivery Partners VCS/other Orgs DH Local Authorities Local Offer IASS/IS NHS England EY/Schools/ Post-16 CCGs Children, young people and parents

Moving Forward – the role of DfE

Defining and implementing support, monitoring and challenge/accountability framework Communications / feedback Identify and address “blockers” Working with partners Servicing and supporting the new system

2014

Key milestones

2015 2016 2017 15 Oct – Minister attends NNPCF meeting Autumn – Decisions on funding made Oct/Nov – LA/PCF Survey Autumn – Ofsted Report published Nov/Dec – Easy Read guide published April – new Parent Carer assessment law in place April – new Young Offender provisions Sept – All LDAs transferred 2018 April – All statements transferred