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1675737

registered interest
date	05/12/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to screen pupils for special educational needs and disabilities in primary schools.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	900565
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2023 answer text <p>Early identification of needs is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the department understands that early intervention can reduce the impact that a Special Educational Need (SEN) or disability may have in the long term.</p><p>The SEND Code of Practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with SEN does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all children and young people and provide support where it is needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.</p><p>To support all teachers in meeting these expectations, the department is implementing teacher training reforms. These reforms are designed to ensure that teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND. Since 2020, the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (CCF) has included content on adapting teaching to the strengths and needs of all pupils. The department is conducting a review of the CCF and Early Career Framework, which will consider further opportunities to improve how the frameworks support new teachers to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.</p><p>The department’s Universal Services (US) contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the teaching workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people. This includes autism awareness training and resources. Over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the US programme launched.</p><p>The department has also committed to funding training for up to 7,000 early years staff to gain an accredited Level 3 early years SENCO qualification.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 11/12/2023 17:35:03 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1462787

registered interest
date	13/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 27 April 2022 to Question 156423 on special educational needs, if his Department will take steps to (a) intervene when service providers do not meet their legal duties to families with disabled children and (b) provide redress in those cases to affected families.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	1500
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2022 answer text <p>Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are a priority and where a local area is deemed to be underperforming, either by way of inspection or concerns raised, the department will not hesitate to intervene in cases of systemic and/or persistent failure. For example, we may issue a formal improvement notice or use powers under Section 497A of the Education Act 1996 to issue a statutory direction directing the council to take any further actions we deem necessary, which may include requiring the responsible local authority to work with a SEND commissioner.</p><p>Where families wish to seek redress or otherwise resolve disagreements about Education, Health and Care needs assessments or plans, they have the option to do so via disagreement resolution, mediation, or by registering an appeal with the first-tier tribunal (SEND). The department is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen this system in the SEND and AP Green Paper.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/05/2022 10:05:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1458742

registered interest
date	20/04/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how (a) local authorities and (b) other commissioners and service provides will be held to account if they fail to meet their legal duties in respect of support to children with SEND and their families.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	156423
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2022 answer text <p>It firmly remains a priority for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, that local authorities and other providers fulfil their statutory duties in providing the right support at the right time for children and young people with SEND and their families. The Secretary of State is committed to holding them to account where these statutory obligations are not met.</p><p>From May 2016, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) began inspecting local areas (including local authorities and other commissioners and service providers) on their effectiveness in fulfilling their duties for children and young people who have SEND.</p><p>Under the current framework, Area SEND inspections consider how effectively the local area identifies and meets the needs of different groups of children and young people who have special educational needs or a disability, as defined in the Children and Families Act 2014 and set out in the SEND Code of Practice. The inspections also consider how effectively the local area improves the outcomes of these children and young people. They may also provide evidence for local areas to receive appropriate external support and intervention.</p><p>The department has commissioned CQC and Ofsted, with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care, to develop a new area SEND inspection framework to launch after the existing inspection cycle has finished. Taking account of learning from the first cycle, this framework will include a greater focus on the experience of children and young people with SEND and their families and give more prominence to the quality integration and commissioning of education, health, and care services.</p><p>The SEND and AP Green Paper proposes to strengthen accountability measures, including through Ofsted and CQC inspections and strengthened oversight via the department's new Regions Group.</p><p><strong><br> </strong></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/04/2022 11:24:54 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith

1348023

registered interest
date	19/07/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support local authorities to meet their statutory targets for Education, Health and Care plan assessment waiting times.
tabling member constituency	Crawley
tabling member printed	Henry Smith
uin	35600
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2021 answer text <p>The special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice makes clear that local authorities must give their decision in response to any request for an education, health and care needs assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which a child or young person was brought to the local authority’s attention.</p><p>We have been using data to provide challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays. Additionally, because of circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are carrying out monthly surveys of local authority performance. Our teams of SEND Advisers, and colleagues in NHS England, are working with local authorities to help improve performance. Each year, we also deliver a training programme to local authorities, health, and social care staff on their statutory duties for education, health and care plans and reviews, and we have continued to do this on a virtual basis.</p><p>Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) re-started their revisit programme to areas that received a Written Statement of Action in May, with the full inspection programme re-starting in June. We are continuing to provide support and challenge to individual local authorities with a Written Statement of Action. We have commissioned the CQC and Ofsted, with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care, to develop a new area SEND inspection framework to launch after the existing cycle has finished.</p><p>Furthermore, we are providing over £42 million in the 2021/22 financial year to continue funding projects to support children with SEND. This investment will ensure that specialist organisations around the country can continue to help strengthen local area performance, support families, and provide practical support to schools and colleges.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 26/07/2021 13:17:01 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	3960 label Biography information for Henry Smith