Children and young people across England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision (AP) will get high-quality, early support wherever they live in the country.
The SEND and AP improvement plan, published Thursday 2 March, confirms investment in training for thousands of workers so children can get the help they need earlier, alongside thousands of additional specialist school places for those with the greatest needs – as 33 new special free schools are approved to be built.
Suella has welcomed news that Hampshire County Council’s application for a new special free school in Whiteley has been provisionally approved by the Department for Education (DfE). The application will pave the way for a new 125-place, co-educational school for 4-16-year-olds with Severe Learning Disabilities.
In addition to the new special free school in Whiteley, Suella has also welcomed further improvements set out in the DfE’s transformational SEND and AP improvement plan. The transformation of the current system will be underpinned by new national SEND and AP standards, which will give families confidence in what support they should receive and who will provide and pay for it, regardless of where they live.
There will be new guides for professionals to help them provide the right support in line with the national standards but suited to each child’s unique experience, setting out for example how to make adjustments to classrooms to help a child remain in mainstream education.
To improve parents’ and carers’ experiences of accessing support, the plan will cut local bureaucracy by making sure the process for assessing children and young people’s needs through education health and care (EHC) plans is digital-first, quicker and simpler wherever possible.
This package forms part of the government’s significant investment into children and young people with SEND and in AP, with investment increasing by more than 50% compared with 2019 to 2020 - to over £10 billion by 2023 to 2024.
Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho said:
“Parents know that their children only get one shot at education and this can have an enormous impact on their child’s ability to get on with life. Yet for some parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities, getting their child that superb education that everyone deserves can feel like a full-time job.”
“The improvement plan that we are publishing today sets out systemic reforms to standards, teacher training and access to specialists as well as thousands of new places at specialist schools so that every child gets the help they need.”
Commenting, Suella Said:
“Every child should have access to a high-quality education, and I’m thrilled with these recent plans to ensure this. I welcome the Department for Education’s plans which will have an immense impact for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Hampshire and across the country. It’s fantastic news that Hampshire County Council were successful with their application to create a new 125-place free school in Whiteley – this will be life changing for my constituents with children who have special educational needs.”
