Ending the Crisis: A Fair Deal for Children with SEND

Submitted by: 12 members
Mover: Munira Wilson MP (Spokesperson for Education, Children and Families).
Summation: Callum Robertson.

Conference believes that:

1. Outcomes for young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) are consistently lower than for their peers without SEND.
2. According to the National Audit Office, the current SEND system is "not delivering better outcomes for children and young people", while local authorities face significant financial risks; 43% of local authorities will have unsustainable deficits by March 2026.
3. Just half of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) are issued within the statutory 20-week limit.
4. Where parents appeal an EHCP decision, 95% are successful, subjecting families to significant and unwarranted delays and legal costs.
5. A lack of educational psychologists is one factor in delays to accessing SEND support.
6. SEND families are faced with a ‘postcode lottery’ with inconsistent access to support for children with SEND across different local authorities and regions.
7. Local authorities are faced with unsustainable costs for home-to-school SEND transport and for private special schools.
8. Children with SEND are roughly three times as likely to be permanently excluded or suspended, compared to their peers.
9. Children with SEND are significantly more likely to be absent from school.
10. Children with SEND are disproportionately affected by the practice of off-rolling and can be subject to bias in admissions.
11. Overstretched schools and teachers are being forced to act as a ‘fourth emergency service’ due to inadequate provision for children's mental health and social care.
12. The lack of support for children with SEND, particularly during school holidays, has a significant impact on parent carers and siblings, including their health, wellbeing and opportunities.
13. Research by Carers Trust and the We Care campaign shows that parent carers do not have access to their statutory right to assessments and, if needed, support.

Conference further believes that in addressing this crisis, the Government must take an approach that balances the need for greater inclusivity for children with SEND in mainstream schools, with a recognition that for some children with SEND, even the most inclusive mainstream setting may not be suitable.

Conference reaffirms Liberal Democrat calls for:

1. A National Body for SEND, to oversee the provision of support for children with SEND and fund the costs of very high needs over £25,000 a year.
2. Extra funding for local authorities, to reduce the amount that schools pay towards the cost of a child’s EHCP.

Conference calls on the UK Government to:

1. Speed-up the building of state-funded special schools, including by:
   1. Proceeding as a matter of urgency with construction of the 67 currently planned special free schools.
   2. Streamlining processes so that local authorities can build special schools, without unnecessary delays from central government.
2. Improve inclusion of children with SEND in mainstream education, supported by the necessary resources and adaptations, including through:
   1. A statutory requirement, building on current teacher training and early careers provision, for all teachers to be fully trained to identify and deal with SEND issues, and to have access to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) on SEND.
   2. A statutory requirement for all non-teaching educational professionals to receive training on SEND issues.
   3. A National Inclusion Framework for schools and academy trusts, to include a clear definition of inclusion, as well as guidance for school leaders on how to support pupils to overcome any additional vulnerabilities that may prevent them from engaging in mainstream education.
   4. A National Parental Participation Strategy, creating a new duty for schools to focus on parental participation as an important pillar of inclusivity.
   5. Steps to encourage the presence, where appropriate, of a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) on each school’s senior leadership team, recognising the importance of a fully-qualified SENCO in school inclusivity.
   6. Reviewing how protected time can be provided for SENCOs to do their work.
   7. Reforming Ofsted inspections so that the importance of inclusive provision for students with SEND is properly taken into account.
3. Take measures to improve early identification of SEND, including by ensuring that all educational professionals, particularly in the early years workforce, receive SEND- specific training.
4. Work alongside local government and trade unions to review how persistent absence among children with SEND can be reduced, encouraging schools to take a holistic approach on improving attendance amongst SEND pupils and ensuring parents are supported to help their children back into well resourced school settings.
5. Review how financial burdens on local authorities caused by the costs of SEND home-to-school transport and the cost of places in private SEND provision can be reduced, while ensuring quality of transport and education is not lowered.
6. Take measures to improve access to support for parent carers and siblings including through:
   1. Working with local government to ensure that parent carers have access to Parent Carers’ Needs Assessments and support in every local authority.
   2. Ensuring that any future carers strategy or reforms to SEND specifically consider the needs of parent carers and siblings.
   3. Making sure that Ofsted inspections of local authorities specifically assess how councils are identifying and supporting parent carers.
   4. Including young carers as a priority group within any holiday activity programmes.
7. Support Higher and Further education by allowing pre-16 diagnosis of disabilities such as neurodivergence like dyslexia, ADHD and autism to be accepted to access Disability Student Allowance and reasonable adjustments.

Applicability: England only.

Motion prior to amendment

Conference believes that:

1. Outcomes for young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) are consistently lower than for their peers without SEND.
2. According to the National Audit Office, the current SEND system is "not delivering better outcomes for children and young people", while local authorities face significant financial risks; 43% of local authorities will have unsustainable deficits by March 2026.
3. Just half of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) are issued within the statutory 20-week limit.
4. Where parents appeal an EHCP decision, 95% are successful, subjecting families to significant and unwarranted delays and legal costs.
5. A lack of educational psychologists is one factor in delays to accessing SEND support.
6. SEND families are faced with a ‘postcode lottery’ with inconsistent access to support for children with SEND across different local authorities and regions.
7. Local authorities are faced with unsustainable costs for home-to-school SEND transport and for private special schools.
8. Children with SEND are roughly three times as likely to be permanently excluded or suspended, compared to their peers.
9. Children with SEND are significantly more likely to be absent from school.
10. Children with SEND are disproportionately affected by the practice of off-rolling and can be subject to bias in admissions.
11. Overstretched schools and teachers are being forced to act as a ‘fourth emergency service’ due to inadequate provision for children's mental health and social care.

Conference further believes that in addressing this crisis, the Government must take an approach that balances the need for greater inclusivity for children with SEND in mainstream schools, with a recognition that for some children with SEND, even the most inclusive mainstream setting may not be suitable.

Conference reaffirms Liberal Democrat calls for:

1. A National Body for SEND, to oversee the provision of support for children with SEND and fund the costs of very high needs over £25,000 a year.
2. Extra funding for local authorities, to reduce the amount that schools pay towards the cost of a child’s EHCP.

Conference calls on the UK Government to:

1. Speed-up the building of state-funded special schools, including by:
   1. Proceeding as a matter of urgency with construction of the 67 currently planned special free schools.
   2. Streamlining processes so that local authorities can build special schools, without unnecessary delays from central government.
2. Improve inclusion of children with SEND in mainstream education, supported by the necessary resources and adaptations, including through:

Applicability: England only.

Amendments

Drafting Amendments

The FCC has agreed to make the following drafting amendment to the motion: 

In IV (line 88), after ‘local government’, insert: ‘and trade unions’.

Amendment One

PASSED

Submitted by: 17 members
Mover: Andy McGowan 
Summation: Lee Dargue

After line 33, insert new xii) and xiii): 

xii) The lack of support for children with SEND, particularly during school holidays, has a significant impact on parent carers and siblings, including their health, wellbeing and opportunities. 

xiii) Research by Carers Trust and the We Care campaign shows that parent carers do not have access to their statutory right to assessments and, if needed, support.

After line 96, add new VI.: 

VI. Take measures to improve access to support for parent carers and siblings including through: 

1. Working with local government to ensure that parent carers have access to Parent Carers’ Needs Assessments and support in every local authority.
2. Ensuring that any future carers strategy or reforms to SEND specifically consider the needs of parent carers and siblings.
3. Making sure that Ofsted inspections of local authorities specifically assess how councils are identifying and supporting parent carers.
4. Including young carers as a priority group within any holiday activity programmes.

Amendment Two

PASSED

Submitted by: Liberal Democrat Disability Association
Mover: Katharine Macy.
Summation: tba

At end of V. (line 96), insert: ‘...,while ensuring quality of transport and education is not lowered’. 

After line 96, add: 

VI) Support Higher and Further education by allowing pre-16 diagnosis of disabilities such as neurodivergence like dyslexia, ADHD and autism to be accepted to access Disability Student Allowance and reasonable adjustments