New special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms will focus on ending the postcode lottery in services, says the UK Government.
The reforms laid out in the new SEND and alternative provision Green Paper put forward a vision for a single system with new standards across education, health and care.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi believes the SEND Green Paper will improve choice for parents
The current system leaves parents facing difficulties and delays getting the right support, says the Government.
The Government is planning to digitise education, health and care plans under the reforms to make them more flexible and reduce bureaucracy.
Framework for high support needs
Another expectation is that the Government will introduce a national framework for banding together those with high support needs. The intention would be to offer clarity on the level of support they should receive.
In addition, councils will be under a legal obligation to introduce local inclusion plans. These will bring together early years, schools and post-16 education with health and care services.
SEND proposals offer ‘better choice’
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the proposals are designed to “boost confidence in the system across the board”. They would also “give parents better choice”.
But biomedical charity Thinking Autism questioned whether the Green Paper’s aim of identifying needs quickly and meeting them consistently could be achieved.
The charity believes that medics should first treat or investigate the many other health problems that often afflict people with autism.
Conditions such as gut problems and epilepsy are far more common in autistic people than the general population.
Diagnosis a start, ‘not the end’
In a statement, the charity said this can have “a serious detrimental effect on quality of life”. It said an autism diagnosis should represent the start of medical investigations, “not the end”.
Under the Government proposals, there will also be better training available. The aim would be to improve the number of staff with advanced qualifications in early years settings.
The Government has opened a 13-week consultation on the plans until July 1.
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Published: 5 April 2022
