“To further support the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities, the Government should urgently complete its ongoing review of the SEND system"
Responding to the Government’s announcement in the Spending Review of £2.6 billion for new school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“This funding is good news to help children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) access the support they need without having to travel too far.
“To further support the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities, the Government should urgently complete its ongoing review of the SEND system, as children with SEND will undoubtedly need additional support to help address lost learning due to the impact of the pandemic.
“This review needs to set out reforms that increase mainstream inclusion, provide councils and schools with long-term certainty of funding to meet the needs of all children with SEND, and give councils the power to hold education and health partners to account if their provision for identifying and supporting children with SEND is not adequate. We are also calling for high needs block deficits to be written off.”