Unviable SEND system will end in lost generation of children without reform

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued an urgent call for the government to take action to improve a SEND system which is failing the families who need it, and putting almost half of all councils in England in danger of effective bankruptcy within 15 months.

The Committee has found that too many families are struggling to access desperately-needed SEN support, with the system inherently favouring parents and carers better able to navigate an often “chaotic and adversarial process” liable to produce marked inequalities.

The report highlights a postcode lottery with massive variation across the country in families’ wait times for Education Health and Care (EHC) plans. Even families in neighbouring local authorities have markedly different experiences - 71.5% of EHC plans were written on time in Lambeth, while only 19.2% were in Southwark. Areas with particularly poor performance can be seen in the South, South-West and East of England. 

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “Urgent warnings have long been issued to Government on the failing SEND system from every quarter. This is an emergency that has been allowed to run and run. Families in need of help have been forced to spend precious energy fighting for the support they are legally entitled to, and local authorities to bear an unsustainable financial burden.

“The immensity of this situation cannot be overstated. As a nation, we are failing countless children. We have been doing so for years. At the same time, we are creating an existential financial risk for some local authorities, caused by that same failing system.”