‘They’re not listening!’: the government’s gamble on special education reform

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:07Today, will the government fix our broken special educational needs system?

0:18We are moving to tackle the generational challenges in our system, supporting children with SEND to succeed. After a year of delay, the government next week will finally release a long-expected white paper. The government had been due to announce reforms to the SEND system in the coming weeks, but has delayed its plans until the new year. It's setting up plans to tackle the spiralling crisis in support for children with special educational needs in England. In England today, around one in five children are identified as needing specialised educational support, known as SEND. and the system designed to support them is buckling under the pressure.

0:59Local authorities are facing billion-pound deficits in funding. Diagnoses are spiralling. Desperate parents are taking councils to tribunals in record numbers and winning. Send reform sits in one of the most politically combustible spaces in British public policy. Children's rights, public money and parental trust in the state.

1:29The government says big changes will have to be made as the current system is failing. But the proposed reforms are already causing huge anxiety among parents and leading them to ask one question. From The Guardian, I'm Annie Kelly. Today in Focus, are these reforms really about helping our most vulnerable children or cutting costs?

1:58Lexi Topping, you are a political correspondent for The Guardian and we're here today to talk about the SEND crisis, the reforms the government are about to announce. And this is an area that is so full of acronyms. So I thought we could start by just trying to explain some of them. When we talk about SEND or SEND, what does that mean and how many children are affected or come under that term? SEND is Special Education on Needs or Disabilities and it is essentially the phrase that we use to talk about children who have developmental needs. So this can range from anything from high anxiety or dyslexia to severe disabilities that are really life impacting.

2:38And there is an awful lot of children who have these additional needs in some respect. On some counts, about 40 % of one year would have some additional needs. What are the kind of practical obstacles that parents are facing when they're trying to get support that their kids need to be able to thrive at school? There seems to be a consensus at the moment that there is a real problem of provision in mainstream schools. So a child may have the need for speech and language therapy, but in order to get the help that they need, they may have to go through a very long system to get a statement that their child does have that need, which we call an EHCP, Education and Healthcare Plan.

3:21EHCPs have been massively on the increase in the past decade. But in order to get them, there's often a huge legal battle that parents have to go through. It's very difficult to secure them. And because they give a legal right to a child, they state what a child's needs are and how they should be met. And as such, providing that need that children require can be extremely expensive for councils. So increasingly, they have made that process more difficult. It's been longer. One in 14 kids now aren't getting the HCP for over a year. The vast majority aren't getting them within the time frame that they're meant to get.

4:00And often it means that from the moment that a child's need is identified to them getting the support that they actually need can be a really long time. And in early years education, particularly, that can be really detrimental. and it's a very adversarial system. So it leaves everybody a little bruised. And this is obviously a right, as you said, a legal right. That's led to a number of parents taking councils to court in terms of tribunals trying to either get an EHCP or when they do get that EHCP challenge it makes sure it actually is there to support the needs of their child. There's been a massive increase, hasn't there, about the number of parents taking their local authorities to court about this?

4:41There's been a huge increase in the number of tribunals. There's been a huge increase in the number of EHCPs. They've about basically doubled in the past decade. There's more than 600 ,000 children now on EHCPs. So the percentage of children has gone up from about 2.5 % to about 5%. That's huge, isn't it? It's a huge increase. And a lot of that has been driven by a rise in autism spectrum disorder, so ASD. We think that now about a third of all cases list that as the condition of the primary need. There's been a large increase in the number of EHCPs given to children with attention deficit. And when the system was originally set up in a 2011 white paper, I don't think there was any kind of idea just how great the demand would be.

5:27And there's a real debate at the moment, and it is quite controversial about the question of whether there is an overdiagnosis of certain conditions. I mean, I was at a reform press conference where Robert Jenrick was talking about the crackdown on people who are getting benefits for having mild anxiety or depression. That's almost nine million people. The number claiming disability benefits for an attention disorder has more than doubled since Covid. We all know a significant number of these claims. We had words from the health secretary, Wes Streeting, about whether there was over-diagnosis in certain areas.

6:10I want to follow the evidence and I agree with that point about over-diagnosis. But here's the other thing, I mean, mental well-being, illness. And there's been an inquiry launched into that. The health secretary, Wes Streeting, is launching an independent review into the rising demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services in England. It'll look at whether there's evidence of over-diagnosis and investigate gaps in support. So I think a lot of parents are also really worried that the issues that their children are facing, which are very real and they are dealing with on a day-to-day basis and are dealing with within their schooling, aren't going to be taken seriously and are somehow dismissed as these imaginary conditions when they know very well that this is something that is really standing in the way of them getting the education that they need.

6:57I'm worried that they're not going to listen to the parents and the actual people who've got SEND and disabilities. They need to be listening to them because we fight so hard for our children. It also sets up this really challenging relationship, doesn't it, between parents and schools and parents and local authorities. That's part of the crisis as well, isn't it, that kind of loss of trust? I mean, I've been speaking to ministers about this and I've been speaking to the chair of the Education Select Committee, who said the biggest challenge that the government faces at this point is trying to rebuild that trust that has completely broken down between the school, between the local authority and between the parent.

7:40And of course, the child is left languishing in the middle of that. We talked a bit about the pressure on local authorities and schools, but when you've got this rising costs, falling budgets, rising expectations of schools and councils being able to meet very complicated individual needs, that's also a huge strain on those systems as well. Do we know how much this is all costing local authorities? Well, the cost has gone up exponentially, more than doubled in the past 10 years. There is currently a£6 billion black hole in local councils' finances as a direct result of SEND provision. They're massively overspending on their budgets year after year, and they basically have been since the system started.

8:24So that's, you know, 10 years of overspend, essentially. Eight out of 10 councils have said, if we don't get help with this, we're going to go bankrupt. Like it's that stark. But what the government has done, and it's rolled over over several years, is allow councils to take these costs off their books. So they don't count for the bottom line, if you like. We'll keep that off the books and we'll deal with it at some point in the future. And the future is now. The money has to be paid for. The government has said at least five billion pounds worth of it is going to be covered by the government rather than by councils.

8:57So it's something that is making the Office for Budget Responsibility very nervous.

9:13My name is Jake. I'm 17, live in Manchester, para-athlete, And I do track and field, 4, 8, 1500, long jump and shot pop. Oh, my God, that's so impressive. Were you always into sports? Yeah. Does about 15 to 16 hours a week across three different sports. Oh, my God. Laura, he must eat so much. He must, like, clear your fridge out every week. Yes. This is Laura and her son, Jake, from Manchester. Jake has autism and complex educational needs, and Laura has nearly two decades of experience of the SEND system. Could you just explain, as a mother, what has that been like for you, having to kind of go through this system with all of your kids?

10:08To be honest, I'm a neurodivergent myself, so I try not to get the stress levels to navigate such a complex system. I know so many parents that I broker. OK. There's so many that have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of it. And I think that's what they do. I think they break parents. They want to break parents so they don't fight. And I refuse to let them break me. All of Laura's kids have got EHCPs, Educational Healthcare Plans, which trigger specialised support for them at school. But it hasn't been easy. And to anyone who might be listening that hasn't gone through this system.

10:49Could you just explain what it's like, like how complicated and confusing it can be? Oh, it is complicated. If you don't know the laws, you don't understand how to navigate a system, you will drown. And we could sink very quickly and then that's where our own mental health comes in. And then when you go back to the services, the parent blame. So it's one of them. you've got to try and keep yourself afloat and try and keep yourself connected to other SEND parents and the SEND community because they're the people that will be able to try and keep you as a parent slash carer afloat. Jake is Laura's middle child and she says he's always struggled at school.

11:37In primary school, did you have any extra help? Yes, I had one-to-one. had one-to-one speaking language therapy. I had a teaching assistant one-to-one. And Lauren, were you happy with the support that you guys were getting in primary school? Primary school wasn't a major problem. We were fortunate that Jake was in a very supportive school because they were the ones, from as soon as he walked through the door in nursery, that got the ball rolling with referrals to the places that he needed to go. but what we did find was there was always delays there was delays delays delays and that's the problem it's detrimental to them it's impacting them and it's the emotional impact to us on the whole family it took forever to get his actual diagnosis and some of the skills that we were looking at for high school for secondary required such specific diagnosis of autism and if you You haven't got the autism diagnosis.

12:42You necessarily ain't going to get in the school that meets their need. It was in secondary school that things really got harder for Jake, even though he was at a specialist school. So when I started primary, I did maths and English and all that stuff. And then in year six, that's when the SATs was started. I didn't do it. and then years became years seven.

13:14I went to, it was a Catholic for disabilities and then I've tried my exams in the last year of high school and then I failed them. It's now that Laura says they are facing their biggest struggle. Jake needs to pass his English and Maths GCSE to get on to the vocational courses he wants to do. But after he turned 16, despite having an EHCP, his support has been slashed in half. So last year they took their local council to tribunal. It would have cost£3 ,500 for an independent educational psychologist report to back up their case. but instead Jake decided he wanted to speak for himself. It's the voice of the young person that should be at the centre of everything so we thought well Jake's voice, Jake's telling them they're not listening.

14:16Obviously it didn't go in our favour but hey ho he stood there and told them. The case manager that was at the tribunal was very cold. No empathy, no compassion, no nothing, just cold. It was like, seriously? How are you working with disabled families?

14:47So Lexi, we're talking to you on the eve of this announcement of a government white paper, which is promising an overhaul of SEM provision in England and Wales. We're expecting it on Monday, but it's been a long time coming, hasn't it? This Labour government has been working on it from the moment that they got into government. I mean, it's an issue that even in opposition, they knew that they would have to tackle. And ideologically, they see it very much as a kind of Labour thing to do. We're launching the biggest national conversation on send in a generation to hear from those who experience the system day in, day out.

15:21To try and make sure that provision is there for all pupils and that it's evenly met. because the other thing that ministers brief and special advisors brief is that the provision of SEND is very, very patchy. If you're in one authority, it can be great. If you're in a different authority, it's not quite as good. But also the people who get these EHCPs, you're actually more likely to get those if you're from a more affluent background. So there's this sense that the system is not only failing a lot of children, it's failing the poorest children, the worst. You know, we've talked about this incredible amount of anxiety it's causing over what is going to be in the white paper announced on Monday.

16:02Do we know what it is that they are expected to lay out in this paper? I mean, it's going to be a huge reform and it's not just about SEND actually. This is a school's white paper and it's going to be also about the curriculum and a more broader sense of what school should be for children. But obviously the thing that people will be looking at the most is the reforms to SEND. The system to support children with SEND and their families isn't working. Our school's white paper will deliver change that lasts, informed by our national conversation with parents, staff and experts. We don't know much, for sure.

16:36Bridget Phillips and the Education Secretary have said that children with an EHCP, with the legal right, will likely still have those. People with existing EHCPs. People with existing EHCPs. That children who are in special schools for their education will stay in their special schools. They're doing a lot of reassuring about rights not being taken away, at least until there is a new system that can meet those needs. No changes will be done before 2030, but ultimately any changes are done with children at the heart of this to ensure that they get the right support and the right needs for them.

17:13Because, again, there isn't a one size fits all policy here. And that's where the tension is, because parents understandably want to keep hold of the one document that allows them to think that there is some accountability in the system because they have this legal right to the help that their child needs. Right. And this week you've reported that children's support is likely to get reassessed when they move to secondary school. And the government's been also talking about changing the thresholds for support, haven't they? There's talk of a tiered system where the care is different in each tier and to qualify for the most help, obviously the need will have to be the most severe.

17:54I call a year without having a school placement a very big shortfall. And then the government wants to talk about phasing out educational health care plans. Getting rid of these EHCPs, that is like their protection. So I think there's just so much uncertainty at the moment and it's taken such a long time to get here. We expected this white paper last year. The Department of Education had put it on hold because they said they still wanted to consult, they were still talking. They know how contentious this is and they're really desperate to get it right because a lot is riding on it. So it's probably safe to say that it's going to be more difficult now to access the highest levels of needs after this white paper kind of really seeks to redefine how you would get an EHCP and what your child would then be entitled to?

18:50What the government's argument is, is that all schools have to be inclusive and all schools should be providing things like inclusion bases where children who may have additional needs can go and have some classes with extra support and then they might go back to the regular class for other lessons. The kind of support that children need should be accessible early and it should be accessible in school and there shouldn't have to be a fight over it. And I think in theory everyone thinks yeah that sounds good but what if your child needs more than that? What if you don't think that their needs are being met in school?

19:29What is your backstop then? And it's where this responsibility will lie? Who will decide what the child's needs are? Will it be the school? At which point they could say, well actually no we do think your child's needs are being met. Or will it be the parent? Or will it be some external adjudicator? At the moment we just don't know. And that is obviously very worrying for parents.

20:02And in the government's new white paper, there is a lot of concern, isn't there, from some parents about what they're going to do regarding EHCPs. Do you have the same kind of concerns? yeah without a doubt if they change it to this what they're saying a four-tiered system how do parents know who meets this criteria because their criteria will be high standard which means then it leaves people like my son jake who would not get nothing the white paper needs to be clear and they think they have the professional background on how send system works They need to listen to their parents. They're not listening and they don't care.

20:50It's not their child. They can go to bed at night and they can go home, drink that glass of red wine, go to bed at night and not feel a thing. And you sound really angry, like this idea that they might change the system to mean that less kids get the support that they need. Is that what you read into the white paper, that that's what they're trying to do? Yeah, that's what I'm reading into the white paper. So what they're trying to do is, from what I'm guessing, is they're trying to throw at schools. And again, the schools are there. They can do so much. But if they don't have the funding, they can't implement it.

21:27They can implement so much. But if you have a child like Jake who has high complex needs, he's going to need the full support package. And again, schools don't have the speech and language therapists. This is an ongoing thing. this is a daily thing. It's not going to be one-off. So if they're going to pass it to the education system, they need to supply every school across the country with these professionals. And do you think that there's any chance that the schools would be able to do that? You've seen mainstream schools and the kind of support that they are able to give kids now as they're waiting for a diagnosis.

22:05Do you think that they'd be able to provide that kind of care without a massive injection of cash? No, no, because they don't have access to speech and language. They don't have access to the support packages that these young people need. And as much as there is amazing schools out there, there is, there really is some good schools. But again, the teachers, they cannot deliver because there's 30 plus students in each class. and it's not fair to put the demands on the teachers. And from what I've seen through the years, a lot of teachers are leaving. They're leaving the profession because of the demands that they've not signed up for.

22:53There's been quite a lot of politicking, hasn't there, now around over-diagnosis and you've got politicians in some parties basically saying, oh, there's too many kids being diagnosed with neurodiversity, like we need to kind of stop all of this over-diagnosis, it's putting too much strain on the system. What's your thoughts about that? Right, these certain individuals, are we looking at the boomer generation? Because a lot of people, let's go back to the boomer generation, they were putting bar stools or they were given the cane for being disruptive. These are the people that were neurodivergent, possibly the ADHD or the autism where they like couldn't fathom why they were being punished so as we've come to understand a lot of us I'm neurodivergent myself we've come to understand that there is actually a lot of in a lot of our children that do need this diagnosis for them to understand themselves to understand their own identity because I was not diagnosed as a child I just thought I was the thick kid in the back of the classroom thinking what the hell but it turns out at age 26 I was diagnosed with dyslexia that made me think hang on I understand myself a little bit more I understand why I struggled with so many things in school I wasn't what you would class in that era as thick no I just couldn't get my grasp and then further down the line I realized I was autistic too so obviously it started to put things into place for me into perspective so now that we've come to understand a lot more about the neurodivergent pathway it's not over-diagnosing it's understanding these younger people these young people need to understand who they are as their own identity and as their own person it's understanding who they are and then it's accessing the support network they might feel they don't fit in with the mainstream but they might fit in with the adhd community so they go and find friendships within that community so the over diagnosis is disgusting can i just say something of course

25:14with other people with autism and all that stuff and like physical disability and all that stuff just treat people the same you want to be treated and not just that that they have to wait wait for a long time for a diagnosis and people with autism have to go to daycare or day centres But you want more for your own life? Yeah. What is it that you would like to do with your future? I want to be a level two swimming teaching assistant and I want to do a job in sport, like sports coaching or anything like that. And if you imagine that the people in the government are listening to this now, what is it that you would say to them about what young people need in terms of their support to get the kind of future that they want for themselves?

26:21It's giving people what they want, really, in life, basically. For me, to the government, it would be, instead of speaking to maybe some of the big SEND organisations, come to the streets where there's poverty, come to the streets where the SEND system is broken. I can tell you now where we live. We live in one of the most deprived areas of Manchester, and we also live in an area where there's a high ratio of care, number of carers, and speak to them, get real, stop living in what we would call fairyland, and get out there.

27:09Coming up, why this is the one issue MPs and the government are worrying about the most.

27:31What do you think, for the government, success would look like if these reforms that they've outlined already go through? Is it kind of less children seeking an AHCP? Is it less tribunals? Is it less children out of school? Do you get any sense? I think it's all of the above. I spoke to an advisor to the education department and he was saying that the real canaries in the coal mine are how the persistent absenteeism from school at the moment and the massive increase in the number of kids who have additional needs. Both of those things are telling us that school is not a happy place for a lot of children.