Skip to main content

Special Educational Needs

Question for Department for Education

UIN HL7254, tabled on 19 April 2023

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan (CP 800), how they intend to address any confusion about the status of pre-existing legislation in areas where the National Standards will be trailed.

Answered on

3 May 2023

The new National Standards will build on the comprehensive legal framework relevant to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) by clarifying what good evidence-based provision looks like, who is responsible for securing it and from what budgets.

The department has heard through the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper how important it is that National Standards are evidence-based and that children, young people and their families are able to feed into the development process. We are setting up a steering group of cross sector representatives, that will include parent-carer representatives, to oversee the development of standards. The department will test the National Standards in the context of our £70 million Change Programme to ensure they are iterated and set up for success.

The development of the National Standards may require updates to both the legislation on SEND and to the SEND Code of Practice. The department will publish the National Standards in full for consultation.