Next Steps – Beyond the Green Paper Buckinghamshire - Annual SEN Conference Wednesday 20 March 2013 André Imich, SEN and Disability Professional Adviser, DfE

The Transformation Journey March 2011: Green Paper Support and Aspiration - A new approach to special educational needs and disability  May Support and aspiration: Progress and next steps  Sept 2012 – Draft legislation on reform of provision for children and young people with SEN  Feb 2013 – Children and Families Bill Published

Our vision Children’s SEN are picked up early and support is routinely put in place quickly; Staff have the knowledge, understanding and skills to provide the right support for CYP who have SEN or are disabled; Parents know what they can reasonably expect their local school, college, LA & local services to provide, without having to fight for it; Aspirations for CYP is raised through an increased focus on life outcomes For more complex needs, an integrated assessment and a single Education, Health and Care Plan from birth to 25; and There is greater control for parents and young people over the services they and their family use.

4 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1.Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers.

5 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1.Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers. 2.More streamlined assessment process, which integrates education, health and care services, and involves CYP and their parents. New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as current needs.

Assessment and Planning/ EHCPs - Principles of emerging practice Assessment and planning –  On-going process, regular person-centred reviews.  A ‘tell us once’ approach to sharing information  CYP and families at centre; involved in making decisions throughout.  Effective co-ordination between education, health and care services, aiming to secure joint agreement on key outcomes.  Practitioners engaged and committed to single assessment and planning.  Keyworking approaches to provide a single point of contact. EHCPs –  Person centred, focussed on outcomes, specific about provision.  Clear, concise, readable and accessible  Fulfil statutory duties and support portability across areas.  Support preparation for key transition points - “forward looking”  Specify other types of support where needed e.g. to secure paid employment and independent living.

7 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1.Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers. 2.More streamlined assessment process, which integrates education, health and care services, and involves CYP and their parents. New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as current needs. 3.New requirement for LA, health and care services to commission services jointly re meeting the needs of CYP with SEN & disabilities.

Joint commissioning New duty for local authorities to ensure integration across special education, health and social care. Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups will be required to work together to arrange local services to meet the education, health and care needs of disabled CYP and those with SEN. The NHS Commissioning Board is legally required to pursue the objectives in the NHS Mandate, issued Nov CCGs have a statutory duty to act consistently with the Mandate. “…there is a particular need for improvement, working in partnership across different services… in supporting children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities. The Board’s objective is to ensure that they have access to the services identified in their agreed care plan, and that parents of children who could benefit have the option of a personal budget based on a single assessment across health, social care and education.” (para )

9 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1.Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers. 2.More streamlined assessment process, which integrates education, health and care services, and involves CYP and their parents. New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as current needs. 3.New requirement for LA, health and care services to commission services jointly re meeting the needs of CYP with SEN & disabilities. 4.LAs to publish a clear, transparent ‘local offer’ of services for all CYP with SEN, so parents can understand what is available.

Local Offer – key principles of emerging good practice from pathfinders The Local Offer should: be co-produced with parents and young people fully involve services in its development and review (including schools and colleges, CCGs, the VCS and local health organisations) be holistic and cover 0-25 education, training, transport, social care, health and support for employment and independent living make clear how parent, carers & young people can access support and services, clarify how decisions are made, by whom, and what to do if things go wrong be up to date, written in plain language, and available in a range of formats and locations make clear to parents what provision schools and colleges will deliver from their delegated funding and what needs additional funding

11 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1.Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers. 2.More streamlined assessment process, which integrates education, health and care services, and involves CYP and their parents. New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as current needs. 3.New requirement for LA, health and care services to commission services jointly re meeting the needs of CYP with SEN & disabilities. 4.LAs to publish a clear, transparent ‘local offer’ of services for all CYP with SEN, so parents can understand what is available. 5.New statutory protections for young people aged in FE and a stronger focus on preparing for adulthood.

5. Statutory protections for young people aged in FE  Able to express a preference for FE/ college  Able to appeal in own right (young people above statutory leaving age) PLUS –  Pilot scheme to enable children to appeal about SEN and disability.

13 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1.Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers. 2.More streamlined assessment process, which integrates education, health and care services, and involves CYP and their parents. New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as current needs. 3.New requirement for LA, health and care services to commission services jointly re meeting the needs of CYP with SEN & disabilities. 4.LAs to publish a clear, transparent ‘local offer’ of services for all CYP with SEN, so parents can understand what is available. 5.New statutory protections for young people aged in FE and a stronger focus on preparing for adulthood. 6.Offer of a personal budget for families and young people with a Plan, extending choice and control over their support.

Personal Budgets – key principles of emerging good practice from pathfinders Personal Budgets should be based on clear, agreed outcomes be transparent and challengeable allow families and young people to manage agreed elements of the additional and individual support they need be an integral part of the planning process in order to empower creative solutions reflect the holistic nature of an EHCP, covering education, health and care as appropriate, where additional and individual support is needed come with the support needed for parents and young people to take up and manage it support and inform market development allow for local flexibility.

15 Children and Families Bill - Key Highlights 1. Involvement of children, young people and parents at the heart of legislation, including assessments and local offers. 2.More streamlined assessment process, which integrates education, health and care services, and involves CYP and their parents. New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as current needs. 3.New requirement for LA, health and care services to commission services jointly re meeting the needs of CYP with SEN & disabilities. 4.LAs to publish a clear, transparent ‘local offer’ of services for all CYP with SEN, so parents can understand what is available. 5.New statutory protections for young people aged in FE and a stronger focus on preparing for adulthood. 6.Offer of a personal budget for families and young people with a Plan, extending choice and control over their support. 7.SEN duties will apply to Academies and Free Schools directly. A range of other institutions, including colleges, NMSS and independent specialist institutions will also have SEN duties

Timetable for reform (Indicative)  September to December 2012 – a period of pre-legislative scrutiny, led by the Education Select Committee. Allows the provisions to be informed and improved by the views and evidence of key stakeholders, and for us to continue to learn from the experience of the Pathfinders.  December 2012 – Education Select Committee publishes a report of its findings.  Early 2013 – Improved Bill introduced into Parliament.  Spring Royal Assent (subject to Parliamentary process)  September 2014 – reforms go live (meeting original green paper commitment to have reforms in place by 2014)

Further Key Developments

Single School Category  We are working with experts on replacing the current categories of School Action and School Action Plus (and their equivalents in early years) with a single category.  In doing so we will ensure a focus on outcomes rather than processes in SEN identification, and on ensuring that pupils’ needs are not missed.  The revised SEN Code of Practice to give clear guidance on identifying children who have SEN and on the operation of a new single category of SEN.

BESD – Identification and support  52% of respondents judged the current category of BESD to be unhelpful (too broad; a ‘catch all’) in identifying and meeting the underlying needs of children, such as those with emotional and social difficulties.  Too much focus placed on poor behaviour.  We are working with experts to consider how the BESD category might be redefined, or described in a way that helps professionals to identify what underlying emotional or social issues might be present, and ensure the right help is put in place.

Implications for schools and colleges New Code of Practice (Sept 2014) applies to all state funded schools Outcomes/ outcomes/ outcomes Parent and child-centred Working with keyworkers Greater clarity re what school/ college provides Work with LA on local offer Improved transition planning and arrangements Collaboration between schools and FE provision Support families in using personal budgets

From now until enactment  Business as usual  1996 Education Act and current Code of Practice still apply  Pathfinder learning will support preparation for implementation  Transition arrangements will be clarified by DfE

………… Questions ………… Comments ………… Points of clarity ………… Discussion