'Solving the SEND Crisis' published

The report describes a system at breaking point, characterised by unmet needs, delayed support, and fractured services. It specifically recognises the current capacity challenges for speech and language therapists and identifies that workforce shortages are significantly undermining the availability and quality of SEND support.

The report finds that, while current levels of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are unsustainable, the solution is not to remove the statutory entitlements from a system “which lacks accountability in many other areas and in which parents already have so little trust and confidence”.

RCSLT response

The RCSLT welcomes the report which accurately describes the complex challenges currently faced by families and professionals. The report makes a series of recommendations, many of which echo our own policy calls, and address all six areas which we identified as requiring action in 2022.

We particularly welcome the recommendation that every Best Start Family Hub should have a dedicated speech and language therapist, and the call for a joint SEND workforce plan which would enable speech and language therapists to deliver therapeutic support and upskill early years practitioners, teachers and support staff in schools and settings.

While welcoming the proposals to increase accountability on health partners, it is vital that any duties on health services include providing early intervention and Special Educational Needs support (SEN support) as well as provision for children and young people with EHCPs. We look forward to working with the Department for Education (DfE), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England to discuss how the recommendations could be successfully implemented to deliver a SEND system that is inclusive, fair, and fit for the future.

Read the full report

Key recommendations

Key recommendations relevant to speech and language therapy include:

Professional development

• The DfE should provide comprehensive training within initial teacher training and clear guidance for schools, multi-academy trusts (MATs) and education staff on delivering inclusive education practice.
• Continuing Professional Development on SEND should be made mandatory for all teachers.

Early intervention

•  A national rollout of ELSEC (Early Language Support for Every Child) and NELI (Nuffield Early Language Intervention), accompanied by comprehensive, long-term funding and resources to meet the scale of children’s speech and language needs.
• The commitment for every Best Start Family Hub to have a dedicated Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) should extend to speech and language therapists.
• A strong and consistent framework for building SEND capacity and good practice in early years settings through the deployment of speech and language therapists and other specialists in training the workforce.

Workforce

• The DfE and DHSC should urgently develop a joint SEND workforce plan to address shortages and build capacity across education, health, and care services.
• This should include explicit measures to deliver a shift in the deployment of [professionals including] speech and language therapists away from undertaking assessments and writing reports and towards greater deployment in education settings, delivering therapeutic support for children and upskilling early years practitioners, teachers and support staff.

Funding

• Ensuring that schools, MATs and services are resourced to identify and meet speech and language and SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) needs at the earliest stage should be a central principle of any funding reform.
• The High Needs Block should be refocused to enable and incentivise earlier intervention.
• Appropriate financial investment from the health sector to meet statutory duties, provide timely access to therapies and assessments, and contribute equitably to joint commissioning arrangements.

Accountability

• The DfE must significantly improve cross-departmental coordination with the DHSC and NHS England to establish clear, consistent accountability for SEND at the Integrated Care Board (ICB) level.
• SEND should be identified as a priority across the health system and ongoing NHS restructuring must be used as an opportunity to strengthen the role and accountability of health services in supporting children and young people with SEND.

Joint commissioning

• The Government should place a clear statutory duty on health services, including ICBs and NHS providers, to ensure their full and accountable participation in the planning, commissioning, and delivery of SEND provision.
• Mandatory training for health commissioners on good practice in meeting the needs of children with SEND.

Background

The RCSLT submitted written evidence to the inquiry and was pleased to be invited to provide oral evidence; we were represented at the committee session by RCSLT member Janet Harrison.

The SEND in the Specialists coalition has also issued a statement on the report