Accountability in the SEND system is “one of the biggest challenges” of reform, a key adviser has said, as they look to “tighten” aspects. Christine Lenehan also revealed to the Westminster Education Forum this afternoon the education for all bill, which will enact the reforms, will be published in the new year. The sector is waiting to hear what the government will change in response to major SEND reforms consultation published in February this year. Lenehan, the Department for Education’s strategic adviser on SEND, told the event’s audience that “one of the biggest challenges that we’re working with is the whole accountability system at every level”. But she said government was “committed to working really, really closely with health” services. It follows an education committee finding last year that the “limited engagement” of health services in the current system “stems from a lack of robust and enforceable accountability mechanisms”. Lenehan acknowledged “issues with health and access to health services” during the reform of the NHS’s integrated care boards, adding: “So we are also looking at how we tighten some of those things.” Revealed: What SEND reforms are proposed for your area? A key plank of the SEND reforms is the £1.8 billion “experts at hand” service, aimed at boosting schools’ access to specialists like educational psychologists. Local area partnership boards were tasked with the rollout of the programme from September this year. Lenehan linked this new programme to improved accountability, adding: “What our view is is if the experts at hand programme is there, it’s the link at the moment between the schools and the local authority partnership boards. “So it’s some of the work around that. So there will be processes in place. What we’re trying to do make sure is that where there are disputes… the resolution process is as close to the setting as we can make it, so that it doesn’t escalate into the world. “Once you start to see stuff come out, you will see some very clear accountability maps. But test them, make sure they work.” Lenehan did not reveal more detail, but under the reforms parents with concerns about provision will direct complaints to their child’s school. New year publication The government’s SEND reform consultation closed in May, with ministers stating more details would be available in “due course”. Today Lenehan said “we are absolutely clear that we want to take this legislation through Parliament, and the implementation on a new legislation system starts in September 2029. “So what will come out too soon is the bill and a whole range of associated papers that are going to be really important. “The likelihood of those things coming out is now the new year… but it will not run later than that. “But the challenge we’ve got at the moment is because this system is so complex, we need to be able to put all the elements together and make sure they’re coherent.” Lenehan also revealed that the change of prime minister and education secretary has made the curriculum “a much more open question than it was”. Although she didn’t directly reference this, Lucy Powell announced over the summer that new vocational GCSEs would replace current technical awards. In response to a question about pupils with SEND who nearly pass English and maths GCSEs, Lenehan said: “We’re having to relook at all of those curriculum issues at key stage 4 and beyond to say are we actually now designing a curriculum that young people can succeed in. “What I do know at the moment is this is an issue of curriculum that is being relooked at with a different light from where we were.” ‘Convince Treasury’ The government has already announced several funding pots for the SEND reforms. Alongside experts at hand, there is a £1.6 billion inclusive mainstream fund (IMF) grant for schools. On the IMF, Lenehan said: “This is a starting point. People say to me ‘there isn’t enough money’. “There isn’t enough money, but there is money that starts the project that we can build on and convince the Treasury that it’s worth investing this even more.” Schools Week revealed last month how more than 90 per cent of councils had their local SEND reform plans approved by the government, in exchange for a bailout. But Lenehan said this “does not mean we think everything is good, but it means we think that at the moment in terms of the baseline for dropping the reforms into… we know where they are.”