A readiness to readjust, sustained political focus and the capacity to deliver on goals are vital if Labour is to succeed where the Tories failed on SEND, says Reza Schwitzer
“For too long, families have found themselves battling against a complex and fragmented system.
“These reforms ensure support fits in with their needs and not the other way round… a simpler and more joined-up system that focuses on children.”
That isn’t Bridget Phillipson or Georgia Gould talking. It’s Edward Timpson, the Conservative minister announcing reforms to SEND in 2014.
Firstly, fair play to the Timpsons for having a minister in post both then and now (Edward’s brother, James, is a Labour justice minister).
Secondly, and more importantly, this reminds us that the major challenge on SEND lies in the implementation as much as it does the policy.
Don’t get me wrong, the latest SEND reforms are absolutely on the right track.
Early universal intervention, targeted mainstream support and specialist provision for those with the most complex needs. Many would agree those are the key to solving the problem.
But I always remember a meeting I had as a civil servant in 2019, with a director of children’s services in a local authority.
The 2014 reforms, he said, were very well intentioned and had the right ideas. The problem was they just weren’t deliverable. In his words “they gave us a platinum system, but with tin funding.”
Crucial requirements
Fast forward to today, what does that mean for Bridget Phillipson and Kevan Collins? Here are three things I would watch for specifically.
First, keeping an open mind. To deliver something successfully, especially as complex as SEND reform, you need to be able to adapt to what you’re finding on the ground.
Too often, scared of the political ramifications of U-turning, government sticks rigidly to its policy plans.
Instead, as you roll out a major programme, you need to be ready to redesign elements if it becomes obvious they aren’t working. That means listening to and acting on the feedback of the people who are actually going to be delivering.
Second, keeping up political interest. In modern politics, it can become very tempting for ministers to announce something, engage with the press and the public on it, and then move on to the next announcement.
But this doesn’t work. Departments need to feel from their ministers that successful implementation is as important as media splashes, and to know exactly what ministers define success as looking like (Better outcomes? Lower spending? Both? Something else?).
The children’s commissioner having a direct role in holding the government to account on SEND implementation is welcome, as is Collins’s role working with the Department for Education’s delivery unit on the reforms.
This implies there will be regular, robust reporting on how things are developing. But ministers will need to ensure they remain engaged as well.
Finally, clarity of roles and the capacity to deliver them.
As in 2014, the department’s vision is of an interconnected system which works around children to cater to their needs.
That means local authorities working with schools, alternative provision, the NHS and sometimes other agencies.
Each of these actors must know what their specific responsibility is, and be funded to deliver it.
Awaiting clarity
Within schools, we are not yet clear what these changes will mean for SENCOs, school leaders, teachers and support staff, and whether they are manageable for them.
Cross-agency working is famously hard to deliver in practice. And while £4 billion of new funding for SEND is extremely welcome, it does not on its own alleviate the wider constraints on council capacity that have got steadily worse since 2010.
Nor is it clear exactly how future funding will be distributed – something which can be fiendishly complicated and time-consuming in its own right.
This is not intended to be downbeat. The government has a strong policy proposition which could improve the lives of millions of children with SEND.
But to succeed it will need to think as carefully about 2014 as it does about 2034, when we can only expect another Timpson will be a government minister.
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