‘SEND reforms are stronger because we engaged with communities’

The critical task of stewarding SEND reform has passed through the hands of an eyewatering nine ministers since a review first launched in 2019 under the Conservatives.

Georgia Gould is the latest in the line-up. She became schools minister in September and has since tried to make it clear to fearful families that “someone is listening”.

Her repeated use of the phrase hasn’t gone unnoticed, with some publicly and privately praising her approach.

The SEND white paper was delayed again last year so she could hold national and regional “listening” events.

This was welcomed for the most part, but left some sceptical about whether the government was actually taking on board feedback, or whether it was simply a tick-box exercise to try to reassure the sector.

But Gould, the MP for Queen’s Park and Maida Vale since 2024, said she learned the true meaning of listening shortly after she was elected leader of Camden Council.

Camden tower blocks evacuated

In 2017, she ordered the evacuation of the north London borough’s Chalcots tower blocks after it was discovered they had similar cladding to Grenfell Tower, which claimed the lives of 72 people after fire broke out on June 14, 2017.

The issues raised by fire services were the same as families had been desperately trying to get taken seriously.

“We had not been listening deeply enough to those families and it is so critical that we hear people, because if you don’t then you put lives at risk,” Gould said.

“It led me on a journey with Camden to really try and turn the council inside out, so it was truly listening to communities.”

Part of this involved bringing families in the council’s ‘outstanding’-rated social care system into a “group conference” to develop solutions for their children.

These families created a motto: “to love is to act”. A colourful canvas next to her ministerial desk reminds her of it.

Tribunal plans U-turn

Gould revealed her SEND conversations did lead to several “substantial” pre-publication U-turns and additions.

Under draft plans, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman would have looked at education, health and care plan (EHCP) needs assessment appeals, rather than the tribunal.

The government believed it would have been quicker, but parents and disabled children’s organisations felt “really strongly” the tribunal should be the backstop, Gould said.

The organisations’ feedback also led to the “fast track” for EHCPs for children under 5 who had been identified as having “complex needs”.

“We’ve had teachers in the room, SENCOs, parents, local authorities, health workers and actually sometimes they do have different perspectives, but it’s really important that everyone gets the chance to negotiate those differences and to hear from each other.”

She believes the reforms are “so much stronger because of the work we’ve done to really engage properly with communities”.

Test, learn and grow

But there are growing concerns about how the transition to a new system will work.

For instance, there is a huge workforce challenge for the new government-funded, council-run experts at hand scheme, which aims to make it easier for schools to access specialist services.

Some are concerned about children falling through the gaps.

Gould is keen to replicate the “test, learn and grow” scheme that she introduced at the Cabinet Office in the SEND reforms.

It was a move away from a “top down” view of policy, instead working with frontline staff on challenges. It’s in development, but one issue they may use the programme on is exploring barriers to successful transition into adulthood.

The scheme was “really getting into the heart of communities and making policies together”, she said.

“That’s very much the approach I’ve tried to bring to government.

“I’ve been on the other end of it as council leader, with headteachers being like ‘that part of government has not talked to that part of government, why is this come down like this?’”

SEND fragmentation

This fragmentation is something Gould is having to confront. The education committee warned last year the health sector played a “more passive role” in SEND, with schools and councils “shouldering most of the responsibility.”

On Monday night, several MPs pressed Gould in the Commons for answers on this.

Labour MP Jen Craft called on the health secretary Wes Streeting to publish a statement on how he will deliver the SEND workforce. “Otherwise, I am sorry to say that this plan will struggle to get off the ground,” she said.

Gould maintained they were joint reforms with health, and the experts at hand service would help address any issues.

But she acknowledged parents’ frustration of having to “fight” and navigate different services.

“The full reforms have to address that. Health is critical, this is in partnership. Together, we’ve been working really closely with health colleagues to address … the key health workforce we think we need.

“We’re really clear that where there are failures, we will have a strong Ofsted [inspection] that includes the Care Quality Commission, but we will also intervene as government.”

Gould agreed there were areas “we need to go further”. She has convened a new “complex needs group” with Zubir Ahmed, the health minister responsible for SEND, to look at how health works with education and social care.

One of its objectives is to look at how funding decisions are made locally for each service.

“Sometimes delays in negotiations between different agencies mean children have to wait for support, that might be an area we look at with test, learn and grow.

“What are better ways to make that decision?”

The reforms place great emphasis on partnership working in local areas. Whether it can be a successful reality nationwide remains to be seen.

But Gould said from her experience at Camden it was “transformative”.

“We really think that collaboration matters, but place also matters. We want a system where teachers are supported by those wider services, but schools are really rooted in their communities.”

Inclusion bases

One of the key policies is new inclusion bases, expected in every secondary school. But leaders are still waiting for government guidance on how to best run these.

ASCL’s Margaret Mulholland told the education committee this week that schools shouldn’t “rush in” to set these up, while the National Education Union’s Daniel Kebede said staffing remained a fundamental challenge.

He also warned there was a risk that they became “a dumping ground rather than a genuine specialist resource”.

Pressed on these concerns, Gould reflected on the “extraordinary” practice she has seen.

But she has also visited schools “that are really struggling, where they’ve got a space, they’ve really openly said to me, we don’t have the expertise, we don’t know what to do.

“At a base I visited the other day, the head of a school said something which I think is really important – that inclusion has to start in the mainstream school.

“Because if you have a base and there isn’t a real focus on inclusive practice, and if all teachers and support staff aren’t involved in that inclusive journey, it won’t work because those children will be isolated.

“So it’s really important this guidance is coming out and will provide that clarity on what good looks like.”

Schools Week recently revealed how councils will be given top marks by government if their SEND reform proposals included “little to no plans” to increase special school capacity.

This has prompted a feeling among some specialist leaders that their work has been sidelined.

Gould insisted they would be “critically important”, adding: “There needs to be special schools in the system, but also that they are part of a wider family of schools in local areas.”

‘Super aware of unfairness’

As the daughter of the late Labour peer and strategist Philip Gould, Gould’s privileged childhood – including family holidays with Labour strategist Alastair Campbell and the Blairs – is well documented.

She appeared as a baby on the cover of the 1987 election edition of Private Eye, held by Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

She attended the famous state Camden School for Girls in north London, founded by suffragist Frances Mary Buss and known for its top outcomes. As a proud feminist, her DfE office is full of illustrations and pictures of women.

Her upbringing, she said, made her “really super aware” of the unfairness in her community and country.

“I had friends who were so talented, had so much they wanted to do – and they were held back by the level of disadvantage, the barriers that they faced.

“Some had barriers that I didn’t have, like trying to get an unpaid internship and only able to stay in school because of the educational maintenance allowance. There were huge barriers, and that’s what got me into local politics and still has a massive impact for me today.”

She cites an example of studying history and politics at the University of Oxford, looking around and realising there were so many people from her class at school who should have been there, but weren’t.

“They had everything to give, and they’re not here because they haven’t had those right opportunities.”

Defining legacy

While it is likely the SEND reform success will be her defining legacy as schools minister, what does she want to be remembered for?

“I think the way the previous government framed education was too narrow.

“We need to ensure that we set young people up for a changing world, that we give them a broad education.

“Supporting them to achieve academically is critically important, but we also want them to have the oracy skills, the creativity the resilience, the wellbeing.”

While a council leader, Gould helped set up Camden Learning, an area-based education partnership.

These involve schools teaming up, then working with the council on school improvement, professional development and curriculum programmes.

“Camden was a borough that chose to stay actively involved in education,” she said. “We had an ethos about education that schools should be rooted in communities.

“We fought so hard to keep the arts, creativity, music – often feeling like that was against the tide – but also performing well on academic achievement.

“I really believe that inclusion, wellbeing and academic achievement are two sides of the same coin.

“A joy got taken out of learning under the last government, and we really want to make school unmissable and a place that people want to be.”