How should SEND services be held to account? MPs question Ofsted, CQC and Ombudsman
The Education Committee will examine the accountability system surrounding SEND services provided by schools and local authorities.
Meeting details
MPs will hear from Ofsted, the Care and Quality Commission (CQC), the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, and the Independent Provider for Special Education Advice, a leading charity in the field of SEND law in England.
The cross-party Committee has heard that an increasing numbers of parents, whose children have Education, Health and Care Plans, are having to take their local council to court, in SEND tribunals, to secure the support their child is entitled to at school.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which hears individuals’ complaints and can issue fines to councils, is also receiving high numbers of cases relating to SEND.
Meanwhile, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, which carry out joint inspections, found that 31% of local areas had “widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns” for those with SEND, according to an NAO report.
The Committee is likely to ask about Ofsted’s proposed new inspection framework, how it will define inclusion and how it will be used to measure schools’ performance on supporting pupils with SEND.
There may also be questions about how effectively the CQC’s and Ofsted’s inspections take into account local authorities’ legal compliance or schools’ policies around admissions and exclusions, as well as whether stronger penalties should be put in place for inadequate provision.
MPs may also ask whether different types of school are more difficult to hold to account than others, and whether there are ways to strengthen the voices of parents and their routes to holding organisations to account.