Written evidence from National Network of Parent Carer Forums

(CFA0043)

 

HOUSE OF LORDS CHILDREN AND FAMILIES ACT 2014 SELECT COMMITTEE INQURY

 

 

Response to the House of Lords Children and Families Act 2014 Inquiry

1 About the National Network of Parent Carer Forums

 

The National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) is the independent, national voice of parent carer forums. We are run by parent carers with lived experience.

 

Our mission is to deliver better outcomes for families living with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We aim to:

 

                  create a culture of participation and co-production across the education, health, social care and the voluntary sectors. This means that we are involved in all aspects of designing, commissioning, delivering and reviewing services as an equal partner.

                  empower our members to ensure that their voices are heard at a local, regional and national level

                  inspire our partners by sharing good practice and knowledge.

 

Our vision is a for the best possible opportunities and futures for all children and young people with SEND and their families

 

Parent Carer Forums are pan disability. This means each Parent Carer Forum includes Parent Carers from a range of backgrounds with a wide range of experiences in Health, Education and Social Care as their children have a wide range of conditions. We currently have approaching 100,000 members.

 

2 Our Approach to this Inquiry

 

As a membership organisation, the NNPCF Steering Group has based this response on a range of sources including:

 

3 We have focussed our response on the following questions:

Has the Children and Families Act 2014 has achieved its aim of improving the lives of children and families, particularly the most vulnerable children and young people in society?

Has the Act achieved its goal of improving provision for children with special educational and disability needs and disabilities?

 

4. Our Key Issues

 

The Children and Families Act 2014 has delivered on the SEND Reforms.  Our members tell us that:

• Too many children with SEND in mainstream and special schools are still having a poor experience. For example, the exclusion rate for children and young people is disproportionately high

• Education Health and Care plans are of very mixed quality and often services are not

being delivered even when written into a plan

• Families still face the cliff edge when their young person leaves education

• Lack of aspirational outcomes particularly around employment and greater independence.

 

In a recent survey of our members to inform the NNPCF strategic priorities for 2022-23, the forums who responded identified the following top 10 priorities for parent carers:

 

1. Waiting times for assessments- particularly Autism

2. Access to mental health services and support (waiting times)

3. SEND support in schools

4. Quality of EHCP

5. Lack of specialist school places

6. Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance

7. Post 16 education

8. Annual Reviews

9. Waiting times for community therapy services (OT, SALT, Physios)

10. Access to short breaks

 

Therefore, we cannot say that the Children and Families Act 2014 has achieved its aim of improving the lives of SEND children, young people and their families.

 

The vision of the Children and Families 2014 is the right vision to improve the lives of SEND children, young people and their families as the reforms focussed on:

• Coproduction not confrontation

• Outcome driven, not provision driven

• Joint working not, silo working

However, they have been delivered in the wrong environment.

 

  1.              There just isn’t enough money in the system and the money that is in the system isn’t being used effectively.

 

  1.              Schools aren’t incentivised to be inclusive and SEND is too often a low priority across
  2.              health and social care.

 

  1.              There is poor accountability and few consequences for failure.

 

  1.              Leaders, managers, and staff aren’t equipped and supported to deliver and don’t know or understand the law which means that they haven’t made the cultural changes required.

 

  1.              There needs to be more coproduction at both an individual and strategic level.

 

To address this government needs to fund SEND services properly and have a cross governmental strategy to address the issues in the system.

 

4.1 SEND Review

 

The NNPCF has inputted into the SEND Review in a number of ways to ensure that the new system can provide the highest quality support that enables children and young people with SEND to thrive and prepare for adulthood, including employment.

 

We specifically looked at the following questions:

 

1. How can we save money and spend the money we have more effectively?

2. How do we make the system listen to families and intervene early?

3. How do we incentivise mainstream schools to be more inclusive?

4. How do we change the culture and embed coproduction into the SEND system?

 

Some consistent solutions emerged across the four questions; simple things that would make a difference across the board and improve provision for children with special educational and disability needs and disabilities. 

 

These are:

 

 

6. Our final messages

 

The NNPCF believe that the CFA 2014 are the right reforms in the wrong context.  We should remain focussed on the vision and principles of the Act and amend legislation/guidance where appropriate to ensure that the Children and Families Act 2014 achieves its aim of improving the lives of children, young people with SEND and their families.

 

Contact Details:

Kay Moore – Policy and Consultation Lead, NNPCF              consultation @nnpcf.org.uk
Mrunal Sisodia – Co-chair NNPCF  -                                           cochairs@nnpcf.org.uk

Web: www.nnpcf.org.uk

 

April 2022

 

 

 

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