Written evidence submitted by The National Autistic Society

SFC0045

About autism: Autism is a lifelong disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. There are over 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. Without the right support or understanding, autistic people can miss out on an education, struggle to find work and become extremely isolated.

About us: The National Autistic Society is here to transform lives, change attitudes and create a society that works for autistic people. We transform lives by providing support, information and practical advice for the over 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK, as well as three million family members and carers. Since 1962, autistic people have turned to us at key moments or challenging times in their lives, be it getting a diagnosis, going to school or finding work. We change attitudes by improving public understanding of autism and the difficulties many autistic people face. We also work closely with businesses, local authorities and government to help them provide more autism-friendly spaces, deliver better services and improve laws. We have come a long way, but it is not good enough www.autism.org.uk

Performance

The Special Educational Needs (SEN) system is failing to perform even its most basic functions properly, and that previous efforts to address structural issues (such as the SEND AP Improvement Plan) have not delivered the improvements needed.

Currently there are unacceptable wait times for Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCPs),[1] an increase in reliance on Tribunals to determine eligibility for statutory support[2] (despite cases overwhelmingly finding in favour of parents), an increase in demand for EHCPs[3] and an increase in exclusions and absences of SEN pupils.[4]. Upon leaving school, there are high rates of unemployment and economic inactivity for SEN youth as they struggle to transition out of a school system that has not met their needs.[5]

• 49.2% of EHCP plans are still not delivered within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks[6]
• 13,658 appeals were lodged with the SEN Tribunal in 2022-23, a 23% increase on the previous year. 98% of tribunal cases found in favour of the parent or family member.[7]
• Over 500,000 EHCP plans are currently in place, with 66,706 new plans requested in 2022-2023[8]
• The exclusion rate for young people with SEN (No EHCP) is 24.42, and for EHCP pupils the exclusion rate is 21.60. This compared to an exclusion rate of 6.38 for non-SEN pupils.[9]
• When it comes to unemployment, the rate for disabled working age adults is 7.2% compared to 3.2% for non-disabled adults. The economic inactivity rate for disabled working age adults is 43.3% compared to 14.8% of non-disabled adults.[10]

In many cases, performance issues are caused not by a lack of legal protections or statutory support for families and children, but a lack of the appropriate funding, tools and processes to enable a healthy and supportive SEN system. Simply put, children’s rights are being pushed aside because councils and schools lack the funding to follow the law. The issues surrounding effective implementation need to be prioritised before considering legal reforms of any kind.   

The National Autistic Society agrees with many of the findings of recent reports, including the ISOS-Partnership Report and the National Audit Office Report, that highlight the system is not working as it should to support children and young people. Specifically, we agree there is a need for co-designed national standards, significant investment – particularly in the SEN workforce and the creation of 'local partnerships' - decision-making units that give local authorities more influence over commissioning, spending and planning and work with government, third sector and private provision to balance the provision more effectively.

However, we are concerned by the ISOS recommendation to drastically alter the scope and nature of the SEN Tribunal, Currently, too many families require this legal recourse to access entitlement to EHCP support, its removal would mean a reduction in the legal protections available to disabled children.6

The National Autistic Society, and other members of the Special Education Consortium, believe that the current framework for measuring the performance of SEN children and young people has a too narrow academic focus and doesn’t recognise that children have different ways of learning. It does not allow for a wide range of skills to be recognised and doesn’t recognise enough the importance of physical health, mental wellbeing, social development and participation beyond the classroom as indicators of how a child or young person is progressing. 

Support available & outcomes achieved

SEN children and young people are not meeting outcomes in line with their mainstream peers. At every stage, SEN and EHCP young people achieve lower grades than their non-SEN peers. For example: 24% of pupils on SEN support and 8% of pupils with EHCPs achieved the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of KS2 in 2022-23 compared to 70% of those with no identified SEN.[11]

Autistic children and young people and their families are not getting the support they need. Our Education Report survey showed that 74% of parents or carers surveyed did not feel their child’s school place met their needs.[12] In mainstream settings, children are not able to achieve their full potential because of a lack of key supports. These should include:

• Creating appropriate sensory environments: classrooms that are quiet, well-lit, well sound-treated
• Allowing for the use of sensory toys, adjustments to uniforms and adjustments to class times
• Making Autism training mandatory for all school staff.
• Fully implementing adjustments for examinations in line with Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) guidance[13]
• Reforming procedures to address and overcome high rates of emotional-based school avoidance (EBSA), which overwhelmingly impact SEN pupils, implementing a specific national absence code for EBSA, providing peer and mental health support to young people struggling to maintain attendance which should reduce the use of punishments to families whose children are struggling to attend school.
• Reforming the guidance and practices around school exclusions, which disproportionately affect autistic young people. 
• Including peer autism awareness in PSHE and in community and social elements of the school (such as in assemblies)
• Providing structured social activities and peer support at break times
• Ensuring access to quiet spaces throughout the school day. 54% of students didn’t have access to a quiet space at school - yet this is a basic provision that helps autistic students regulate and take a break from stimulating environments.  

Many of these adaptations are used in mainstream schools, yet their implementation is inconsistent, and often requires specific EHCP for children can have these basic adjustments.

Sustainable SEN system and restore confidence

There is a lack of confidence in the SEN system as families are unable to access the support their children need and must fight extremely hard to obtain basic accommodations. This is because there is a lack of sustainable investment, and because money is being used ineffectively, for example to pay the costs associated with tribunals or the increasing costs of SEN transport because of a lack of local specialist provision. There is also a lack of clear communication and joined up working between local authorities, the Department for Education, schools and communities. This means local authorities are unable to respond and commission flexibly, based on local needs.

The £1 billion additional investment for SEND announced in the Autumn Budget[14] is welcome, but we are concerned that the funding will be used to pay off SEN debts, rather than providing support for children and families. [15] The cumulative SEN deficit could reach up to £4.9 billion by March 2026, with over 40% of local authorities' deficits exceeding or close to their reserves at this time.[16] Significant further investment will be needed to address this.

There are enormous changes and improvements needed across the sector. The Government should focus on these areas:

• The implementation of clear national standards on SEN provisioning and funding
• The creation and use of an independent body to collect evidence and develop best practice guidance
• Reforming mainstream education so it is more inclusive, and students can get support and adaptations without needing an EHCP
• Developing a comprehensive multi-lateral SEN offer, engaging Education, Health and Social Care to align in delivering wrap-around support to all SEN young people. Ensuring agencies are speaking to each other and children are getting the support they need.
• Increased funding for councils so they can comply with statutory guidance.

The Department for Education needs to invest to make sure there is a sustainable and effective SEN system.

The National Autistic Society strongly believes that reforming mainstream school environments will have positive impacts for many young people, as well as providing economic benefits. 73% of autistic pupils currently attend a mainstream school. Currently only 26% of those pupils feel happy at school, and while 87% of teachers said they had a good understanding of autism, 70% of pupils said school could be improved if teachers understood autism better.[17]

By increasing funding for mainstream places, providing mandatory training on autism for all school staff and investing in capital improvements to create classrooms and quiet spaces that suit autistic children’s needs, more students would be able to remain in mainstream schools. Standardising some of the more common accommodations for all students reduces the expense incurred by families seeking these same accommodations through the Tribunal process, which currently incurs £60 million in wasted public funds each year.[18]

Inclusive mainstream provision can also reduce the overall SEN budget by reducing reliance on EHCPs to procure lower levels of support. Sustainable approaches to mainstream inclusion can also reduce exclusions, the need for mediation and improve student retention.

Proper inclusive mainstream provision would require better cohesion between a range of health and social services and integrating these supports into the school settings. The government must improve the provision and support for autistic and disabled children so they can thrive in schools. It must also equip councils with the tools and funding so they can uphold the legal rights and protections of autistic and disabled pupils.

The National Autistic Society is happy to provide further written or oral evidence to the committee on this topic if required.

November 2024