SCN0648

Supplementary written evidence from Stephen Kingdom

1)    As you know, the Disabled Children’s Partnership welcomes the Committee’s review into Special Educational Needs and Disability.  We were pleased to submit written evidence for the review and were very grateful that the Committee invited me to give oral evidence.  I hope the Committee found my contribution helpful.

2)    As we explained in our written evidence, the focus of the DCP is on health and social care.  We consider it essential for the Committee’s inquiry to consider how well health and social care services are meeting the needs of disabled children and their families.  To this end, I would like to draw the Committee’s attention to two pieces of research that we have published since we submitted our evidence to the inquiry.

3)    First, in the spring we undertook a short survey of families of disabled children about the quality of health and social care services for disabled children.  The headline findings were –

a)    65% of family members said the quality of social care services had got worse over recent years

b)    75% said the same for health services

c)     45% said they were aware of specific plans for future cuts to services.

d)    The report is available here https://disabledchildrenspartnership.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DCP-survey-report-June-2018.pdf

4)    Second, in July we published research on the shortfall in funding for health and social care services for disabled children.  This research, carried out by Development Economics for the DCP, found a £1.1 billion shortfall in funding for health services for disabled children and £433 million extra needed for social care.  It supports our call for the establishment of a Disabled Children’s Fund to protect and join up funding for services.  The link to the full report is https://disabledchildrenspartnership.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Case-for-a-Disabled-Childrens-Fund.pdf

5)    The funding gap research was published as part of a BBC Panorama programme ‘Fighting for My Child’ which followed the lives of three families with disabled children.  This very powerful programme highlighted the realities of life for these families and the impact of cuts to services.  The programme is still available to watch on the BBC website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bc2ch6 and I would encourage Committee members to watch it if they have not already done so.

6)    I am sure the Committee will also have seen the the National Association of Head Teachers’ ‘Empty Promises’ report.  https://www.naht.org.uk/news-and-opinion/news/funding-news/empty-promises-the-crisis-in-supporting-children-with-send/  Among their survey’s findings were that

a)    83% of respondents reported receiving  ANY  funding from health and social care budgets to support pupils with statements or EHCPs

b)    30% of respondents not receiving services from health and social care to support their pupils. 

7)    Clearly, these findings have a big impact on the SEND system and wider provision for children with additional needs. If the availability and quality of health and social care services and support is lacking, this will not only have a major impact on their special educational provision; it will also undermine the holistic approach to meeting needs on which the reforms are built.

December 2018