This month the Commons Education Select Committee launched an inquiry into the government’s special educational needs and disabilities reforms.

When they were launched in 2014, the reforms were trumpeted as “the biggest reforms in a generation” and a “landmark” moment for children with SEND. But for so many of us working in this area, the reality of these reforms has too often failed to live up to their promise.

Just last year, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission found that a third of SEND services were failing and required serious improvement. The Local Government Ombudsman detailed how too many parents were having to “fight the education system just to get the support they are entitled to”.

To make sure every child gets the start in life they deserve, there are three key areas of the SEND system that the Department for Education need to focus on improving.

If we can get these right, then we will be a long way towards making these reforms a genuine landmark moment for children with SEND.

1. Increase funding 

The government’s stock response to any concerns raised about the SEND system is to highlight recent funding increases. This is a hollow claim which masks the huge pressures being placed on high-needs funding to provide support for children with SEND.

Funding for high-needs pupils has not been adjusted to reflect the rising number of children needing additional support. There are 30,000 more children with statements or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) than there were in 2014. On top of this, councils now have a greater responsibility for children in post-16 education. When it comes to deaf children’s education, councils have reported to us that they have seen a 31 per cent increase in the number of deaf children in the past seven years.

As well as recognising increasing demand, we can’t isolate these reforms from the funding pressures local authorities have been put under more generally. Our research shows that this year over a third of councils are planning to cut budgets for deaf children’s services, with deaf children in these areas losing £4 million of support. For families living in these areas, the rhetoric of increased funding in no way matches the reality on the ground.

2. Prioritise specialist teachers

So often in discussions and debates about SEND, we forget to mention the incredible workforce who do so much to support children, their families and their teachers.

Despite their crucial role in providing practical support, specialist SEND teachers and support workers get little attention from the Department for Education.

In the past four years alone, one in 10 specialist teachers of the deaf has been cut, and nearly 60 per cent of the remaining teachers are due to retire in the next 10 to 15 years. The result has been rocketing caseloads - 15 per cent of councils now report they have one specialist teacher for over 100 students.

The SEND reforms can in no way be seen as a success if the specialist SEND workforce has been gutted and are not there to support mainstream teachers across the country. The government needs to look at how it can invest in centralised bursaries to train new specialists in areas of the system that are under the most strain.

3. Long-term accountability

While additional funding and prioritising specialist staff will go a long way to improving the education of children with SEND, we also need to recognise the importance of a strong accountability framework.

The introduction of joint inspections of SEND provision by the CQC and Ofsted is a welcome step forward. Running for just over a year, they have already found significant issues across the country.

Currently, there is only funding to inspect every local authority once. But these inspections need to become regular, routine and long-term. It can’t be right to deny parents information about the quality of the support their children are getting. Stronger accountability means parents are empowered, we know where failures exist and, ultimately, we can drive up standards. 

The future of SEND

Announcing the SEND inquiry, Robert Halfon, the chair of the Education Select Committee said: “All children deserve to access good quality education that meets their needs and supports them to learn, to ensure that they are able to thrive and climb the ladder of opportunity.” At the moment, too many children with SEND aren’t allowed to thrive and aren’t being properly supported to climb that ladder.

But while we acknowledge big problems in the system, there is also hope. We can already see so many of the solutions to rebuilding that ladder - we just need the political will to get it done.

Ian Noon is the head of policy and research at the National Deaf Children’s Society