The Commons Education Committee is demanding answers from ministers over a government contract calling for a targeted reduction of new education, health and care plans (EHCPs).
Robin Walker, chair of the committee, has raised concerns about how the contract relating to the Delivering Better Value in SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) programme squares with evidence - given to MPs by the former children’s minister Claire Coutinho - that the government was “absolutely not trying to ration EHCPs”.
He has written to the current children’s minister, David Johnston, to ask how the target in the contract is “compatible” with the evidence given by his predecessor.
The letter also tells the government that it is disappointing that some key elements of the SEND and Alternative Provision Plan will not be enacted until 2025.
When Ms Coutinho gave evidence to the Commons Education Committee in May she gave an assurance that the government was not seeking to ration EHCPs.
Mr Walker had said during this session that there was a concern in the sector that the motivation behind the government’s SEND and Alternative Provision plan was “to effectively ration EHCPs” and he asked the minister if she could categorically rule this out.
In response, Ms Coutinho said: “That is absolutely not what we are trying to do.”
Alison Ismail, director for SEND and alternative provision at the Department for Education (DfE), told the committee that the improvement plan has the hypothesis that if mainstream and specialist provision improves, there would be a decrease in the need for EHCPs. But she added: “We weren’t projecting to a particular target as such.”
The MPs are raising concerns following a report in The Observer which said the government signed a contract with the consultancy firm Newton Europe in July 2022 “targeting at least a 20 per cent reduction in new EHCPs issued”.
The contract relates to the Delivering Better Value programme, which is working to tackle SEND budget deficits in more than 50 council areas.
In his letter sent today, Mr Walker said: “Please could you provide us with further detail about this contract and explain if and how this is compatible with the approach that Claire Coutinho described to the committee, where she categorically stated that department is not ‘targeting a particular reduction’ in EHCPs.”
On the length of time being taken to implement the SEND and Alternative Provision Plan, Mr Walker said there were still concerns about the time it will take to implement many measures of the SEND and AP Improvement Plan.
He added these were “namely standardisation and digitalisation of EHCPs, national standards, and recruitment and training of 5,000 early years practitioners. These will not be fully or, in some cases, even partly enacted until 2025. As these measures have support both from the sector and the committee, it is disappointing that they will not be in place for another two years.”
Mr Walker also asked if the DfE could set out “any further milestones towards achieving these aims that could provide any reassurance of earlier progress?”
A DfE spokesperson said: “We have been very clear that the department is not withdrawing support for children and young people with SEND. Local authorities have not received any targets relating to EHCP reduction through the Delivering Better Value Programme.
“More widely, we are working hard to deliver on our Improvement Plan, reforming the support system for children with SEND and creating consistent high standards across the country. We will respond to the committee shortly.”
