A contract notice for the testing of key Department for Education special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms has prompted concerns that the government is pursuing a hidden cost-cutting agenda.
Union leaders have raised the alarm after a contract notice connected to the DfE’s flagship SEND reforms had originally said the programme aimed to address the “cost burden” caused by demand for services.
A leading SEND charity has also warned that the way the £7.6 million contract was originally described in a notice published this week was “hugely problematic”, and that any reference to “demand rather than need” set the wrong tone.
The notice, published on Monday, has since been rewritten by the department on Wednesday with references to dealing with the cost burden and issues with demand now removed.
This latest controversy comes amid concerns that reducing costs and provision is a factor driving government SEND reforms.
The notice confirmed that PA Consulting has been awarded a two-year contract as the delivery partner for the DfE’s SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Change Programme - in which it will test some of the planned reforms announced in the DfE’s SEND and AP Improvement Plan.
The department’s original description of the contract said: ”The primary focus of the change programme is to address the demand-side issues, such as increased demand in certain services and, therefore, capacity and cost burdens on the system.
It added: “The programme will test and refine the SEND and AP policy reforms that aim to address demand-side issues in the SEND and AP system and that collectively will drive system change.”
This text has now been replaced to say: ”[The] £70 million Change Programme will create up to nine Change Programme Partnerships that will test and refine longer term, systemic reforms including developing and testing national standards, strategic partnerships and inclusion plans, the proposed alternative provision service, and tailored lists.”
It adds that this “will help guard against unintended consequences and build a strong evidence base to inform future funding and legislation”.
‘Lingering suspicion of a cost-cutting agenda’
Margaret Mulholland, SEND specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is worrying that the first version of this published notice led very heavily on the idea that the SEND reforms are about cutting costs.
“Even though this has subsequently been altered, it leaves the lingering suspicion that cost cutting is the government’s actual agenda.”
She said it was imperative that the government is clear that the primary purpose of SEND reforms must be to “better support schools in delivering high-quality, well-resourced interventions as early as possible”.
Ms Mulholland added: “We cannot have a reform programme that is driven by cutting costs as this will likely lead to decisions being made which are not in the best interests of children.”
The original wording of the contract description was described by Catriona Moore, policy manager at SEND charity the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice, as ”hugely problematic” for suggesting that the problem lies with “unreasonable demands” for support to which pupils with SEND are entitled.
Existing controversy
“The ‘demand’ to which they refer is children and young people who need support in order to achieve their potential,” she said.
“Any reference to demand rather than need would set the wrong tone for creating a SEND system where children’s needs are identified and met without legal battles for families. Meeting children and young people’s needs has to be the priority.”
The contract rewrite will add to existing controversy over whether the DfE has targeted a reduction in education, health and care plans (EHCPs) as part of its SEND reforms.
Children’s minister David Johnston said last month that the government was not targeting a 20 per cent reduction of EHCPs after concerns were raised by MPs.
The concerns, raised by Commons Education Select Committee chair Robin Walker, related to a DfE contract with consultancy firm Newton Europe that referred to “targeting at least a 20 per cent reduction in new EHCPs issued”.
Mr Walker had asked ministers how this contract, relating to the department’s Delivering Better Value in SEND programme, squared with evidence given to the committee by former children’s minister Claire Coutinho that the government was “absolutely not trying to ration EHCPs”.
Testing SEND reforms
Earlier this year, when the DfE published its SEND and AP Improvement Plan, it was revealed that many of the planned reforms were years away from being fully rolled out and would first be tested through a £70 million Change Programme.
According to the plan published in March, the reforms being tested will include: creating new national standards in SEND provision; introducing local SEND and AP partnerships that will create evidence-based local inclusion plans; requiring local authorities to provide a tailored list of suitable settings informed by a local inclusion plan; and developing a national system of bands and tariffs setting out what provision is expected to cost.
This programme testing the reforms will involve nine regional partnerships of councils.
The 32 councils chosen to help test the reforms were announced by the DfE in August, which said that these partnerships would receive “hands-on support and expertise” from a consortium led by PA Consulting.
The DfE has been approached for a comment.
The contract notice published this week shows the value awarded to PA Consulting is £7,619,450, covering the two years from July this year to July 2025.
PA Consulting said its work for clients was confidential and referred Tes to the DfE.
