The government’s plan for reforming the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system will be published “within the next week”, the education secretary has said today.
Gillian Keegan was responding to comments by fellow Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, during this afternoon’s Education Questions in Parliament, about the delays in children being assessed for SEND needs.
Ms Keegan replied by saying that MPs would all be aware of the “huge impact” that long waiting times for diagnosis for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can have on children.
And she added: “I’m sure my honourable friend will join me in welcoming also my department’s SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which we’ll be publishing within the next week.”
Last November it was revealed that the long-awaited plan had been delayed until 2023, despite a government pledge to set out changes last year.
Delays to SEND reform plans
The government launched its SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper last March.
The Department for Education said at the time that, following a consultation, a “national SEND delivery plan” would be published “later this year”.
Later in the Education Questions session MPs were told that teachers were “crying out” for “promised” draft guidance on supporting transgender students.
Labour’s Dame Angela Eagle pressed Ms Keegan on when the guidance would be issued, after saying that research showed that LGBT+ young people were twice as likely to be bullied as their peers in school “and for trans pupils, this can be even worse”.
“The secretary of state’s predecessor promised to issue draft guidance on supporting trans pupils last September. It still hasn’t appeared, so could the Secretary of State tell us when this guidance is going to appear, as pupils need it and teachers are crying out for it?” she added.
Ms Keegan replied: “I know it is something that very much is required and schools are waiting for it.
“We are working on it. I am working right now with the equalities minister. But it’s very important to get it right and it’s very important that we have a long consultation on it because it does deal with - as we know and as we’ve seen - quite a sensitive topic and we do need to treat it very sensitively. But we are working on it.”
The equalities watchdog warned last month that transgender guidance for schools must not “stay out in the ether” for years on end.
At the time, speaking in Parliament, education minister Baroness Barran denied “foot-dragging” in the DfE on this sensitive issue, and highlighted the necessity of considering a wide range of views in order to get the guidance right.
