SEND: Carshalton and Wallington

Opened the debate

Elliot Colburn is concerned about the special educational needs provision in the London Borough of Sutton, run by a Lib Dem council. He cites numerous issues, including poor communication, unlawful rejection of EHCP assessments, and financial problems at Cognus, the borough's arm's length company. Since 2018, around 700 children have been unlawfully rejected for EHCP assessments, despite Sutton being one of the highest-funded boroughs for SEND services. In 2022, Sutton was found to be the highest rejector of families applying for EHCP assessments in the country, with almost half of all applications rejected. Parents struggle not only to get an EHCP but also find that issued plans are often inadequate and inadequately tailored.

Government Response

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) for securing this important debate on special educational needs in his constituency of Carshalton and Wallington, and the London Borough of Sutton more generally. I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend when he says that every child deserves access to a good education—in fact, I would go further and say a world-class education. The Government is increasing the high-needs budget for children and young people with complex needs by £1 billion this year, bringing total investment to £9.1 billion. For the London Borough of Sutton specifically, there will be an increase of 12.5% per head of its two-to-18 population, totalling £52.6 million in high-needs funding allocation for 2022-23. We are also investing £2.6 billion to create around 33,000 additional SEND places across the country. The Minister commits to establishing a single national SEND and alternative provision system with clear standards underpinned by a national framework, providing targeted support for children and young people as required. There will be new local SEND partnerships, inclusion plans co-produced with parents, and strengthened accountability measures through new inclusion dashboards. Initial teacher training will also improve, introducing a new SEND National Professional Qualification to ensure highly skilled teachers can identify early needs and provide necessary support. The consultation on the SEND Green Paper is open until 22 July, with an additional £70 million investment specifically for implementation. A new area SEND inspection framework by the Care Quality Commission and Ofsted will also be launched in early 2023 to better represent the views of children with SEND and their parents.