Special Educational Needs Green Paper: parents to get more control and support in 'simpler' system

• Statements will be replaced by a new single assessment process and a combined ‘education, care and health’ plan
• Parents will be given their own budgets by 2014, giving them control over their child’s funding
• Assessment plans will run from birth to 25 years old
• Outside organisations will be able to bid to run Every Child A Talker, Every Child A Readers and Every Child Counts programmes
• Phonics-based training will be offered to children who need extra help in reading
• SEN specialists will contribute to work developing the reading test for six-year-olds to identify children who need extra support.

The Government says the changes are needed to simplify the system and help parents, who often feel they have to fight to get the support they need.

Currently, more than one in five children have been identified as having a special education need but only 2.7 per cent have statements, where children have severe and complex needs requiring extra support.

Children’s minister Sarah Teather said, ‘We have heard time and time again that parents are frustrated with endless delays to getting the help their child needs, and being caught in the middle where local services don’t work together.

‘Parents and voluntary organisations have given us overwhelming examples where they have felt let down by local services. At the moment there is an appalling situation where public money is being wasted as children are growing out of equipment, like wheelchairs, before they even arrive. The new single assessment process and plan will tackle this issue and mean that parents don’t feel they have to push to get the services they are entitled to.’

A pilot project of personalised support, called ‘Achievement for All’, will also be extended to help children who have ‘a learning need’, but not necessarily special educational needs.

The scheme, currently running in ten local authorities, has seen a reduction in the number of children diagnosed with SEN.

The Government is inviting bids from an independent organisation to roll out the programme across the country.

The voluntary sector will also be encouraged to run services for children with SEN. Parents and community groups will be able to set up special free schools.

Christine Lenehan, director of the Council for Disabled Children, said, ‘The Green Paper represents a welcome commitment on future direction. However, it comes at a challenging time for the sector, with substantial uncertainty about the future of jobs and services. Expectations on the voluntary and community sector are high and these will need to come with real resources and status if we are going to make the impact the Government envisages.'

Srabani Sen, chief executive of Contact a Family, said, ‘Many of the principles such as giving parents more control are to be commended. But there are questions that need to be answered on how these proposals would work in practice. The consultation provides a very useful starting point for discussion.

 ‘We welcome, for example, plans to give families greater control and co-ordination of their child’s care through personal budgets. However, we need to see if enough funding will be available to families through these personal budgets to meet the needs of their child.

‘The introduction of a simplified assessment process has the potential to make lives less stressful for families. However, the Green Paper is not clear about where responsibility lies to ensure that a joined-up package of support is delivered for disabled children and their families, and that those carrying out assessments have the right skills and knowledge.

‘Professionals involved in a child’s care must be made accountable if they do not deliver and there is no clear indication of how this would work in the Green Paper.'

Ms Sen said the charity’s own research has found that 60 per cent of families have a poor or unsatisfactory experience of being listened to by the professionals involved in their child’s care.

The Green Paper will be out for consultation until 30 June.