The Lamb Inquiry
INTRODUCTION
The Lamb Inquiry was established as part of the Government’s response to the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee Report "Special Educational Needs: Assessment and Funding". The Lamb Inquiry, under the chairmanship of Brian Lamb, the Chair of the Special Educational Consortium, was asked to investigate a range of ways in which parental confidence in the SEN assessment process might be improved.
On 29 April 2009 Brian Lamb submitted a Report to the Secretary of State and, in an accompanying letter, outlined his recommendations and identified further issues arising from evidence to the Inquiry that far. The Secretary of State’s reply accepted the recommendations and asked Brian Lamb to report to him again in July on issues relating to statements and the inspection framework.
On 30 June 2009 the Lamb Inquiry called for evidence closed with just over 3,400 replies being received: 1,941 from parents, 544 from school staff, 516 from other professionals working with children schools and families and 400 students. The responses were subsequently analysed as an important source of evidence for the Inquiry.
On 3 August 2009 Brian Lamb submitted his reports on the Quality and clarity of statements and Inspection, accountability and school improvement to the Secretary of State. In an accompanying letter, he outlined his recommendations, including two statutory changes: one to provide a right of appeal for parents if a local authority decides not to amend a statement after a review; and one to place a specific duty on Ofsted to report on the quality of the education provided for disabled children and children with SEN. The Secretary of State’s reply accepted the recommendations.
On 25 September 2009, Brian Lamb wrote again to the Secretary of State recommending the strengthening of the SEN responsibilities of schools working together in Behavior and Attendance Partnerships. He also sent to the Secretary of State the national study of eight Lamb Projects, Lamb Inquiry: LAs’ learning from the eight projects, and recommended further pilot projects to improve parents’ confidence in the SEN system. In a press notice the Secretary of State agreed again to the recommendations.
Before his full report was issued, Brian Lamb spoke publicly about some of the issues he had faced and conclusions he had drawn in the Annual Treehouse lecture on 23 November 2009 which you can watch the video of by clicking here. Brian was also involved in a live 'questions and answers' on the Talk About Autism website which you can read the full transcript of by clicking here.
THE LAMB INQUIRY REPORT
The full Lamb Inquiry report was expected initially in October 2009 but was not announced until 16 December 2009. The report is formally titled 'Lamb Inquiry - Special Educational Needs and Parental Confidence’ and runs to 102 pages (including appendices) and makes 51 different recommendations over six chapters.
On that day the BBC News website ran a piece called ‘Special Needs Parents ‘Need Help’’ which stated that:
"A government-commissioned study by Brian Lamb says that a significant number of parents are not satisfied with the help they receive. In response, the government will promise measures including a national support helpline and clearer information about rights to support. Parents have complained that feel they have to "fight the system".
The report by Mr Lamb will reflect calls for more parent-friendly support for families with children with special needs.
'Huge battles'
It will say that parents want to know what help is available and to have clearer guidelines about what should happen in schools. There will also be proposals that the Local Government Ombudsman should be funded to consider parents' complaints against local authorities. Special needs tribunals are also set to be improved and there will be promises for more support for children who face bullying.
...
Children's Secretary Ed Balls said: "In the New Year we will set our plans to address the recommendations that Brian has made to address the changes to teaching and learning that are necessary to improve educational outcomes for children with SEN.
"We are now working to ensure all parents have confidence in decision making by giving them and their children a stronger voice at the heart of the SEN system."
Brian Lamb’s letter to the Secretary of State of 16 December 2009 enclosing his final report can be found by clicking here and the final report itself can be found by clicking here.
The Secretary of State’s response of 16 December 2009 can be found by clicking here.
The Report itself will, of course, take a considerable amount of time to read and digest. However, as we are aware that many people may not have the time to read the full report and we have not yet found any summaries which we can refer you to on the web, we have attempted to summarise some of the main points for you here.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The report is split up into six chapters as follows:
There are then a total of 51 recommendations relating to chapters 2 to 6, as follows:
Chapter 2: a clearer focus on outcomes
Recommendation 1 -
SEN and disability are embedded in preparation for school leadership.
Recommendation 2 -
Achievement for All is developed with a clear focus on how the work will be sustained beyond the pilot stage and with evidence and relevant materials from the pilot disseminated as it progresses.
Recommendation 3 -
The pupil and parent guarantees show what disabled pupils and pupils with SEN can expect from their school and from local services, and how this fits with existing statutory requirements.
Recommendation 4 -
Parents should have direct access to the multi-agency teams based in schools or partnerships of schools.
Recommendation 5 -
The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) develops guidance on the effective deployment of teaching assistants.
Recommendation 6 -
The DCSF commissions the TDA to develop materials to support training at an advanced level in each of the five main areas of SEN.
Recommendation 7 -
The DCSF commissions the TDA to develop teachers with specialist SEN and disability skills across clusters of schools.
Recommendation 8 -
Preparation for working with parents of disabled children and children with SEN is included in initial and continuing training across the children’s workforce.
Recommendation 9 -
The DCSF reviews the effectiveness of a range of approaches to preventing and tackling bullying of children with SEN and disabilities and invests further in those with the most impact.
Recommendation 10 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to promote disability equality schemes as a vehicle for working with disabled pupils to identify and address bullying.
Recommendation 11 -
The statutory guidance on the role of the Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships includes addressing the overrepresentation of disabled pupils and pupils with SEN in exclusions.
Recommendation 12 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to work with local authorities to reduce SEN exclusions focusing first on local authorities with highest levels of SEN exclusions.
Chapter 3: a stronger voice for parents
Recommendation 13 -
The core offer developed through Aiming High for Disabled Children is extended to provide a set of principles for engagement by schools and children’s services with parents of children with SEN.
Recommendation 14 -
Current improvements in parent engagement should take full account of disabled children and children with SEN.
Recommendation 15 -
The mandatory content of schools’ SEN policies is simplified and schools should consult with parents on the content of the policy.
Recommendation 16 -
The requirement to produce and publish an SEN policy is extended
to pupil referral units.
Recommendation 17 -
Annual review meetings for children with a statement include a consideration of information needs of parents and children and young people.
Recommendation 18 -
The DCSF re-launches parent partnership services to provide parents with expert, high-quality advice. They should be trained in the statutory framework and their role in advising parents of their rights should be reinforced.
Recommendation 19 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to work with local authorities to ensure that parent partnership services are appropriately deployed.
Recommendation 20 -
The DCSF commissions and promotes a dedicated independent advice line for parents of disabled children and children with special educational needs.
Chapter 4: a more strategic local approach
Recommendation 21 -
The National College for the Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services incorporates SEN and disability into training for leadership of children’s services.
Recommendation 22 -
The Commissioning Support Programme works with Children’s Trusts to improve the commissioning of services for disabled children and children with SEN and convenes an expert group to advise on the work.
Recommendation 23 -
DCSF asks the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) to collect evidence of good practice where schools and clusters of schools are commissioning services for children with SEN.
Recommendation 24 -
The National Strategies report to the DCSF on which local authorities have complied with the publication of the SEN information required in the 2001 Regulations.
Recommendation 25 -
The National Strategies report to the DCSF in 2010 on which local authorities have complied with the requirements on disability equality schemes and on the extent of the compliance of schools in the area. The DCSF should publish this report.
Recommendation 26 -
The findings from the parental confidence projects are disseminated and the wider benefits of strategic engagement with parents are promoted.
Recommendation 27 -
A second round of parental confidence projects is commissioned on a regional basis.
Recommendation 28 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to:
●● draft guidance on good practice in drawing up statements;
●● promote this guidance; and
●● provide training to support the development of a partnership approach.
Recommendation 29 -
Parents have a right of appeal where the local authority decides not to amend a statement following an annual or interim review.
Chapter 5: a more accountable system
Recommendation 30 -
The results of the Tell us survey are disaggregated to show the views of disabled children and children with SEN where possible.
Recommendation 31 -
The DCSF develops an inclusive measure of progress for the school report card.
Recommendation 32 -
New governor training gives a high profile to governors’ responsibilities for SEN and disability, with a particular focus on progress and outcomes.
Recommendation 33 -
All School Improvement Partners (SIP)s working with mainstream schools receive training in SEN and disability; and that, in reporting to the school governing body, the head teacher and the local authority, SIPs report on the extent to which the school has promoted good outcomes and good progress for disabled pupils and pupils with SEN.
Recommendation 34 -
All inspectors receive training on SEN and disability
Recommendation 35 -
Ofsted and the inspection providers review the pool of inspectors with skills in particular areas of SEN and disability with a view to ensuring capacity to inspect special provision effectively.
Recommendation 36 -
A duty is placed on the Chief Inspector to report on the progress of disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs as part of school inspection.
Recommendation 37 -
Guidance is developed to support elected members in the local scrutiny of SEN.
Recommendation 38 -
Where the Secretary of State finds that a local authority has failed to fulfil its statutory duties towards disabled children or children with SEN or where a local authority has acted unreasonably, he should use his powers under the Education Acts to issue a direction to that local authority to address the failure.
Recommendation 39 -
In determining where a local inspection should be triggered, inspectors have available a range of information that can inform them about outcomes for disabled children and children with SEN and about parental satisfaction.
Recommendation 40 -
Ofsted keep under review the adequacy of the new arrangements for identifying the need for a triggered inspection of local authority planning, provision and outcomes for disabled pupils and pupils with SEN.
Recommendation 41 -
The DCSF and the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) work together to route SEN complaints against schools and local authorities to the LGO.
Recommendation 42 -
Statutory guidance to governing bodies and independent appeals panels on exclusions is strengthened to require a review of whether the headteacher had regard to the guidance on SEN and disability.
Recommendation 43 -
SEN and disability training is provided for members of independent appeals panels.
Recommendation 44
The First-tier Tribunal (SEN and Disability) provides guidance and training for Tribunal chairs on the conduct of both telephone and face-to-face hearings.
Recommendation 45 -
The Tribunal issues guidelines on the provision of professional and expert evidence.
Recommendation 46 -
The Tribunal reviews and develops the information that it gathers and publishes.
Recommendation 47 -
The Government implements a right of appeal to the Tribunal for children and young people.
Recommendation 48 -
The exceptional funding scheme for providing legal aid for Tribunal hearings is reviewed, with key stakeholders, and more widely publicised. If the re-launched scheme does not increase access, parents who meet the financial criteria should have legal aid for representation at a Tribunal hearing.
Chapter 6: the national framework
Recommendation 49 -
The professional bodies work with the Health Professionals Council to review their codes of conduct with a view to ensuring that the codes, or more detailed guidance, provide their members with clear guidance on the provision of professional advice.
Recommendation 50 -
An evaluation of a number of different educational psychology service models is carried out. The impact on outcomes for children and on parental confidence should be a key part of the evaluation.
Recommendation 51 -
The reasonable adjustment duty in the Disability Discrimination Act is amended to remedy the exclusion of schools from the requirement to provide auxiliary aids and services.
*Please note that you will need to read the full report (or the relevant chapter/s) to see how the recommendation have been reached.
THE GOVERMENT'S RESPONSE
In the Secretary of State’s response letter to the full report that he notes that since the Inquiry started in March 2008, Brian Lamb has made a range of recommendations which, he says, the Government has accepted and acted upon. It may be more helpful to quote directly from his letter, in part, as follows:
"Since your Inquiry started in March 2008, you have made a range of recommendations, which we have accepted and acted upon. In December 2008, in response to your early findings calling for a greater focus on outcomes achieved by children with SEN and disabilities, we announced a £38 million package of measures aimed at addressing this. At the heart of that were the Achievement for All pilots, which are now taking place In ten areas, involving 460 schools to demonstrate how to: raise achievement for children with SEN and disabilities (SEND); better engage their parents; and address issues such as bullying and participation in school life. In April, I committed to ensuring that our 21st Century Schools White Paper mainstreamed the needs of parents of children with SEND. Since your two reports in August 2009, the Children, Schools and Families Bill has been introduced to Parliament. It proposes a new duty on Ofsted to report on the progress of children with SEND in school inspections, now and in future, and gives parents who have had their child's statement reviewed but not amended, an additional right of appeal.
Your Inquiry has taken an extensive look across the special educational needs system and its impact on parental confidence. The Government welcomes your final report and key recommendations. You have found that, whilst the SEN framework functions well for the majority of parents, within the same legislative framework there are parents who have been poorly served and had to battle to get the needs of their child identified and met. This extremely varied picture must be redrawn so that It Is common practice to have access to skilled professionals who understand the needs of children and have high expectations of what children can achieve.
We will publish an Implementation plan for taking forward your report in the New Year but 1 wanted to respond immediately to those recommendations that focus on the concerns of parents who have the least confidence in the system. We need to provide better access to support and redress and ensure that those operating the system locally have the skills to do so effectively."
The Secretary of State then announces eight things that the Government will be doing to take things forward as follows:
CONCLUSION
We hope that the information we have provided here is useful to you and that this report will serve as a positive step for everyone working together to seek better outcomes for children with special educational needs and to deliver the support they need in order to achieve, no matter what your personal or professional perspective is.
POSTSCRIPT:- PRESS RELEASES
You may also find it interesting to read the press releases by organisations such as IPSEA(the Independent Panel for Special Educational Needs Advice), the NAS (National Autistic Society), the NDCS (National Deaf Children’s Society) the NASUWT (the teaching union), Radar (the Royal Association for Disability Rights), Contact a Family, the Council for Disabled Children (National Children's Bureau), the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, the Anti-Bullying Alliance and I CAN (the children's communication charity).
On 29 April 2009 Brian Lamb submitted a Report to the Secretary of State and, in an accompanying letter, outlined his recommendations and identified further issues arising from evidence to the Inquiry that far. The Secretary of State’s reply accepted the recommendations and asked Brian Lamb to report to him again in July on issues relating to statements and the inspection framework.
On 30 June 2009 the Lamb Inquiry called for evidence closed with just over 3,400 replies being received: 1,941 from parents, 544 from school staff, 516 from other professionals working with children schools and families and 400 students. The responses were subsequently analysed as an important source of evidence for the Inquiry.
On 3 August 2009 Brian Lamb submitted his reports on the Quality and clarity of statements and Inspection, accountability and school improvement to the Secretary of State. In an accompanying letter, he outlined his recommendations, including two statutory changes: one to provide a right of appeal for parents if a local authority decides not to amend a statement after a review; and one to place a specific duty on Ofsted to report on the quality of the education provided for disabled children and children with SEN. The Secretary of State’s reply accepted the recommendations.
On 25 September 2009, Brian Lamb wrote again to the Secretary of State recommending the strengthening of the SEN responsibilities of schools working together in Behavior and Attendance Partnerships. He also sent to the Secretary of State the national study of eight Lamb Projects, Lamb Inquiry: LAs’ learning from the eight projects, and recommended further pilot projects to improve parents’ confidence in the SEN system. In a press notice the Secretary of State agreed again to the recommendations.
Before his full report was issued, Brian Lamb spoke publicly about some of the issues he had faced and conclusions he had drawn in the Annual Treehouse lecture on 23 November 2009 which you can watch the video of by clicking here. Brian was also involved in a live 'questions and answers' on the Talk About Autism website which you can read the full transcript of by clicking here.
THE LAMB INQUIRY REPORT
The full Lamb Inquiry report was expected initially in October 2009 but was not announced until 16 December 2009. The report is formally titled 'Lamb Inquiry - Special Educational Needs and Parental Confidence’ and runs to 102 pages (including appendices) and makes 51 different recommendations over six chapters.
On that day the BBC News website ran a piece called ‘Special Needs Parents ‘Need Help’’ which stated that:
"A government-commissioned study by Brian Lamb says that a significant number of parents are not satisfied with the help they receive. In response, the government will promise measures including a national support helpline and clearer information about rights to support. Parents have complained that feel they have to "fight the system".
The report by Mr Lamb will reflect calls for more parent-friendly support for families with children with special needs.
'Huge battles'
It will say that parents want to know what help is available and to have clearer guidelines about what should happen in schools. There will also be proposals that the Local Government Ombudsman should be funded to consider parents' complaints against local authorities. Special needs tribunals are also set to be improved and there will be promises for more support for children who face bullying.
...
Children's Secretary Ed Balls said: "In the New Year we will set our plans to address the recommendations that Brian has made to address the changes to teaching and learning that are necessary to improve educational outcomes for children with SEN.
"We are now working to ensure all parents have confidence in decision making by giving them and their children a stronger voice at the heart of the SEN system."
Brian Lamb’s letter to the Secretary of State of 16 December 2009 enclosing his final report can be found by clicking here and the final report itself can be found by clicking here.
The Secretary of State’s response of 16 December 2009 can be found by clicking here.
The Report itself will, of course, take a considerable amount of time to read and digest. However, as we are aware that many people may not have the time to read the full report and we have not yet found any summaries which we can refer you to on the web, we have attempted to summarise some of the main points for you here.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The report is split up into six chapters as follows:
- Background and progress of the inquiry
- A clearer focus on outcomes
- A stronger voice for parents
- A more strategic local approach
- A more accountable system
- A national framework
There are then a total of 51 recommendations relating to chapters 2 to 6, as follows:
Chapter 2: a clearer focus on outcomes
Recommendation 1 -
SEN and disability are embedded in preparation for school leadership.
Recommendation 2 -
Achievement for All is developed with a clear focus on how the work will be sustained beyond the pilot stage and with evidence and relevant materials from the pilot disseminated as it progresses.
Recommendation 3 -
The pupil and parent guarantees show what disabled pupils and pupils with SEN can expect from their school and from local services, and how this fits with existing statutory requirements.
Recommendation 4 -
Parents should have direct access to the multi-agency teams based in schools or partnerships of schools.
Recommendation 5 -
The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) develops guidance on the effective deployment of teaching assistants.
Recommendation 6 -
The DCSF commissions the TDA to develop materials to support training at an advanced level in each of the five main areas of SEN.
Recommendation 7 -
The DCSF commissions the TDA to develop teachers with specialist SEN and disability skills across clusters of schools.
Recommendation 8 -
Preparation for working with parents of disabled children and children with SEN is included in initial and continuing training across the children’s workforce.
Recommendation 9 -
The DCSF reviews the effectiveness of a range of approaches to preventing and tackling bullying of children with SEN and disabilities and invests further in those with the most impact.
Recommendation 10 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to promote disability equality schemes as a vehicle for working with disabled pupils to identify and address bullying.
Recommendation 11 -
The statutory guidance on the role of the Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships includes addressing the overrepresentation of disabled pupils and pupils with SEN in exclusions.
Recommendation 12 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to work with local authorities to reduce SEN exclusions focusing first on local authorities with highest levels of SEN exclusions.
Chapter 3: a stronger voice for parents
Recommendation 13 -
The core offer developed through Aiming High for Disabled Children is extended to provide a set of principles for engagement by schools and children’s services with parents of children with SEN.
Recommendation 14 -
Current improvements in parent engagement should take full account of disabled children and children with SEN.
Recommendation 15 -
The mandatory content of schools’ SEN policies is simplified and schools should consult with parents on the content of the policy.
Recommendation 16 -
The requirement to produce and publish an SEN policy is extended
to pupil referral units.
Recommendation 17 -
Annual review meetings for children with a statement include a consideration of information needs of parents and children and young people.
Recommendation 18 -
The DCSF re-launches parent partnership services to provide parents with expert, high-quality advice. They should be trained in the statutory framework and their role in advising parents of their rights should be reinforced.
Recommendation 19 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to work with local authorities to ensure that parent partnership services are appropriately deployed.
Recommendation 20 -
The DCSF commissions and promotes a dedicated independent advice line for parents of disabled children and children with special educational needs.
Chapter 4: a more strategic local approach
Recommendation 21 -
The National College for the Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services incorporates SEN and disability into training for leadership of children’s services.
Recommendation 22 -
The Commissioning Support Programme works with Children’s Trusts to improve the commissioning of services for disabled children and children with SEN and convenes an expert group to advise on the work.
Recommendation 23 -
DCSF asks the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) to collect evidence of good practice where schools and clusters of schools are commissioning services for children with SEN.
Recommendation 24 -
The National Strategies report to the DCSF on which local authorities have complied with the publication of the SEN information required in the 2001 Regulations.
Recommendation 25 -
The National Strategies report to the DCSF in 2010 on which local authorities have complied with the requirements on disability equality schemes and on the extent of the compliance of schools in the area. The DCSF should publish this report.
Recommendation 26 -
The findings from the parental confidence projects are disseminated and the wider benefits of strategic engagement with parents are promoted.
Recommendation 27 -
A second round of parental confidence projects is commissioned on a regional basis.
Recommendation 28 -
The DCSF commissions the National Strategies to:
●● draft guidance on good practice in drawing up statements;
●● promote this guidance; and
●● provide training to support the development of a partnership approach.
Recommendation 29 -
Parents have a right of appeal where the local authority decides not to amend a statement following an annual or interim review.
Chapter 5: a more accountable system
Recommendation 30 -
The results of the Tell us survey are disaggregated to show the views of disabled children and children with SEN where possible.
Recommendation 31 -
The DCSF develops an inclusive measure of progress for the school report card.
Recommendation 32 -
New governor training gives a high profile to governors’ responsibilities for SEN and disability, with a particular focus on progress and outcomes.
Recommendation 33 -
All School Improvement Partners (SIP)s working with mainstream schools receive training in SEN and disability; and that, in reporting to the school governing body, the head teacher and the local authority, SIPs report on the extent to which the school has promoted good outcomes and good progress for disabled pupils and pupils with SEN.
Recommendation 34 -
All inspectors receive training on SEN and disability
Recommendation 35 -
Ofsted and the inspection providers review the pool of inspectors with skills in particular areas of SEN and disability with a view to ensuring capacity to inspect special provision effectively.
Recommendation 36 -
A duty is placed on the Chief Inspector to report on the progress of disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs as part of school inspection.
Recommendation 37 -
Guidance is developed to support elected members in the local scrutiny of SEN.
Recommendation 38 -
Where the Secretary of State finds that a local authority has failed to fulfil its statutory duties towards disabled children or children with SEN or where a local authority has acted unreasonably, he should use his powers under the Education Acts to issue a direction to that local authority to address the failure.
Recommendation 39 -
In determining where a local inspection should be triggered, inspectors have available a range of information that can inform them about outcomes for disabled children and children with SEN and about parental satisfaction.
Recommendation 40 -
Ofsted keep under review the adequacy of the new arrangements for identifying the need for a triggered inspection of local authority planning, provision and outcomes for disabled pupils and pupils with SEN.
Recommendation 41 -
The DCSF and the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) work together to route SEN complaints against schools and local authorities to the LGO.
Recommendation 42 -
Statutory guidance to governing bodies and independent appeals panels on exclusions is strengthened to require a review of whether the headteacher had regard to the guidance on SEN and disability.
Recommendation 43 -
SEN and disability training is provided for members of independent appeals panels.
Recommendation 44
The First-tier Tribunal (SEN and Disability) provides guidance and training for Tribunal chairs on the conduct of both telephone and face-to-face hearings.
Recommendation 45 -
The Tribunal issues guidelines on the provision of professional and expert evidence.
Recommendation 46 -
The Tribunal reviews and develops the information that it gathers and publishes.
Recommendation 47 -
The Government implements a right of appeal to the Tribunal for children and young people.
Recommendation 48 -
The exceptional funding scheme for providing legal aid for Tribunal hearings is reviewed, with key stakeholders, and more widely publicised. If the re-launched scheme does not increase access, parents who meet the financial criteria should have legal aid for representation at a Tribunal hearing.
Chapter 6: the national framework
Recommendation 49 -
The professional bodies work with the Health Professionals Council to review their codes of conduct with a view to ensuring that the codes, or more detailed guidance, provide their members with clear guidance on the provision of professional advice.
Recommendation 50 -
An evaluation of a number of different educational psychology service models is carried out. The impact on outcomes for children and on parental confidence should be a key part of the evaluation.
Recommendation 51 -
The reasonable adjustment duty in the Disability Discrimination Act is amended to remedy the exclusion of schools from the requirement to provide auxiliary aids and services.
*Please note that you will need to read the full report (or the relevant chapter/s) to see how the recommendation have been reached.
THE GOVERMENT'S RESPONSE
In the Secretary of State’s response letter to the full report that he notes that since the Inquiry started in March 2008, Brian Lamb has made a range of recommendations which, he says, the Government has accepted and acted upon. It may be more helpful to quote directly from his letter, in part, as follows:
"Since your Inquiry started in March 2008, you have made a range of recommendations, which we have accepted and acted upon. In December 2008, in response to your early findings calling for a greater focus on outcomes achieved by children with SEN and disabilities, we announced a £38 million package of measures aimed at addressing this. At the heart of that were the Achievement for All pilots, which are now taking place In ten areas, involving 460 schools to demonstrate how to: raise achievement for children with SEN and disabilities (SEND); better engage their parents; and address issues such as bullying and participation in school life. In April, I committed to ensuring that our 21st Century Schools White Paper mainstreamed the needs of parents of children with SEND. Since your two reports in August 2009, the Children, Schools and Families Bill has been introduced to Parliament. It proposes a new duty on Ofsted to report on the progress of children with SEND in school inspections, now and in future, and gives parents who have had their child's statement reviewed but not amended, an additional right of appeal.
Your Inquiry has taken an extensive look across the special educational needs system and its impact on parental confidence. The Government welcomes your final report and key recommendations. You have found that, whilst the SEN framework functions well for the majority of parents, within the same legislative framework there are parents who have been poorly served and had to battle to get the needs of their child identified and met. This extremely varied picture must be redrawn so that It Is common practice to have access to skilled professionals who understand the needs of children and have high expectations of what children can achieve.
We will publish an Implementation plan for taking forward your report in the New Year but 1 wanted to respond immediately to those recommendations that focus on the concerns of parents who have the least confidence in the system. We need to provide better access to support and redress and ensure that those operating the system locally have the skills to do so effectively."
The Secretary of State then announces eight things that the Government will be doing to take things forward as follows:
- "Work will begin immediately on establishing a national special educational needs helpline which will provide Independent, expert advice and information to parents directly over the phone and through dedicated online support. Your report makes clear how important It is that parents have access to the information they need, when they need it, in ways that are convenient to them.
- The Government will move quickly to strengthen Parent Partnership Services by ensuring all advisors are trained In SEN and disability law. We will work with the National Parent Partnership Network, based at the Council for Disabled Children, to deliver this training in 2010.
- We will work with professional bodies to make clear that the advice professionals provide to local authorities should not be fettered because of concerns about capacity to deliver.
- Start-up funding will be provided to the Local Government Ombudsman, to take on parental complaints on SEN about local authorities from January 2010.
- Statutory guidance to governing bodies and independent appeals panels onexclusions will be strengthened to require a review of whether the head-teacher had regard to the guidance on special educational needs and disability.
- We will also continue to base our work on knowledge of the very best practice. Your Inquiry has shown that there are a number of areas where targeted trialling and development of best practice can improve parental confidence rapidly. Tomorrow, we are inviting local authorities and voluntary sector organisations to bid for a further round of innovative projects to improve parental confidence. These will include more transparency in LA decision-making and greater independence in assessment, using different service models for providing educational psychology advice.
- The Inquiry makes a number of recommendations about strengthening the operation of the First-tier Tribunal (SEN and Disability). We agree that guidelines should be issued on the provision of professional and expert evidence by March 2010. It is important that we improve access to justice and so we will work with the Ministry of Justice and key stakeholders to review the exceptional funding scheme for providing legal aid for Tribunal hearings and vi/ill also aim to re-launch this scheme by March.
- We know that bullying is a particular issue for children with SEND and we have published guidance on how to prevent and tackle it. We will be investing further in a project starting early in 2010, led by the Anti-Bullying Alliance and working with key organisations, to Identify best practice in tackling SEND-related bullying and how schools can be supported to address it."
CONCLUSION
We hope that the information we have provided here is useful to you and that this report will serve as a positive step for everyone working together to seek better outcomes for children with special educational needs and to deliver the support they need in order to achieve, no matter what your personal or professional perspective is.
POSTSCRIPT:- PRESS RELEASES
You may also find it interesting to read the press releases by organisations such as IPSEA(the Independent Panel for Special Educational Needs Advice), the NAS (National Autistic Society), the NDCS (National Deaf Children’s Society) the NASUWT (the teaching union), Radar (the Royal Association for Disability Rights), Contact a Family, the Council for Disabled Children (National Children's Bureau), the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, the Anti-Bullying Alliance and I CAN (the children's communication charity).
