This research produced by the ISOS Partnership, commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) and County Councils Network (CCN), explores the need for fundamental reform of the SEND system in England. The report identifies the issues facing the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and propose a series of recommendations to reform it.
It highlights that more children and young people than ever before are being identified as having SEND, which, combined with other factors – such as a squeeze on public resources, a hard-to-navigate system, and inadequate funding – is leading to poorer outcomes for children.
However, the report states that attending an early years setting is likely to be the first opportunity to identify, assess and put in place support to meet children’s needs, with obtaining the right SEND support for children in the early years essential to driving a systematic approach to earlier intervention with a view to preventing needs from escalating later in a child’s education.
This is evidenced by the recent evaluation of Sure Start from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), which found lower rates of education health and care plans (EHCPs) in young people aged 16 who had lived near a Sure Start centre, compared with those who had not.
Despite this finding, the acute recruitment and retention challenges in the early years sector, in addition to issues around access to SEND training and expertise, mean that well-targeted early intervention and a fully-inclusive early years offer aren’t often available.