Find out more about the latest government statements on policy and funding below. Local Authority Managers should be aware of these when planning and budgeting for specialist provision.
A key role for the voluntary sector is to work with key decision makers at government, national and local levels to ensure effective services are provided for blind and partially sighted children and young people. RNIB will continue to work in partnership with key organisations to influence policy and procedures which inform service delivery for blind and partially sighted children and young people, and their families.
Government statements in 2013
The Government publishes the indicative draft Code of Practice and Regulations (March 2013)
The Government has provided Parliament with the indicative draft of the (0-25) Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. The SEN Code of Practice provides the framework for support for children with SEN and is being revised in parallel with the Children and Families Bill to reflect the new provisions. A subsequent draft will be published for formal consultation in late 2013 before a final draft is placed before Parliament for approval.
The SEN Code of Practice Indicative Draft for Committee is published on the Department for Education website.
The Government publishes the Children and Families Bill
(February 2013)
On 4 February, the Government introduced the long-awaited Children and Families Bill into Parliament. The Bill proposes to change the support provided to children and young people (CYP) with special educational needs and disabilities. Whilst RNIB welcomes some proposals, we are concerned that the Bill does not sufficiently address the needs of blind and partially sighted CYP.
Proposed changes include:
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Replacing the statement of SEN with a broader Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC)
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Allowing young people up to the age of 25 to have an Education, Health and Care Plan
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Requiring local authorities to set out a 'local offer' of the support it expects to be available locally to children with special educational needs
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Giving parents and young people the option of a personal budget to purchase specialist support outlined in the individuals Plan
RNIB's key concerns include:
EHC Plans - There needs to be clarity about who will be eligible for the new EHC Plans. A broad definition of complex needs could leave some CYP who have severe vision impairment as a single disability without statutory protection.
Local Offer - Local authorities (LA) will only need to set out the services "it expects" to be available; there is no legal duty on the local authority to provide a certain level of services. This could make it difficult for parents to challenge LA decisions if they feel they are not getting the right amount of support for their child.
The Second Reading of the Bill took place on the 25th February. This was the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main proposals outlined in the Bill. RNIB produced a briefing for Parliamentarians in order to highlight key concerns. This briefing can be downloaded below:
In addition, a duty to establish and keep registers for blind and partially sighted individuals will be maintained in respect of adults under clause 49 of the Draft Care and Support Bill. However, under the Governments current proposals blind and partially sighted children will be treated differently to blind and partially sighted adults. We want to see the Children and Families Bill amended to include a corresponding duty to that contained in Clause 49 of the Draft Care and Support Bill which reads: "A local authority must establish and maintain a register of sight impaired and severely sight impaired adults who are ordinarily resident in its area." You can download RNIB's briefing on the need for a separate clause in relation to registering blind and partially sighted children below:
You can find out further information about the proposals from our campaigns pages where you can sign up to receive regular updates.
To read the Bill in full and the explanatory notes, visit the Children and Families Bill page on the Parliament website.
Changes to School Action and School Action Plus (February 2013)
As part of the SEND reform process which is being put into place through the Children and Families Bill currently going through Parliament, DfE has published a short update on plans for replacing the current school action/school action plus with a single school-based category.
The current system is set out in the SEN Code of Practice and includes a section on early years action and early years action plus. Plans for reforms will similarly be taken forward through revisions to the code.
The DfE update can be downloaded below:
PFEG (Parliamentary Financial Education Group) are guiding the future (February 2013)
A Parliamentary Inquiry into financial education for young people is taking place. PFEG has invited RNIB to submit thoughts on financial education for young people with vision impairment. Read the RNIB response below:
Government statements in 2012
RNIB welcomes the Education Select Committee's Report on the Children and Families Bill (December 2012)
The Department for Education published draft legislation in September 2012 on reform of provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities. RNIB issued a press statement welcoming the commitment of the Government to prioritize the reforms. You can find out further information and download the RNIB Group briefing on the draft clauses of the Children and Families Bill from our campaigns pages.
Following this RNIB Group submitted a response to the Education Select Committee's call for evidence which closed on 11 October 2012. The Education Select Committee have subsequently released a pre-legislative scrutiny report on the Children and Families Bill which has been welcomed by RNIB. This report is availiable from the Parliament UK website.
You can download the RNIB press statement below:
To find out more information and download the draft provisions and explanatory notes, visit the Department of Education website.
Entitlements to be maintained under new SEND legislation (November 2012)
A letter from Edward Timpson to Christine Lenehan, Director of CDC, regarding the draft SEN and disability provisions, sets out the minister's intention that current entitlements will not be eroded by the new legislation.
It picks up a number of specific points that parents and professionals have expressed concern about such as:
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There is no right to request a statutory assessment and hence no trigger for the right to appeal against the decision of a local authority not to assess.
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There are no timescales.
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There is no duty to make the provision in an EHC plan.
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There is no duty to 'specify and quantify' the provision to be made in an EHC Plan.
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Mediation is compulsory and there are anti-parent penalties.
Download a copy of the letter below:
Confirmation of future funding for SEN specialist support services (October 2012)
On 4 October, the Education Funding Agency wrote to Academies to confirm that, from 2013-14, they will no longer receive a separate payment for specialist special education needs (SEN) support services.
Local authorities will be required to provide these services to pupils in academies and Free Schools on the same basis as pupils in maintained schools. The EFA has also committed to ensuring that local authorities receive enough money in the 2013-14 Dedicated Schools Grant allocation for these additional pupils. They have also stated that they will take the 2012/13 SEN LACSEG allocation into account to ensure that academies do not face significant reductions in their per-pupil funding in 2013/14.
Individually assigned funding for children with statements will continue to be paid through the LA, as normal. For more information, visit the Department of Education website.
RNIB welcomes draft provisions for Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disability (September 2012)
The Department for Education has published draft legislation on reform of provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities. RNIB welcomes these draft provisions that will form part of the Children and Families Bill.
Steve Winyard, Head of Policy and Campaigns at RNIB, said:
"It is positive the Government is prioritising reforms which will benefit children and young people with SEN and disabilities but of course the devil is always in the detail. Working in partnership through the Special Educational Consortium, our priority is to guard against a reduction in the legal entitlements available to blind and partially sighted children and young people.
"There are an estimated 22,000 blind and partially sighted children and young people aged 0-16 years in England. Research shows that pupils with sight loss are more likely than those with no SEN to experience disadvantages, so it's essential that these needs are picked up early and support put in place as soon as possible.
"The principle of integrating education, health and care provision is sensible but we remain concerned about the 'local offer', which unless adequately defined in law, will fail to serve thousands of families who cannot get an education, health and care plan. Services which children and young people with sight loss typically need include regular input from a qualified teacher of pupils with VI (QTVI), specialist equipment, and ongoing adaptation of resources. Without this type of support the 'local offer' will ring hollow and potentially spell worse outcomes for children and young people with sight loss."
To find out more information and download the draft provisions and explanatory notes, visit the Department of Education website.
Children with statements of special educational needs may have no legal right to attend academies (May 2012)
New reports have highlighted that in some areas children with statements of special educational needs and their families have fewer legal rights to be admitted to an academy than they do to maintained schools. Because academies are independent schools in law, the SEN and Disability Tribunal is questioning whether academies must be asked for their permission before they can be named on a statement of SEN. This would give academies the right to refuse children with statements.
CDC's network the Special Educational Consortium (SEC) has released a statement stating it is unacceptable that academies can treat children with special educational needs differently from other schools. Both SEC and the Every Disabled Child Matters Campaign are urging the Government to apply all SEN law directly to academies.
To download the SEC statement, visit the news section of the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) website.
Consultation on auxiliary aids (March 2012)
The Department for Education (DfE) has published the response to the England consultation on auxiliary aids. In summary, DfE will be proceeding and bringing this law into effect from September 2012. They will be tabling a commencement order to bring provisions around the Equality Act, auxiliary aids and reasonable adjustments into effect.
For more information visit the Department of Education website.
Academies and funding for SEN specialist services for 2012-13
The Department for Education (DfE) has published details of how LACSEG will work in 2012-13. The good news is that the existing arrangement for SEN support services will continue for another year - key quote below:
"Recoupment of the Dedicated Schools Grant element of LACSEG, including contingencies, will be based on the local authority's 2012-13 section 251 statement. Further guidance will be issued before the start of the financial year, including arrangements for requesting exclusions from contingencies and other lines. As in 2011-12, we will not recoup funding for SEN support services in 2012-13 and therefore we continue to expect authorities to provide these services to academies on the same basis as maintained schools. Decisions for 2013-14 and subsequent years will be made as part of the wider review of school funding."
Impact on Local Authorities
The Government announced it will exempt local authority expenditure in relation to SEN services from the academy recoupment process for 2012-13. This means local authorities will retain their central funding for SEN services no matter how many academies they have in their area. This commitment follows SEC's success during the passage of the Academies Act 2010.
This decision has two important implications:
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A local authority should not now cut SEN support services on the basis that a number of academies have opened in that area. Where there are academies in a local authority area, that local authority will now retain the money to keep SEN support services available;
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As they are retaining the money for SEN support services that was previously being delegated to academies, local authorities should provide these services to children in academies.
We would strongly encourage you to share this with any networks you have, and in particular any local authority contacts you have by downloading and passing on this letter from Julie Jennings, Chair, Special Educational Consortium announcing this information and the implications for services.
LAs are setting their budgets as we speak so it is really important they have this information as this will have a real impact on funding for services.