The Health and Social Care Committee has published a report outlining amendments to the Health Bill, including legal duties for NHS services to comply with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) tribunals.

This comes following a recent report by the Education Committee, which identified a systemic lack of accountability in the NHS’s provision of services for children and young people with SEND.

When a family is not provided with services they need, as laid out in an Education Health and Care Plan, their only recourse is to take a local authority, which commission SEND services, to a SEND tribunal. But SEND tribunals do not have power over health services, leaving families stuck if they are not provided with the help they are entitled to from the NHS.

The Committee therefore recommends that integrated Care Boards should be legally required to comply with recommendations from SEND Tribunals.

Health and Social Care Committee Chair, Layla Moran MP, said: “The Health Bill will herald the most far-reaching changes to the health service in nearly 15 years. This is the opportunity to rewire parts of the NHS to tackle chronic problems affecting every area of the country, from SEND and mental health services to better prevention of obesity and frailty. It should be about more than just reshuffling bureaucracy and handing power to the Secretary of State."

The amendments will be considered by a separate Public Bill Committee, which begins its deliberations on the Bill on Tuesday 16 June. The Bill Committee must finish its work by Thursday 16 July.