Education Committee requests details on SEND reforms

The Education Committee has published a letter to the Secretary of State for Education asking for more detail about the Department for Education’s work on developing its SEND reforms.

It comes after Bridget Phillipson wrote to the Committee announcing a delay to the Schools White Paper, which will contain the Government’s forthcoming SEND reforms.

The new letter, from Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP, requests further detail about the “co-creation” process that Bridget Phillipson says will be adopted in preparing the SEND reforms. It also says the Schools White Paper, now timetabled for early in the new year, as an opportunity for the Department to take time to reflect on the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations. 

Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP, wrote: "Your letter refers to a process of co-creation involving parents, educators, experts, and representative organisations. We would welcome further detail on how this process will operate in practice. In response to this letter, I would be grateful for an outline of the specific steps you plan to take to design and facilitate this co-creation process, including how stakeholders will be selected and engaged, how co-creators will be resourced to be equal participants in the process, how feedback will be incorporated, and how the Department will ensure that decision-making remains transparent, inclusive, and accountable."