Recommendation SP65: Remedial steps for failing education authorities
From The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1, published 13 April 2026.
Recommendation
The Department for Education should consider what remedial steps can be put in place to assist in circumstances where, whether through underfunding or underperformance, local education authorities are failing to respond adequately to the need for alternative education provision for children who may pose a risk to others. Reforms currently being developed to Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision may be part of the necessary solution.
In brief (written by this site)
In July 2026, HM Government stated that the Department for Education expects to complete implementation by September 2029 (Home Office response, Jul 2026). It noted that the department plans to introduce mandatory national standards for non-school alternative provision, clarify the sector's role, and address local underperformance through reform plans (Home Office response, Jul 2026). The record holds no update since the government's response of July 2026 (Home Office response, Jul 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
The Department for Education (DfE) is the lead department and expects to complete the implementation of this recommendation by September 2029. Progress and next steps:
- As set out in the Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Reform consultation, which ran from February to May this year, DfE intends to clarify the role of alternative provision, including provision delivered outside mainstream, special and alternative provision schools.
- Last year, DfE published voluntary standards and guidance on non-school alternative provision ahead of introducing mandatory national standards in due course; these include expectations on safeguarding and oversight.
- DfE already works with local areas to secure improvement where systemic weaknesses in local authority commissioning and oversight of alternative provision are identified through Area SEND inspections. New local area SEND reform plans commissioned early this year are a key mechanism for addressing underperformance further and will support improvement in SEND and alternative provision systems.
- New local area SEND reform plans commissioned earlier this year will support improvement in SEND and alternative provision systems.
- DfE is investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/26 and 2029/30.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The government's response to Phase 1 (CP 1623, 2 July 2026) agreed with all 67 recommendations in one sentence, and names only 39 of them individually. Where a recommendation is not named, the response shown is the passage the response gives for the group it belongs to (the recommendations for organisations outside central government, or the recommendations to policing bodies), which is not a response to that recommendation alone; the response does not list the members of any group. The 10 recommendations for Phase 2 of the Inquiry to consider show no response: the response introduces them (paragraph 20) but answers none of them. The government accepts the recommendations that are for central government to deliver. Where a recommendation is for an organisation outside central government, the government's agreement is not that organisation's acceptance.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Department for Education has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 July 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department for Education
Response