Value for Money
Support for children and young people with special educational needs
Published 24 October 2024
9 recommendations
Department for Education
Early years educationEducation, training and skillsFurther and higher education
nao.org.uk
The NAO’s report highlights that England’s special educational needs system is not delivering better outcomes for children and young people.
Recommendations (9)
Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker · PAC follow-up below
Department for Education
Rec 1
Accepted
Implemented
DfE and the wider government should:
a) explicitly consider whole-system reform, to improve outcomes for children with SEN and put SEN provision on a financially sustainable footing
Department for Education
Rec 2
Accepted
Work in Progress
DfE and the wider government should:
b) undertake work to understand the root causes behind increases in SEN and demand for EHC plans and special school places to ensure the whole system addresses them
Department for Education
Rec 3
Accepted
Work in Progress
DfE and the wider government should:
c) build a more integrated system by, for example, developing a shared understanding of how identifying and supporting SEN should be prioritised, including within the health system; ensure those with accountability can act, including local authorities requiring providers to accept pupils; and consider where multi-disciplinary teams can make jointly-owned support decisions
Department for Education
Rec 4
Accepted
Implemented
DfE should
d) as a matter of urgency, work with MHCLG and HM Treasury, to share with local authorities its plans for ensuring each local authority can achieve a sustainable financial position once the statutory override ends in 2025-26, including how cumulative deficits will be treated and any wider financial impact managed
Department for Education
Rec 5
Accepted
Work in Progress
DfE should:
e) develop its use of evidence to better understand how and why pupil numbers change across different settings to asses the need for spaces across local areas and types of setting, and how this will impact, for example, home-to-school transport costs.
Department for Education
Rec 6
Accepted
Implemented
DfE should:
f) develop a vision and long-term plan for inclusivity across mainstream education. This should consider opportunities to adapt funding and accountability arrangements to encourage inclusivity, building an evidence base for where mainstream settings can best support children with SEN; and how to improve parents' confidence;
Department for Education
Rec 7
Accepted
Work in Progress
DfE should:
g) ensure that it consistently translates its ambitions into an implementation approach with actions and sufficient detail on how improvements will be achieved, how much they will cost, how they inter-relate, how long they will take and the implementation risks
Department for Education
Rec 8
Accepted
Work in Progress
DfE should:
h) undertake a specific exercise, drawing on local authority insights, to identify and share opportunities for efficiencies. This should consider routine reviews of individual EHC plans to assess if they are working, and benchmarks for local authorities to assess how much specialised provision should cost
Department for Education
Rec 9
Accepted
Work in Progress
DfE should:
i) improve the data, incentives and processes to ensure children's needs are identified and supported as early as possible, particularly within early years
Parliamentary Committee Follow-Up
The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.
1st Report - Support for children and young people with special educational needs
Public Accounts Committee
· 15 January 2025
· 9 recommendations
1st Report: Support for children with special educational needs and disabilities
Public Accounts Committee
· 6 May 2020