The review concludes that there is a need for much greater consistency in how needs are identified and supported, so decisions are made based on a child or young person’s needs in co-production with families, not where they live or the setting they attend. We propose to:
establish a new national SEND and alternative provision system setting nationally consistent standards for how needs are identified and met at every stage of a child’s journey across education, health and care - parents and carers will be confident that their child’s needs will be met effectively in the most appropriate local setting, they will be clear about what support their child is receiving and will be engaged in decision-making at every stage
create new local SEND partnerships bringing together education, health and care partners with local government to produce a local inclusion plan setting out how each area will meet the national standards - when specialist support is needed, the local inclusion plan will set out the provision that is available within the local area, including units within mainstream, alternative and specialist provision
support parents and carers to express an informed preference for a suitable placement by providing a tailored list of settings, including mainstream, specialist and independent - they will continue to have the right to request a mainstream setting for their child
introduce a standardised and digitised EHCP process and template to minimise bureaucracy and deliver consistency
streamline the redress process to make it easier to resolve disputes earlier, including through mandatory mediation, whilst retaining the tribunal for the most challenging cases