Category: Government

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Department for Education Education Government NNPCF work

SEND Reform update

Earlier today Tuesday 29 November, NNPCF Co-chair Mrunal Sisodia spoke with Minister Clare Coutinho about the plans for the DfE response to the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper. The Minister informed Mrunal that the Department’s response will not be published before Christmas as originally planned. Instead, they are targeting publication for early in the new year – no specific timeline for this has been agreed.

The delay was resulting from the recent Ministerial changes in government and the desire of the new Ministers to get to grips with the agenda and to allow sufficient time to engage with parent carers.

We received the following update from the DfE;

Today the Department for Education (DfE) has published a letter from the Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education, sent to those working across the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) sector. 

In the letter, the minister clarifies her commitment to improve the experiences of children and young people with SEND or in AP, within a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable system across education, health and care. 

She sets out plans for publishing a response to the SEND Review consultation, working alongside the new ministerial team to understand the extensive feedback, before publishing a full response, in the form of an improvement plan early in the new year.   
 
Ahead of the improvement plan being published, the Education Secretary has confirmed that children and young people with SEND will benefit from wellbeing and technology support straight away, with new funding announced for educational psychologists and assistive technology. This money will continue to support the system to deliver change and continue to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with SEND and those who need alternative provision.  

You can find a link to the communications from the Department for Education here which includes a letter from Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education.

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Department for Education Government Minister for children and families NNPCF NNPCF work

New Children and Families Minister

Our NNPCF Cochairs meet with new Children and Families Minister

10 November 2022

On Monday, NNPCF cochairs Tina and Mrunal met with the newly appointed Undersecretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Clare Coutinho.

This meeting took place before Ministerial portfolios were officially announced – an indication of the importance of the NNPCF in the work being done by the Department for Education.

The Minister stated that she was very passionate about SEND and that the SEND agenda, along with the Independent Review into Children’s Social Care would be her biggest priority. At this early stage, she was unable to provide a detailed update on the immediate next steps for the SEND and AP Green Paper and the Schools Bill, she promised to keep the NNPCF informed and understood the interest in these items.

This was a short, introductory meeting and the Minister promised to continue to work with the NNPCF and parent carer forums. Tina and Mrunal invited the Minister to attend the national conference in Bristol on 28 February and to meet with the NNPCF board. We will keep you informed of further contact.

You can read more about Clare Coutinho, the new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing on the government website.

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Government NNPCF NNPCF work

Specialist workforce

We’re proud to sign a new open letter to the Government on the specialist workforce 📬

We’ve signed the letter alongside over 110 other charities, royal colleges, professional bodies, professional associations, trade unions, parents and carers and others who want the very best for children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

A wide range of specialist professionals play a huge role in the development of many young people – including by providing direct support, identifying needs early, and supporting teachers to develop their knowledge and skills.

But while the need for specialists is increasing, insufficient numbers are being trained to meet demand. Many are failing to be retained, and many are leaving the public sector altogether.

This must change.

We are calling on the Government to use their response to the SEND Review to address gaps in the specialist workforce and ensure there will be sufficient specialist professionals to help children – now and in the future.

#SENDInTheSpecialists

Open-letter-on-specialist-workforceDownload
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consultations Government

Intergrated Care Systems call for evidence

The Public Accounts Committee are due to be questioning senior officials and executives at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England on the progress in establishing Integrated Care Systems in England.

They will examine if they are being set up in a way which allows them to achieve their objectives:  

  • improve outcomes in population health and healthcare
  • tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access
  • enhance productivity and value for money
  • help the NHS support broader social and economic development.

To help and inform the NNPCF’s response, we have created a survey for forums to complete.

Whatever your experience, please help us by completing our survey: https://forms.office.com/r/Xb4DiK1NbU

The survey is open until Thursday 20 October.

For more information on the Call for Evidence see:
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6931/introducing-integrated-care-systems/

For an explanation of Integrated Care Systems see:
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/integrated-care-systems-explained

If you want more information or want to add anything not covered in the survey, please email consultation@nnpcf.org.uk

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Department for Education Government Minister for children and families

Confirmation of Ministerial changes

The last few weeks have been very turbulent for the government with Boris Johnson standing down once a new Prime Minister (PM) has been voted in by the Conservative party.

As you will know , Will Quince stood down from his Ministerial role of Children and Families Minister.

This caused a lot of questions regarding the Green Paper Send review, including whether the review would be continued, postponed, or concluded early.

We have now received confirmation from our colleagues at the Department for Education (DfE) that Will Quince has accepted a new position in the government as the Minister for School Standards which includes SEND and the SEND and AP Green Paper.

This gives the new government ministerial continuity, which of course we are very pleased to hear, however, we know there will be more changes once the PM is appointed.

The responsibilities of Minister Will Quince can be found on the government website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state-for-school-standards

The Alternative Provision (AP) brief is with Brendan Clarke-Smith, Minister for Children and Families, who will be working closely with the DfE team to ensure the links work with Alternative Provision and the wider children and families agenda.

Knowing this information, we would encourage you to complete the SEND Green paper review, https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-review-division/send- review-2022/ which remains open until 22 July 11.45 pm

Our own NNPCF SEND green paper review survey closes next week too, there is still time to get involved:  https://bit.ly/NNPCFGPAP