The Special Educational Needs and Disability Division published the following newsflash on 29 June 2020:
1. Temporary changes to SEND law
Today, the Secretary of State has issued a notice to extend the temporary changes to the law on what provision has to be made currently for those with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. The temporary changes to the law have been in force since 1 May and are now extended to 31 July. Once the notice expires, the Secretary of State can issue a further notice for a period of up to a month if it would be appropriate and proportionate to do so in the context of coronavirus. We will keep this under close review. We have also taken the opportunity to publish a minor update to Changes to the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to coronavirus.
2. Consultation on changes to the School Admission Code
The Department for Education has just launched a consultation on a revised version of the School Admissions Code (Code), and would welcome your feedback. The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-school-admissions-code--4.a> The consultation will run until 16 October.
The proposed changes to the School Admissions Code are intended to support vulnerable children. The changes would therefore potentially have significant implications for children with SEND. In addition, SEND stakeholders may have a particular interest in a specific recommendation about how the Code should provide for decisions about the admission of children and young people with Challenging Behaviour. We are keen to hear from a wide range of SEND stakeholders to help ensure that all relevant SEND considerations are factored into Ministers’ decisions as to the best way forward.
We understand that not only is the education sector facing challenges in supporting the country’s children to ensure they can access education, but the current COVID-19 outbreak has affected everyone's lives in different ways. In particular, we are concerned that some of our most vulnerable children may experience gaps in their education because they are unable to secure a school place quickly during this unsettled period. We think that now, more than ever, we need to continue with our plans to make changes to the School Admissions Code to support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
We have an extended consultation period of 16 weeks, running into the Autumn term to allow for disruption caused by both the school holidays and the phased re-opening and return to school. We are planning to host virtual consultation sessions with our stakeholders. Do let us know if you would like to be involved so we can plan accordingly.
We are not proposing a wholescale review of the admissions system. Feedback from the sector is clear that the main round largely works well, but there are problems with the in-year admissions processes and Fair Access Protocols. Our proposed changes seek to clarify these responsibilities and introduce a more robust process for their management and have been developed collaboratively with a number of stakeholders.
As you may be aware, the department previously committed to making a change to allow children adopted from state care outside of England the same priority for admissions as domestic looked after and previously looked after children. We are consulting on this change and are also using this opportunity to provide further clarity around the admission of service children and children of crown servants, alongside some additional minor drafting changes that will improve existing provisions.
More information on each of the changes can be found within the consultation document (found at the bottom of the consultation webpage under ‘attachments’), as well as a revised draft of the Code as proposed.
We have also published an updated statement on the admission of summer born children. This is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission.
Please do forward the details of our consultation to colleagues both within your organisations and to any other parties that may have an interest in this consultation.
We have set up the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mailbox for any future comments or questions in relation to the consultation.