I have been alerted to a ‘call for evidence’ by the UK Parliamentary Education Select Committee (which in theory scrutinises the work of the Department for Education) seeking evidence (or advice) ‘on short term actions to stabilise the SEND system‘.
This is due to their recognition of the current situation in special education provision in England and Wales of ‘increased demand, protracted waiting times and increased pressure on schools and local authorities‘ (No Sh*t Sherlock: see my previous Blog at: https://connectingwithintensiveinteraction.com/2024/06/18/yet-another-special-education-and-or-care-scandal-but-that-should-come-as-no-surprise/).
The Education Select Committee also wants to examine how ‘the long-term sustainability of the SEND system can be achieved to support and improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND’.
There are four sections to this ‘call for evidence’, which each separately focused on:
- Support for children and young people with SEND
- Current and future model of SEND provision
- Finance, funding and capacity of SEND provision
- Accountability and inspection of SEND provision
There is a bullet point list of questions in each section they are seeking evidence (and I would suggest advice) on. For guidance on how to submit evidence to this inquiry, you can also look at the Special Needs Jungle page specifically written for this purpose at: https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/snjs-advice-and-prompts-for-submitting-evidence-to-the-2025-education-select-committees-send-inquiry/.
So, I am asking that one of your New Year’s resolutions is to look at this list, and if you have any relevant evidence, advice and/or experiences, then please share these with the committee. Please follow this up and help them do their job!
You can submit your evidence via this link: this https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/3517
Connecting with Intensive Interaction 