Q22. How can Specialist Provision Packages be designed to effectively support the main types of need we currently recognise?

The context: The Government will introduce standardised Specialist Provision Packages of support for children with the most complex needs. They anticipate that approximately seven different Packages will be developed, each reflecting a particular set of support needs, which will set out the interventions and resources required to support children in receipt of the Package. Children who need a Specialist Provision Package will have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) setting out the over-arching support and reviewed at the end of each key stage, and a digital Individual Support Plan setting out the day-to-day support and more regularly reviewed. Decisions about the appropriate setting for children with EHCPs will depend on which settings are able to offer the Support Package.

In your answer, you may want to consider:

• Some children have complex, overlapping needs which will not fit neatly into any single Package. It is difficult to see how, for example, an adopted child with social and emotional support needs, dyslexia and FASD could easily be accommodated by a single, pre-defined Specialist Provision Package.
• It is not clear that all schools will offer all Packages – in fact the proposals state that settings will be commissioned to provide placements for the whole group of children assigned to a Package, and acknowledge that a change of setting might be needed in order for children to access the chosen Specialist Provision Package. This will effectively limit parental choice only to settings which can offer the Package identified. How will the Government ensure that all children can access the appropriate Package at a school in their local area?
• Although ISPs will be a mandatory provision, parents will not have legal recourse should they have concerns about the provision outlined on the ISP or the delivery of this provision. This amounts to a watering down of parents’ legal rights compared to the current situation where provision is outlined on the EHCP with a legal recourse for resolving disputes.