Mark Hoban – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hoban on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure parents are aware of the early years educational support available to children with cerebral palsy under two years of age.
Elizabeth Truss
The Early Years Foundation Stage framework makes clear that providers must have and implement a policy and procedures to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care, including support for children with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities.
The Government is introducing wide-ranging reforms through the Children and Families Act 2014 to improve provision and support for children and young people with SEN and disabilities from birth up to the age of 25.
The Act requires local authorities to publish a local offer of services for children with SEN or a disability which will include children with cerebral palsy. The local offer will set out in one place information about provision families can expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.
The local offer will also provide parents with clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the services and support available and how to access it, including that from Early Years services. This should include relevant services from agencies such as Portage and Early Support, arrangements for identifying and assessing children’s needs in the early years and support available to parents to aid their child’s development at home.
The offer will make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving families and service providers in its development and review, enabling them to have a greater say in how services and support develop over time.
The new birth to 25 SEN Code of Practice, due to come into force from September 2014, will set out clear expectations for practitioners on how they work together with families of children with SEN or disability to understand their child’s needs and help them to access support quickly.
