Thread by @tes

The @commonsed is holding its final hearing on SEND today with Ministers Nick @NickGibbUK and @nadhimzahawi taking questions. #edselctte

Strong opening question from committee chairman @halfon4harlowMP : Everyone we have spoken to says the SEND system is not working. Do you agree? #edselctte

Mr Zahawi says the reforms in place are the right ones "but we are now in the implementation phase." #edselctte

Chair @halfon4harlowMP says the same issues with SEND come back again and again. "Lack of accountability, a postcode lottery in provision, a treacle of bureaucracy parents have to get through, a costly tribunal system where parents usually win their case." #edselctte

.@halfon4harlowMP asks if Ofsted should do more to look to scrutinise how money allocated to children with SEND is being spent. @NickGibbUK says the new Ofsted framework has a greater emphasis on the progress children with SEND make. #edselctte

Of the 82 local authority SEND support services that have been inspected 40 have had to produce a written statement of action "which is the worst result which can flow from that inspection" @halfon4harlowMP says. He asks why some LEAs are failing to deliver. #edselctte

Halfon asks to what extent do schools and councils pass the buck to one another on the development of EHC plans. Zahawi responds that when parties play the blame game this is the worse place to be. #edselctte

Zahawi adds: "Any council that says its the school's fault clearly needs to reexamine what they are doing." #edselctte

Thelma Walker asks are children are falling through the net because funding is not being allocated where it is needed. #edselctte .

Halfon says that inspections show 50 per cent of authority areas SEND services haven't got what they need in place. Andre Imich from the DfE says we should expect the changes to take time. Imich says we need to celebrate good practice more. #edselctte

Schools Minister @NickGibbUK says there is no specialism for SEND teaching in initial teacher training and suggests the #edselctte might want to recommend. @IanMearnsMP asks if the comittee did would he take it up?

Gibb says there is an argument for saying that there could be a category for SEND teaching when graduates are recruited into initial teacher training.

James Frith says that the LGA has warned that high needs funding faces a £1.6bn shortfall. He asks if Ministers agree with the figure. Zahawi says they are looking at the funding needs. He adds that £350m additional funding has been provided. #edselctte

William Wragg asks if the SEND reforms have been successful. He asks about EHCP plans being delivered on time. Imich says 64.9 per cent have been in the latest figures which he says is an improvement. #edselctte

Wragg says the DfE appear not to be following up on its own criteria for measuring the success of SEND reforms. #edselctte

Lucy Allan MP raises concerns raised by East Sussex Council - whose director of children's services told MPs earlier this month that the threshold is too low for considering EHCP plans tes.com/news/too-many-…

Imich says the the threshold has been changed so that cases are considered if it is thought the child may need an EHCP rather than when it is thought they probably need an EHCP. #edselctte

James Frith says in one area 20 per cent of applications for an EHCP were refused. He says this is like going to A&E and being turned away by the front desk rather than going to triage. #edselctte

Frith now asks what the national figure is for tribunals which are found in favour of parents. @nadhimzahawi says it is 89 per cent . #edselctte

Frith says that local councils could be turning away EHCP applications because they know they cannot afford to deliver. He says the government has introduced commendable reforms but then walked away and not ensured the reforms are delivered. #edselctte

Frith says that the Timpson Review reveals that all excluded pupils more than 70 per cent are SEND. Nick Gibb responds that Timpson found that students with an EHCP and who have SEND were less likely to be permanently excluded than a pupil without SEND. 1/2 #edselctte

But Gibb says that pupils with SEND but without an EHCP plan were more likely to be excluded #edselctte

Emma Hardy asks Ministers: What are you going to do to improve support for SEND children? She says they need to understand parents' desperation to get an EHCP because of a lack of support. #edselctte .

.@NickGibbUK says the new Ofsted framework will focus on the progress of SEND pupils and this will drive school behaviour. #edselctte

.@nadhimzahawi says its call to evidence on SEND funding which will explore whether there are any perverse incentives in the system #edselctte.

Emma Hardy returns to her main question. She says there is overwhelming evidence that SEND support is not working for children across the country. And she asks what Ministers are going to do about it. Imich challenges this and says in many areas it is working. #edselctte

.@EmmaHardyMP asks if Ministers accept that there is confusion in the system over the responsibility for the commissioning of EHCPs. Zahawi says he does accept this.

A consistent theme throughout this @commonsed hearing on SEND is Ministers citing individual examples of the system working well when being asked by MPs about system level problems. #edselctte

.On this @JamesFrith says that highlighting where the system works is only half the job. Ministers need to identify and address failings he says. #edselctte

.@IanMearnsMP highlights pupils on SEN support who don't have an EHCP. He says funding needs moving upstream to address their needs. He says this will reduce the need for EHCPs and meet needs of young people before they drop out of the system or end up in criminal justice system

.@IanMearnsMP says young people who need additional support can sometimes be difficult to educate but we need to "create a system where they can succeed at something rather than fail at everything." #edselctte

On SEND tribunals @nadhimzahawi says there are some areas such as Enfield where there are hardly any tribunals taking place. He says we need to ask how is this is being achieved. #edselctte

Committee chairman @halfon4harlowMP tells Nick Gibb that he is a "Rolls Royce" on school standards but that there should be as much emphasis on children with SEND climbing the ladder of opportunity and achieving and not just focus on a "survival of the fittest." #edselctte

.@NickGibbUK responds that more pupils with SEND met the expected standard in writing and maths in key stage 1 but said he would come back with more data on the other key stages .