SEN Reform Agenda and Five Year Delivery Plan: Key Considerations from CLC
10 February 2025
The Children’s Law Centre (CLC) welcomes the Department of Education’s recently published SEN Reform Agenda and Five-Year Delivery Plan, which aims to improve Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in Northern Ireland. While this provides an opportunity for progress which must be taken up by all involved in children’s education, CLC holds several critical concerns about how the Department can ensure the plan meets the needs of children with disabilities and special educational needs.
Prioritising Disability Rights and Legal Obligations
One area of concern is that the Department’s use of “SEN” (instead of “SEND”) could potentially make children with disabilities less visible within the policy. Given the fact that inclusion of children with SEND in mainstream is a key driver for this plan, it is crucial that disability rights and equality are at the forefront of the plan, reinforcing clear legal obligations to protect disabled children’s rights.
Funding and Collaboration: The Pillars of Success
Many key actions in the plan are marked as subject to funding, which raises concerns about the sustained investment required to ensure effective implementation. Without the necessary financial and human resources – and meaningful collaboration across services – the reform will struggle to bring about real change. Active involvement from families, teachers and service providers in monitoring the impact of investment will be essential.
Ensuring the Graduated Response Framework Works for Children
The plan introduces a graduated response framework to streamline support processes. However, CLC stresses that this framework must not introduce unnecessary bureaucracy that delays or complicates access to essential support. It must also align with the existing SEND legal framework and statutory Code of Practice to ensure children’s rights remain protected.
The graduated response approach has been taken from a draft revised SEN Code of Practice that was consulted on in 2021 but has yet to complete Assembly scrutiny. CLC is seriously concerned that the graduated response is implementing the draft revised SEN Code of Practice through the back door, with the department having failed to respond to the significant concerns raised previously by CLC and others.
The Need for Proper Consultation and Equality Compliance
CLC is also concerned about whether the Department of Education has fully met its statutory equality duties under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. CLC urges the Department to publish its equality impact assessments and monitoring arrangements.
Additionally, effective consultation with children, families, and service providers must remain a core part of the process. The voices of those directly affected by SEN policies should shape the development and implementation of reforms to ensure they meet needs.
Early Intervention and Capacity Building
For early intervention to succeed, education settings need adequate internal capacity and external support. Special educational provision must be available, accessible, and transparent, ensuring that children receive timely support without facing administrative bottlenecks.
Accountability and Measuring Impact
CLC calls for robust outcomes monitoring and data collection to track the plan’s impact. This includes:
- Assessing whether schools have the capacity to provide early intervention.
- Evaluating whether EA pupil support services can meet demand.
- Measuring how special educational provision improves outcomes for children with SEND.
The Path Forward
CLC will continue advocating for an effective, legally compliant SEND system that upholds children’s rights. The success of this reform will depend on significant and sustainable funding, transparent processes, enhanced co-operation between children’s services providers and a child centred approach which promotes equality of opportunity for children with SEND.