The Children and Families Act
that comes into force from September 1st 2014
reforms the whole of the system for special educational needs and disability
what we would call in the post 16 sector
provision for learners with learning difficulties or disabilities
It extends legislation from 0 - 25
it focusses on young people being at the centre so that
their views their wishes their aspirations
are what drives all of this
It introduces education health and care plans
which will replace statements of SEN
and learning difficulty assessments in post 16
and the young people will have a whole new set of responsibilities
as part of this legislation
to be very involved in developing their plans
in talking with providers and with local authorities about their views
and that's a fundamental change in the way things work
So for colleges that's general Further Education colleges
for 6th form colleges and for specialist providers
under what's going to be called the S41 list
that's a new approved list by the Secretary of State
there will be some new duties that come into force from the 1st September
So they are first of all
that those colleges who get named on a young persons education health and care plan
will have a duty to admit them
Hopefully that will follow reasonable discussion with the young person
with the local authority commissioning the place
with the provider and with any other people who are supporting that potential student
They will also have a duty to have regard to
a new code of practice
and that's a very substantial document that outlines what the legislation means
in practice on the ground
and when I say substantial the last count 253 pages worth
so a lot for providers to understand
They will also have a duty to co-operate with local authorities who commission places
That's a reciprocal duty
so local authorities also have a duty to co-operate with providers
from whom they commission places
and that's in regard to the local offer
which describes the provision available to young people
and in reviewing what's available in any area
There's a fourth duty
which only applies to general FE colleges and 6th form colleges
on the basis that specialist colleges do this as their core business
and that is that those providers must use their best endeavours
in meeting the needs of young people with special educational needs or disabilities
Now the best endeavours duty
which we still haven't quite tested out
and don't necessarily understand in FE
is really about ensuring that all young people
with or without and educational health and care plan
and that's 200,000 at least in the system that we know of
their support needs are being effectively identified and met
so that's the best endeavours duty
so that's four new duties on post 16 providers
that will come into operation from the 1st September
and that's a lot of work to have in place by then
and the DFE has produced
a very useful implementation guide
and this contains an analysis of those four duties
and a kind of to do list for colleges
to help them prepare for the implementation in September