The raft of measures we saw at the end of 2024 – the local government financial settlement, the DfE policy paper and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, commitments to reform the inspection framework – are the clearest signal yet that government see there’s more to do to better help children and families and they are not underplaying the problems faced.

As Chair of the ADCS Standards, Performance and Inspection (SPI) Policy Committee, I have welcomed the ditching of single-word judgements, or a short phrase in the case of Area SEND inspections, and steps to improve inclusion in schools and reform family help. This must, however, result in real change including sorting out the SEND system that is difficult for everyone, especially children and families; it’s so broken that it must be sorted.

We all know that the hurdles to this are numerous, and high. Boosting inclusivity by providing funding to support schools is already playing out in local areas right now as we work with school forums to agree high needs allocations whilst massively overdrawn; the pressure on wider specialist support, such as education psychologists, has left us scrambling to meet statutory timescales; and repairing confidence and relationships with parents who have faced a battle for support will take time.

We’re all working our socks off to sort innovative solutions to issues that are in our gift, such as joint commissioning arrangements, boosting workforce capacity, developing new specialist provision, and so on; but the SEND crisis goes beyond our local partnerships. Numerous different reports published in 2024 exposed what we mean by systemic failings, which are long-standing and rooted in national policy and underfunding. That is why we need the DfE and DHSC to do a wider shake up of the system overall, because we know that these issues cannot be solved by us alone. It is also why ADCS has asked for a pause in Area SEND inspections, which oversimplify the complexities of the SEND system and don’t provide a full picture of performance, often leaving us in isolation at the sharp end of judgement and accountability.

Whilst it seems that particular ship may have sailed (alas not paused in harbour for repair), I am nonetheless hopeful that a more balanced approach to inspection, one that recognises the context in which we work and says to all, including government, “what are you on the hook for, how can it be better?’’ And so, in 2025, paving the way for a more sustainable system which sorts out a better future and outcomes for all children in every school, every community and every family.

Happy New Year colleagues.