To ask the Minister of Education to outline what plans he will put in place to ensure that all children with special educational needs and disabilities will have access to appropriate school places for the 2024-25 academic year.

Mr Givan

Children with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) follow a different process for securing a school placement from the general admissions process, one that seeks to ensure that their needs as outlined in their statement are met. Each child is individually placed. Children are referred for a SEN statement and review throughout the year, which means that there is a continual flow of children entering the process. That makes alignment with the general admissions process difficult. Access to appropriate school placements for children with SEN has been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks. The demand for specialist education provision has increased significantly over the past number of years, and the system has struggled to keep pace with the rising demand. In the past three academic years, the Education Authority has created 140 additional classes for special schools and 203 new specialist provision in mainstream schools (SPIMS) classes. The position for this September is extremely challenging. On the basis of the Education Authority's latest planning assumptions, more than 1,000 additional specialist education places are needed by then.

My immediate priority is to increase the capacity across the education system to ensure sufficient appropriate places for children with SEN for September 2024, and the EA is working in collaboration with stakeholders and schools where it knows there are acute pressures to create additional places in special schools and through SPIMS.

Mr Givan

I am concerned about the level of sick leave in this area, and a number of factors lead to delays around educational statements, including access to psychologists and the lack of availability of workforce in the area. That is why a considerable SEN review is taking place, in which there are multiple work streams. No single issue is going to turn this around. It is vital that we always remember that at the heart of all this is a child. We must make sure that children get the right support from the right people at the right time. The system is failing to deliver that. I have inherited that situation, but I now have a responsibility, with the Education Authority, to address it. It is an area that the Member has an interest in, as does the Education Committee. Pulling in the same direction on this will be important for us to get the transformation that we need. A fundamental transformation in SEN is required so that we do not, year-on-year, have the same problem. We are going to have it this year. We need to deal with the pressures that we have and then get upstream so that we are much more advanced in our planning and are not dealing with a crisis-management scenario, which happened last year and is happening again this year.

Mr Butler

I thank the Minister for his answer and the Member for asking such a good question. The key word in her question is "appropriate" places for pupils. What work is the Minister and his Department doing to ensure that the children who receive placements are in the appropriate school, whether that is a special school or SPIMS?

Mr Givan

The Member raises the question of getting the appropriate place. There have been occasions when a placement has been accepted in the school, and then it transpires that that is not working out to the benefit of the child, family or guardians responsible. Then, you need to look at trying to make changes. That presents real difficulty when a placement does not work out, but there is an ongoing process of selecting the right school for children. In that process the Education Authority engages with the family and with the relevant school, and it tries to ensure that the appropriate support is in place. There are examples of excellent support and children being given the best possible opportunity. However, there are examples of where it has not worked, and that is something that we need to try to avoid.

Mr Baker

Can the Minister confirm whether all schools have been contacted in regard to establishing specialist provision for the 2024-25 academic year? If not, why not?

Mr Givan

It is an interesting question. Some of the schools that I have visited have indicated to me a willingness to provide additional capacity for children that they could accommodate. I have had to proactively connect the EA to those schools. We have been appealing for schools to come forward. Some schools have come forward but have not felt fully engaged in the process. I think that that is wrong. If a school wants to provide support, it is incumbent upon the Education Authority to identify whether that can be achieved and delivered. There are real challenges when it comes to capacity. It is also important that, when a school provides a place, it gets support throughout the child's placement in the school. There are examples of principals who have indicated to me that although they provided a place, they have not felt supported. That creates a bad outcome for the school and also for the child.

Mr McGrath

In the Minister's response, we heard about early planning, engagement, new places and additional funds. All that has been done before, but, every year, we face the same problems. Is the Minister is satisfied that something different will be done between now and September so that we will not see the same outcome this year?

Mr Givan

One of the steps that was taken before I came into office was to have a dedicated senior employee within the EA to proactively manage that. Also, the Department has a steering group, which is headed up at very senior level, so that we can identify how many places are needed and proactively seek to place children. That requires greater collaboration with the Department of Health, for example. The stage at which the Education Authority is sighted on children that will have additional needs has to be much earlier than two years and nine months. It needs to be when a health worker has identified the needs, in the first months of a child's life, which they do, and support has been put into place. However, the connection of sharing of that data between the Department of Health and the Education Authority and planning seem to be a challenge. That is something that needs to be addressed so that we get further upstream, as I talked about earlier.

Ms Bunting

The Minister will be aware that often the number of those with special educational needs are not included in the number of attendees at a school, thereby giving a false impression of the capacity and the spaces available at that school. Does the Minister have any plans to review that policy?

Mr Givan

Obviously, when building a new school, for example, we have, in the past, looked at the school's enrolment. That has not included the number of children who attend who have a statement of educational need. That does not make sense to me. You are building a new school, but children with additional needs are regarded as supernumerary, which is a word that I am not particularly comfortable with. However, a school has to accommodate children with those additional needs, so that should be part of the planning assumptions when you are considering development proposals and new builds. The Member is right to raise that, and it is something that I am looking at.