Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe The government has refused to reveal how it calculated its need for 7,500 specialist SEND staff for its flagship £1.8 billion “experts at hand” service. The EAH offer is a key pillar of the SEND reforms, aimed at giving mainstream schools easier access to experts such as educational phycologists and occupational therapists. Schools minister Georgia Gould LBC radio in February the government expected that around 7,500 staff would be needed for the service. This figure does not feature in the SEND white paper, but the Department for Education (DfE) previously told Schools Week it was only a modelling assumption. The figure was based on average salaries of the roles in scope, such as support staff, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists (EPs), the DfE added. But a freedom of information request by Schools Week seeking details of how the DfE worked this out as well as other projections was rejected. The department claimed disclosure would be “likely to prejudice the policy-making process by exposing internal deliberation before decisions are made”. It decided that the public interest favoured withholding the information currently in order to preserve a “safe space” for ministers and officials to develop policy. There was also a risk of “misinterpretation of incomplete modelling, and the potential for premature disclosure to distort workforce planning or create unrealistic expectations among stakeholders”. ‘Doesn’t inspire confidence’ The refusal comes amid chronic shortages of these experts. One influential think-tank recently warned that the staffing crisis could put the scheme “at risk”. Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary at the ASCL school leaders’ union, said having 7,500 specialists “sounds very encouraging given that this is so critical to the success of the reforms”. He added: “But it doesn’t inspire confidence in this figure if the DfE then refuses to say how it is calculated. “We would encourage the department to be fully transparent about the basis for any figures which are quoted in the media, rather than citing exemptions in the freedom of information act.” In its response, the DfE said the requested information “consists of internal policy development material” which is “provisional and forms part of ongoing policy formulation”. It considered the public interest in disclosure, including transparency in decision making, understanding the evidence base for policy development and supporting informed public debate, but decided against releasing the information. Derek Munn, director of policy and public affairs at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, said that, with “demand rising for their support, there are significant questions about whether there is sufficient capacity within the speech and language therapy profession to deliver the government’s SEND reforms”. The college’s annual survey found 10 per cent of therapist posts in NHS children’s services were vacant last spring. The Education Policy Institute found pupils in some areas were 20 times less likely to get support from an EP and official government data undercounted the workforce by about a third. Schools Week also recently revealed how almost nine in 10 applicants for 204 spaces on the state-funded EP doctorate courses are turned away. Council rewriting plan after late guidance On Friday, the government finally published guidance on how councils should develop the first year of the EAH service. It confirmed that support from experts to pupils in schools should be “time limited”. That could involve “light-touch assessment”, observation and individualised support. The money can only be spent on speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists. It can be spent on specialist teachers who currently work in services specifically focused on support for youngsters with defined SEND. The cash can also cover assistant experts and trainees. Campaigner Matt Keer warned on the Special Needs Jungle of a “bidding war” for professionals currently working in the private sector which could “drive up costs”. Councils have until next Friday to finalise their offer, as part of their local SEND reform plan. Ministers will sign off these plans in exchange for a 90 per cent bailout of historic high needs deficits. But councils had been waiting for this guidance and are still awaiting advice on setting up inclusion bases – another key plank of the government’s plan. Wiltshire council said its draft plan was now not “fully compliant” and would need revising, as the EAH guidance “narrows the definition” of the core offer, including around workforce and interventions. But the council claimed reform plans will only be assessed against the requirements in commissioning documents send by the DfE in March. “Local areas are not expected to revise their plan to incorporate the published guidance or grant conditions before submission to the department,” the council added. “Plans will not be penalised for the purpose of the assessment, should EAH related proposals extend beyond the scope of the published grant conditions or guidance.” Private draft plans The DfE advised Wiltshire that all areas should “seek to refine their workforce plans to ensure they align” with the new guidance after the 19 June deadline passes. The council said the plan would be updated to “reflect the restricted list of eligible professional groups and the implications of national workforce shortages”. Schools Week recently revealed how reform plans could be submitted without public scrutiny, with schools’ leaders warning of a “lack of meaningful engagement”. Wiltshire’s schools’ forum agenda contained an overview over the draft plan, but the “confidential details” of the full plan would be discussed in private. A council spokesperson said the plan contained commercially sensitive information, including contract arrangement details, but they have “sought to be as open and transparent as possible in developing the plan, recognising the significant public interest”. Meanwhile, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) has urged members in an internal briefing to be aware of local authority models based on a government-funded SEND programme. The government’s partnerships for inclusion of neurodiversity in schools programme aims to bring together education and health workforces to offer “bespoke, whole-school support” to mainstream primary schools. The EAH guidance states councils should build on learning from national programmes, including PINS. But Leora Cruddas, CST chief executive, said that, while the intention to support children with SEND “is a good one, the programme itself is based on outdated and discredited education ideas, like learning styles”. An interim evaluation found “perceived improvements” in pupil outcomes were “currently limited”. Cruddas added: “It is not a strong, evidence-based foundation on which to roll out further work.”