Motion

Motion TitleUtilising the Children’s Services Co-operation Act (2015) to deliver SEND transformation

Motion TextThat this Assembly recognises the serious, long term and systemic challenges that are facing the delivery of services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); notes that the current crisis management approach is leaving children without an appropriate SEND placement for September 2024; welcomes the ongoing End to End Review of SEN by both the Department of Education and the Education Authority; recognises the potential that the Children’s Services Co-operation Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 has in tackling these systemic issues; notes the observation from the first report on the operation of the Act, that resource pooling has been limited and is considered to have significant untapped potential; and calls on Minister of Education to engage with the Minister of Health to create a joint SEND action plan which outlines how the two departments will collaborate to deliver jointly planned and commissioned services, including explicit detail on how they will work with the Minister of Finance to facilitate the pooling of resources in order to deliver real and effective transformation.

Motion CategoryPrivate Members' Motion

Date Tabled to Business Office02/09/2024