North Yorkshire Council

Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee

17 December 2025

Notice of Motion to Full Council Requesting to Write to the

Secretary of State Regarding the Special Educational

Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Review

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services

1.0       Purpose of the report

1.1 To outline the key issues of the Motion that was presented to Full Council on 12 November 2025 regarding the Government’s SEND Review.

1.2 To highlight the Council’s position on the issues addressed in the Motion.

1.3 For the Committee to determine if they would like to request that the Leader of the Council write to the Secretary of State to ask that the SEND review consider the actions outlined in the Motion. 

2.0       Summary

2.1       This report provides an outline of the Notice of Motion that was proposed and seconded   at Full Council on 12 November (included in Background Documents) and referred to Scrutiny Board,     who agreed to refer it to the next Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee on     17 December.  

3.0       Background

3.1       At the meeting of Full Council on 12 November 2025, a Notice of Motion was proposed and             seconded that requested the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State to ask          that the Government’s SEND review consider the following issues:

· eradicate the profits of private SEND providers, including sanctions against providers who breach this, with any profits returned to local authorities.

· support further reforms to boost the SEND system, including strong financial oversight of providers, transparency, and new powers and funding for councils to build and manage local mainstream and specialist provision directly.

· endorse the principle that Government SEND reforms must put children first—not corporate greed.

3.2       Full Council agreed to refer the Motion to Scrutiny Board, which met on 15 November, and             which agreed to refer it to the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

3.3       Further research has been carried out to establish how North Yorkshire Council already   addresses some of the requests highlighted in the Motion.

4.0       Factors to consider

4.1 North Yorkshire Council’s ambition is for children to attend and succeed in their local mainstream schools and has recently launched an inclusive mainstream toolkit to support schools to be inclusive to all children including those with additional needs. As well as this, the Council is adding specialist places to existing LA schools and academies (all state funded) through the roll out of its Targeted Mainstream Provision (TMP) programme which offers specialist support that is integrated into mainstream primary and secondary schools across the county.  The council has also invested capital into new and expanded special schools. The details of this are found in the SEND and Inclusion report, which can be found at Agenda Item10 of this agenda pack.   

4.2 The Council cannot build or operate new LA maintained special schools.

4.3 New schools open as academies under current legislation, and the Council is working with the DfE on opening new special schools in Harrogate, Selby and Northallerton.

4.4 The Council cannot prevent independent schools from setting up in the county.

5.0       Consultation undertaken and responses

5.1       Not applicable.

6.0       Contribution to Council Priorities

· Maximise the potential.

7.0       Alternative options considered

7.1       Options include:

· For the Committee to support the Motion and request that the Leader of the Council write to the Secretary of State to ask that the SEND review consider the actions outlined in the Motion. 

· For the Committee to not support the Motion.

8.0       Impact on other services/organisations

8.1       There will be no impact on other services/organisations.

9.0       Financial implications

9.1       There are no financial implications.

10.0     Legal implications

10.1     There are no legal implications.

11.0     Equalities implications

11.1     Equality consideration is given to SEND children and young people.

12.0     Climate change implications

12.1     Not applicable.

13.0     Performance implications

13.1     Not applicable.

14.0     Policy implications

14.1     Not applicable.

15.0     Risk management implications

15.1     Not applicable.

16.0     Human Resource implications

16.1     Not applicable.

17.0     ICT implications

17.1     Not applicable.

18.0     Community safety implications

18.1     Not applicable.

19.0     Recommendations

19.1	It is recommended that the Committee: 19.1
	i. Note the report and background document. ii. Decide if they wish to support the Motion and request that the Leader of the Council write to the Secretary of State to ask that the SEND review consider the actions outlined in the Motion. The Committee will provide a report to Full Council on 18 March 2026. iii. Decide to not support the Motion.

Background Document:

Notice of Motion submitted to Full Council on 12 November 2025

Barry Khan

Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services

County Hall

Northallerton

1 December 2025

Report Author: Alice Fox, Senior Scrutiny Officer.   

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.