Committee publication · Correspondence · 11 November 2025
Letter from Joanna Parry National Officer Education and Children’s Services, UNISON on Solving the SEND Crisis Report dated 10.10.25
From: Education Committee
Inquiry: Solving the SEND Crisis
Summary
UNISON's National Officer writes to the Education Select Committee chair following the October 2025 Solving the SEND Crisis report. While welcoming the committee's recommendations on SEND as a health priority and a national health lead, UNISON raises concerns about the report's example of tracheostomy care in nurseries, arguing this constitutes unlawful clinical healthcare under NHS law that should not be delegated to education staff, and risks exposing children and staff to unnecessary harm.
Key findings
- UNISON welcomes the report's recommendations that SEND be identified as a health system priority, that DHSC appoint a national SEND lead, and that guidance on clinical delegation be issued.
- Tracheostomy care is defined as clinical healthcare under the NHS Act 2006 and cannot legally be classified as special educational provision under section 21(5) of the Children and Families Act 2014, which applies only to interventions that 'educate or train'.
- The Equality and Human Rights Commission removed tracheostomy care as a 'reasonable adjustment' from its Technical Guidance for Schools in 2022, confirming legal compliance issues.
- Education settings are not regulated healthcare providers under the CQC, making robust governance difficult and exposing children, staff, and the NMC code to regulatory risk.
- Positioning clinical care as educational provision diverts scarce educational resources to fill NHS gaps, weakening the educational offer and creating a 'double disservice' to children.
Tone
CriticalTopics
Key actors
Joanna Parry, UNISON, Helen Hayes MP, Education Select Committee, Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Education, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Nursing and Midwifery Council
Notable line
“This exposes children, young people, and staff to unnecessary risk. It also diverts scarce educational resources to fill gaps in NHS provision”
Key Quotes
“Tracheostomy care undoubtably falls under the NHS Act 2006 as clinical healthcare, as confirmed by case law and guidance – for example …”
“This only applies to children and young people with EHC plans and only to interventions that "educate or train" .”
“We are therefore keen to ensure that examples which may appear to show "best practice" in upskilling education staff do not inadvertently reinforce unsafe or unlawful arrangements …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗