The Lamb Inquiry was established as part of the Government’s response to the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee Report Special Educational Needs: Assessment and Funding. The Lamb Inquiry, under the chairmanship of Brian Lamb, the Chair of the Special Educational Consortium, will investigate a range of ways in which parental confidence in the SEN assessment process might be improved.
To advise him, Brian Lamb has brought together a diverse group of expert advisers and a broader reference group of professionals and parents. These two groups represent extensive networks and bring a wide range of experience to the process of evidence gathering.
The Lamb Inquiry has been asked to:
-
consider a range of ways in which parental confidence in the SEN assessment process might be increased;
-
commission and evaluate innovative projects in these areas;
-
draw on the evidence of other work currently commissioned by the Department;
-
take into account the evidence of the submissions to the two Select Committee Reports in 2006 and 2007.
The Inquiry started its work in March 2008 and will report in June 2008 on the commissioning of innovative projects and initial areas of focus for the Inquiry. The projects and a concurrent evaluation will run for the school year September 2008 – July 2009.
Brian Lamb will report in September 2009. The findings of the Inquiry will be available to the Ofsted SEN survey of 2009/10 and will help to inform national developments.
To send you views in to the Inquiry email: philippa.stobbs@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
