Kevan Collins has been appointed as the education secretary’s delivery adviser with a focus on SEND reform and reviewing how the department engages with councils.
Collins, the Department for Education’s lead non-executive board member, will take on the additional part-time role for two days a week.
He will focus on supporting the DfE’s delivery unit on SEND reform and reviewing how it engages with councils “to ensure reform programmes are clear and achievable”.
Ministers released their long-awaited plans to overhaul the SEND system on Monday, which included new duties for colleges and tiers of help for students.
Collins, a former CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation who worked on New Labour’s “London Challenge” school improvement programme, said: “Having worked across the education system, I know that ambitious plans only matter if they translate into real change in classrooms and communities.
“Children with SEND and their families have waited too long for the support they need, and I’m determined to help ensure these reforms deliver for them.
“I look forward to working with colleagues across the department and with local authorities to make that happen.”
Collins will earn £577 per day, totalling £60,000 a year in the new role. This is on top of the £20,000 he receives for 24 days work a year in his non-executive DfE board position.
‘Proven track record’
The appointment began this week and will run until August next year, with an option to extend by another 18 months.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said: “Every child, whatever their needs, should have the opportunity to achieve and thrive at their local school.
“Kevan has a proven track record of driving improvement across education, and his expertise will be invaluable as we deliver the schools white paper and our mission to shift children with SEND from sidelined to included.”
Collins was previously catch-up tsar during the pandemic under the Conservative government, but resigned over a lack of funding.
After the last election, Labour appointed him as school standards tsar and non-executive board member. He was promoted to lead the board last year.
Collins also previously declared that he is a Labour member and made a £500 donation to the party.
Good luck to Kevan in this key role. We need a broader understanding of learner needs across the education system, so this is an enormous challenge. For what it’s worth I would suggest not ignoring the fact that the education workforce needs to be equipped to recognise the full spectrum of neurodevelopmental and cognitive differences that impact learners of all ages. Stronger collaboration between the education and health sectors would be a good place to start.