Schools and parents should not be discouraged from applying for education, health and care plans (EHCPs), despite claims that the system is clogged, according to a top government official.

Jonathan Slater, permanent secretary at the Department for Education, made the comments while being questioned by the Public Accounts Committee this afternoon about support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Committee chair Meg Hillier asked him about a recent Tes story revealing that Tony McArdle, who is advising the DfE’s SEND review, reportedly said schools were wasting money by applying for care plans for pupils who did not need them.

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Minutes quoting Mr McArdle from a meeting he attended state that he “said in some cases, parents and schools were applying for EHCPs when they were not justified by the need presented, meaning money was being wasted”.

When asked if he agreed with Mr McArdle’s view, Mr Slater told the committee he “wouldn’t want to discourage anybody” from seeking the right support.

And he added that the DfE had “deliberately” tried to make it easier to seek a care plan.

Ms Hillier said to Mr Slater: “Mr McArdle is reported to have spoken when talking to school teachers, as reported in the [Tes], where he suggested that schools - and in some cases, parents - were applying for EHCPs more than they needed to, clogging up the system with pupils going through that long-winded process.

“And that was draining money from wider general SEND provision that didn’t require an EHCP.

“Mr Slater, would you agree with Mr McArdle’s view?”

He said he had not heard Mr McArdle’s comments first-hand, but added: “Any parent wants the best possible support for their child, don’t they?

“And we have deliberately designed a system which seeks to make it easier for people to seek an EHCP, to make sure that need is met appropriately.

“I wouldn’t want to discourage anybody from seeking the right support from their child.”

Mr Slater continued: “We all know examples of people who have gone through that process [of seeking an EHCP] and found it painful.

“But I definitely wouldn’t want anybody to think that we wanted to make it anything other than as easy as possible for children to get the support they need.”

The number of EHCP requests has spiralled in recent years, but around one in four are being turned down.

The DfE has pledged an extra £780 million for SEND in 2020-21, although many education leaders and funding experts say this is not enough.

The department issued a call for evidence on SEND funding last May and subsequently announced a wider review into support for pupils with SEND.

A DfE spokesperson said last week: “Our SEND review will look at how we can improve the support children and young people currently receive so the system works well for everyone, in every part of the country.”