For MPs and their teams
SEND reform will land in your inbox whether you follow it or not. This is a five minute briefing from parents across England: what we're worried about, what it means for your office, and how to meet us.
The SEND reforms in five minutes: what the law says now, what's proposed and why parents are worried. Download the video to share with colleagues.
Our concerns
We agree the system needs fixing. We don't agree that removing families' legal rights is the way to fix it.
A plan is not a right
Most children with SEND would get an Individual Support Plan written by their school, instead of an EHCP. An EHCP is a legal duty the council must deliver. An ISP has no route to tribunal if it isn't delivered.
"Complex needs" is not defined
EHCPs would be kept only for children with complex needs. The white paper doesn't say what that means. The children most likely to miss out are the ones who don't look complex in a classroom: those who mask, and those whose needs come out as behaviour.
The tribunal loses its teeth on schools
The tribunal would no longer be able to name a school. It could only ask the council to reconsider. Families win the overwhelming majority of appeals today, which tells you how often first decisions are wrong.
Packages, not children
Support would come from standard packages commissioned by councils, instead of provision written around the individual child. Children with the same label can need very different things.
The debt write-off has strings
Councils only get the 90% deficit write-off if the government approves a local SEND reform plan. Families in most areas haven't seen their council's plan, let alone been consulted on it.
What it means for you
This isn't only a question for the Department for Education. It changes what lands on your desk.
More casework, fewer levers
Today a parent who disagrees with the council can go to an independent tribunal. Take that route away and the next stop is your constituency office. You'd be getting the cases without the legal tools that currently resolve them.
Your constituents are watching
More than 700,000 children and young people in England have an EHC plan, and many more get SEN support. Every constituency has families who will be affected, and their extended families, schools and support workers too. More than 100,000 people signed the petition to protect these rights.
Your council's plan is being written now
Local SEND reform plans decide how the reforms play out in your area. You have standing to ask your council what its plan commits to, and whether parents were involved.
The detail goes in the Bill
The Education for All Bill will decide what's written into law and what's left to guidance. That's where the definition of complex needs and the "triple lock" protections either become enforceable or don't. Your vote shapes that.
Ask what happens when it goes wrong
When a school-written plan isn't delivered, a family will want to know who they can turn to. The honest answer under the current proposals is: their MP.
Questions worth asking ministers
If you raise one thing in a debate, a written question or a letter to the minister, these are the gaps families most want closed.
- Will the definition of "complex needs" be written into the Act itself, and what will it be?
- If a school doesn't deliver what's in an Individual Support Plan, what can a family do about it?
- Why should the tribunal lose the power to name a school, when families win most placement appeals today?
- Will the "triple lock" protections be in statute, and what happens to a child's plan at their first review after 2030?
- Which local SEND reform plans have been approved, and were families consulted on them?
Meet us
We're parents and carers, some with legal training, from SEND Families Together groups across England. We'll meet you or your team by video or in person, and we'll try to bring families from your own constituency.
Your email should now be open, ready to send. If nothing opened, email us directly at the address below.
Prefer to email? sendrights@outlook.com