Children with a legal right to special needs support will face a review when they move to secondary school, with the first cohort to be affected currently in key stage 1, the Guardian understands. The change is part of a total overhaul of the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system, due to be unveiled on Monday in a schools white paper that could face major opposition from Labour MPs.
The changes will raise the bar at which children in England qualify for an education, health and care plan (EHCP), which legally entitles children with Send to get support. EHCPs will be reserved for children with the most severe and complex needs, but new plans for children on lower tiers will still confer additional support and legal rights. Parents would have legal avenues for appeals under existing equalities legislation and through the tribunal, said sources with knowledge of the proposed new system.
The Send system overhaul is seen as the most high-stakes policy change the government has taken on since welfare, when plans had to be abandoned after a Labour backbench rebellion. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has been leading a year-long lobbying offensive of hundreds of MPs, with many expressing support and recognition that the system has to change. But some in government are worried that Labour MPs could vote the plans down in the next parliamentary session if MPs are bombarded with opposition from parents.
Phillipson has said children with Send would “always have a legal right to support”, and Labour would “not just protect but improve that support”. Sources said the old system was broken and, if legislation is successful, those children currently in year 2 with an EHCP would be assessed by schools to decide if they need to remain on a EHCP or their needs could be met “in a more flexible way”. New-style EHCPs will be introduced from 2030.
Children with additional needs, including those in the autism spectrum disorders category and with an ADHD diagnosis, would be given individual support plans with support decided on and provided by schools, according to a “clear, trusted national framework, properly independently verified by evidence-based organisation”, said a source. Schools will be given commissioning budgets to spend on special needs provision, in a similar way to systems operation currently in the NHS, which will play a much bigger role in partnering with schools to establish what support is needed.
The cost of high-needs provision has spiralled since changes to the system, devised by Michael Gove, were introduced in 2014. Overall spending on Send has risen by two-thirds in the past decade to more than £11bn a year, with councils spending more than £2bn just on taxis and transport to special schools last year because of a lack of local provision. This has put local authorities into £6bn of debt. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said in last year’s budget she would take over full responsibility for the costs.
