{"id":84249,"date":"2026-03-23T14:57:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=84249"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:16:15","slug":"send-reforms-in-england-what-sense-thinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/send-reforms-in-england-what-sense-thinks\/","title":{"rendered":"SEND reforms in England \u2013 what Sense thinks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since the launch of the Government\u2019s Schools White Paper on reforms to the SEND system<\/a> in February, we have been looking in detail at the proposals. Here we give you a summary of the things we welcome, areas we are concerned about, including where we think there are gaps in the reforms.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the end of the consultation period, we will keep listening to the views of families of disabled children with complex needs and ensure we amplify their voice to help shape the reforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we welcome<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Government focus on reforming the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We welcome that the Government is focused on trying to fix the system that is currently failing 1.7 million disabled children and their families. Disabled children just want the ordinary \u2013 to go to nursery, school or college, to make friends, learn and have an equal shot at their dreams and goals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the system, so we welcome the scale of reform proposed and the new \u00a34 billion investment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support for all children with\u00a0SEND<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Government are proposing a new duty on nurseries, schools and colleges to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child with SEND. The ISPs will be an annually reviewed digital plan  <\/s>coproduced with parents. Children accessing any of the new tiers of support<\/a> will have an ISP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense welcomes these additional tiers of support, but we want the reforms to go  further by ensuring parents have a clear and independent route to challenge if the plan is not being delivered or is not meeting their child\u2019s needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government has also committed that some children who already have support can keep this \u2013 such as those who are in special school in 2029 can remain there, if they wish, until the end of their education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investment and focus on specialist support<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The proposals pledge to invest in the specialist workforce through a new Experts at Hand<\/a> scheme, and far better collaboration between mainstream and special schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, under-5s with complex needs will have access to a fast-track assessment process, speeding up access to specialist provision plans and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We welcome the drive to have more specialist and early support, as well as the move to support being needs-based, not diagnosis-led, which currently leads to severe delays for children. In addition, we welcome the closer collaboration between mainstream and special schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we are concerned about<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Changes\u00a0to\u00a0EHCP\u202frights and assessments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s proposals introduce new Specialist Provision Packages (SPPs)<\/a>, evidence-based packages of support for children with the most complex needs. Only those children who have an SPP will be given an EHCP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense welcomes that the Government have proposed to keep EHCPs for disabled children with complex needs, as we know that these legal protections are critical and we have campaigned, alongside the Disabled Children\u2019s Partnership, for these to remain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we are extremely concerned by the lack of definition of \u2018complex needs\u2019 in the government\u2019s proposals.  Without a definition, it is not clear which children will be eligible for SSPs and EHCPs. We, along with others in the sector, are concerned that the threshold to access an EHCP could increase as a result of this. We are also unclear as to whether families will be able to request an EHCP assessment at any time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disabled children with complex needs face barriers to education as a result of the complex system. It is essential that all children who face barriers to education must have their support protected.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack of detail of how\u00a0social\u00a0care and health\u00a0providers\u00a0will support\u00a0children in their education<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Disabled children with complex needs often rely on health and social care to support them in education. Currently, there is a significant lack of join up between\u202fthese bodies in supporting disabled children with complex needs in school.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This often results in unlawful practice, with local authorities not delivering the care disabled children with complex needs are legally entitled to\u202fthrough their EHCP.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst the current SEND reforms say there should be greater join up between these bodies, we are concerned of the lack of detail of how this will happen in practice, and how health and social care bodies will be held to account to deliver it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capacity and funding to deliver the\u00a0government\u2019s\u00a0vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whilst we welcome the emphasis on increased specialist support, we know that schools are struggling to retain and recruit the teaching and specialist workforce, and government have not outlined a clear workforce strategy to recruit all the new specialist roles needed to make this plan achievable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, we welcome the focus on ensuring specialist knowledge in special schools can benefit mainstream provision, but we feel the reforms are silent on addressing the current challenges around these settings, such as significant waiting lists for special school places, and access to specialist teachers and professionals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to get involved<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can help shape the proposals by getting involved in the Government\u2019s 12 week\u202fconsultation<\/a>\u202fprocess which\u202fends on\u202fMonday 18 May. At Sense we have put together a consultation form<\/a> which picks out the key questions for families with disabled children with complex needs. The form explains the proposals and guides you through how to respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Sense we will be listening to families to help shape our consultation response, we will be running a webinar in a few weeks to let everyone know what we are hearing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

A critical moment for SEND: Join our campaign for change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Government has set out its plans to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have your say<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The things we welcome, areas we are concerned about, and the gaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1393,7],"tags":[1380],"display_author":[1376],"class_list":["post-84249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-blog","tag-send","display_author-kate-lawson"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84249"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=84249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}