SEND Reform White Paper Leaves Parents with More Questions Than Answers

The scale of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England is vast. More than 1.7 million children and young people are designated as having special educational needs or disabilities, with almost half a million supported through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). In 2016, that figure was around 237,000. Local authority spending has risen from £5 billion in 2015 to around £14 billion a year today, with an estimated £1.5 billion spent on transport alone.

So yes, reform is inevitable. The system is clearly not working. But size and spending are not the same as success, and despite this growth, families’ experiences have often deteriorated, not improved.

What parents and schools are telling me locally

Parents in Newbury and West Berkshire consistently describe a system that is slow, bureaucratic, and Kafkaesque. Many have fought for years just to secure assessments or basic provisions. EHCPs are often pursued not because families want a complex legal process, but because they feel it is the only way to make support happen.

Teachers and school leaders locally tell me something similar from the other side: support is spread too thinly, not enough specialist staff, and an ever-growing burden is placed on mainstream schools without the capacity to meet it properly.

And behind it all is a constant fear: that children with the most complex needs risk losing out as demand continues to grow.

White paper plan falls short

Today’s White Paper acknowledges that the system is broken and that conflict between families and the state has become the norm.

There are proposals for additional funding, including a new Inclusive Mainstream Fund and an “Experts at Hand” service intended to bring specialist support into schools earlier. The emphasis on earlier intervention and reducing postcode variation is, in principle, the right direction of travel. But recognition and intention are not the same as delivery, and this plan still avoids the hardest decisions.

The Government proposes moving many children away from EHCPs and onto new Individual Support Plans, largely delivered by schools. Ministers say these will be statutory, but EHCPs currently carry much stronger legal protections and routes of appeal.

The funding announcements, while large on paper, also raise serious questions. Schools and local authorities are already under immense pressure and are now being asked to run two systems in parallel during transition. Without a credible workforce plan for educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and specialist teachers, this is a huge challenge.

Inclusion without capacity is not inclusion

Integrating children with additional needs into mainstream settings can be positive when it is properly supported. But without the staff, training, and space to do it well, it risks setting children up to fail and creating classroom environments that are harder for everyone.

Ministers talk about narrowing gaps and improving outcomes, but those goals cannot be achieved simply by redistributing responsibility without resourcing it properly.

There is no serious attempt in this White Paper to be honest with the public about how demand will be managed, what will be prioritised, or where difficult trade-offs lie. Some worry about diagnostic inflation; others fear any discussion of thresholds will be used to deny support.

SEND profiteering, and capacity remains unresolved

One issue barely addressed is the role of private providers. State special schools are full, councils are spending eye-watering sums, and private equity firms continue to extract excessive profits from public money.

Capping profits alone risks entrenching high costs. SEND provision should be treated as Critical National Infrastructure, giving the government the power to block takeovers that put shareholder returns ahead of children’s needs. At the same time, we must expand both mainstream and specialist capacity - including reversing the cancellation of planned special schools.

This is not the end of the conversation

The SEND system is undeniably broken. But fixing it is complex, knotty, and politically difficult. Pretending this White Paper has solved it does a disservice to families who live with its consequences every day.

Parents in Newbury and West Berkshire are not asking for perfection. They are asking for clarity, enforceable rights, and a system that does not force them into constant battle.

This plan is a starting point, not a solution. I will keep pressing ministers to ensure that reform does not come at the expense of the very children it is meant to support.

If you agree that SEND reform must protect rights and put children before profit, you can support the Liberal Democrat campaign here: https://www.libdems.org.uk/protectsend