SEND reforms to 'strip away' children's legal protections, charity says

The government's plans to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in England will "strip away" legal protections for children and young people needing support, a charity has warned.

The Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA), a charity specialising in English SEND law, said the reforms would weaken individual rights to support.

The changes were announced last month as part of a broader Schools White Paper, a policy document that lays out plans for legislation.

A Department for Education spokesperson said it is "wrong to characterise our reforms as anything but a clear expansion of children's rights" and that parents will "never be left without a route to challenge decisions".

The chief executive of IPSEA, Madeleine Cassidy, welcomed some reforms, including plans to boost the funding and specialist support available in mainstream schools, but said that improvements could be made "without weakening the legal rights families rely on".

"Legal rights are not optional extras and any new system must ensure that support is statutory, enforceable and backed by a clear right of appeal," she added.

"If reform is to rebuild confidence with families, it must strengthen and not strip away the protections that children and young people depend on."

Under current rules in England, if a child or young person needs more support than is typically provided in mainstream schools, their parent or carer can apply for an education, health and care plan (EHCP).

This identifies their needs and sets out the support they should receive. They also have the legal right to all the support laid out in that plan.

In total, 639,000 young people up to the age of 25 have EHCPs in England, a number that has more than doubled in a decade.

Under government plans, by 2035, only children with the most complex needs will qualify for EHCPs, and the support they will be legally entitled to will be set out in new specialist provision packages.

IPSEA is concerned that this means the support a child or young person receives will depend on which "band" of package they qualify for, rather than their individual needs.

IPSEA are also concerned that the legal rights attached to new Individual Support Plans (ISPs) aren't as strong as the rights that come with an EHCP.

Under the reforms, all children and young people with SEND will have the legal right to an ISP.

The government described them as "flexible" plans that set out what the child needs day to day, and an expansion of legal rights to the 1.2 million children with special educational needs in England who don't have an EHCP.

IPSEA warns, however, that there won't be a clear, enforceable duty to deliver the provision laid out in an ISP and that "a plan without enforceable provision is not protection".

Under the government's proposals, a parent who is unhappy with their child's ISP would have to go through a new school complaints system, before being able to complain to the Department for Education (DfE).

IPSEA has described planned changes to special needs tribunals as "a disastrous weakening of families existing rights".

There were a record 25,000 tribunals brought in 2024/25 in which parents challenged the level of SEND support offered by their council. Over 95% of cases fought were won by parents.

Under the current system, judges on a SEND tribunal have the power to name a specific school and override local authority concerns to have a child placed there.

IPSEA argued that the new proposals appear to remove the tribunal's power to name a school, and would give local authorities "more power to control placement choices" by offering a list of schools that families can choose from instead.

IPSEA says this risks more children and young people being left without a school or college place that meets their individual needs.

The BBC has learned of plans for national demonstrations in response to the government's White Paper.

They will be led by the Save Our Children's Rights campaign - a coalition of organisations, including IPSEA - and are due to take place in the coming weeks, while the consultation is open.

The group said the aim of the demonstrations was not to resist the changes, but to "ensure that any reform strengthens, rather than dilutes, the legal foundations on which children and young people with SEND depend".

In response to IPSEA's concerns a spokesperson for the Department for Education said their planned reforms are "backed by £4 billion to improve earlier intervention and make sure the right support is available when families need it, without a fight."

The DfE said parents will "never be left without a route to challenge decisions about their child's legal support, including through the SEND Tribunal."

The government added that "for the first time, all settings will have a legal duty to provide every child with SEND an Individual Support Plan – a digital record of support created with parents and backed by new inclusion standards – while EHCPs will remain an important part of the system for those who need it."

The government's plans are currently open for consultation until the middle of May.

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