Proposals to reform the special education needs and disabilities (SEND) system are due to be published this autumn.
Many parent carers fear support for their children could be reduced under plans set out in the government’s white paper.
According to Department for Education statistics for 2025, 638,700 children and young people have active education, health and care plans (EHCPs), an increase from 576,500 active plans in January 2024.
EHCPs provide the legal framework to ensure children do not fall between the cracks and receive the support they need at every stage of their lives.
For families of children with SEND, having the right support in place through EHCPs can be a lifeline, providing firm foundations for a positive adulthood.
The plans are tailored to individual requirements, following an assessment to understand a child’s needs.
A support strategy is put in place, with specific outcomes and measurable goals. This can range from having one-on-one teaching support at school to being offered a specialist school place.
The support is in education, health and social care and can start from birth up to the age of 25.
Yet, as Anne Longfield, former children’s commissioner for England, has written in Community Living (How education policy fails children, summer 2024), while the system is well intended in theory, in practice it is expensive, complex and sees children as a problem rather than needing help.
Council budgets are in deficit and it is well documented that they are struggling to manage the cost of SEND provision.
Securing a plan
The process of obtaining an EHCP starts with an assessment following a request from the school, the parent carer or the young person (if aged over 16 years).
Parent carers can ask for an assessment even if the school disagrees by applying directly to their local authority.
The council will decide whether to grant an EHCP based on the information gathered during the assessment. If it decides a plan is needed, it will issue a draft to the parent carer for review.
Parent carers can appeal to the SEND tribunal in several circumstances, and IPSEA, a charity and expert in SEND law, has detailed guides on how to prepare and what to expect in each situation.
If a local authority decides an assessment is not needed, parent carers have the right to appeal. The council needs to communicate a refusal to assess within six weeks of the request being made.
Local authorities lose 96% of SEND tribunal appeals. While this is good news for families, the process can be lengthy and stressful
An appeal is also possible if a local authority carries out an assessment but decides not to give a child with SEND an EHCP. The council has 16 weeks to inform a parent carer of this, starting with when the assessment is requested.
An appeal is also allowed if the council agrees with an EHCP but a parent carer disagrees with the contents of the draft plan. Local authorities must give them at least 15 days to respond and, after 20 weeks, issue a final EHCP. If a parent does not agree, they can appeal to the SEND tribunal.
Before appealing, families must consider mediation. This is a personal decision and is made following a discussion with an independent mediation adviser. A mediation certificate must be obtained to appeal to the tribunal.
Appeals increasing
The number of SEND tribunal appeals in England has been rising every year. In 2023-24, more than 21,000 appeals were registered, a 55% increase on the previous year.
Local authorities lose 96% of cases. While this is good news for families who pursue an appeal, the process can be lengthy and stressful.
Writing in specialist SEND publication Special Needs Jungle, one SEND parent, Matt Keer, notes that the only win is “the same right to an appropriate education that millions of families of children without SEND take for granted”.
Figures published by the Department for Education in the summer show demand for EHCPs has never been greater. The number of children and young people with an EHCP increased by nearly 11% between 2024 and 2025. The number of requests for EHCP assessments has risen by over 11% from 2023 to 2024.
If a child receives an EHCP, the school pays the first £6,000, with the local authority then being responsible for the remaining cost.
A failure by local authorities to comply with the law is saturating the system
The County Councils Network predicts that the cost of EHCPs to local authorities will reach £5 billion by March next year. Its chair, Tim Oliver, says the “system is in desperate need of reform”.
Major changes
With growing pressure from councils to write off a projected £5 billion deficit, the government said in June that it was planning to overhaul the SEND system. Its white paper, due in autumn, will set out the details.
Reforms are expected to end the process involving SEND tribunals. The proposed system could see all children going through a single, mainstream route, with families appealing levels of SEND support to school governors and then to the ombudsman.
Speaking to the BBC, education secretary Bridget Phillipson refused to rule out scrapping EHCPs, describing this as a “complex and sensitive area”.
Parent carers are understandably worried that this could leave children facing an uncertain future.
Speaking to Community Living, Eduardo Reyes, a parent whose late daughter Amy had complex needs, argues that while ministers say the system is broken, problems arise because “a failure to comply with the law by local authorities saturates the system”.
He adds: “Amy’s schools were both brilliant. Every child there had an EHCP… I couldn’t list a single thing about them that would fall into the category ‘broken’.”
An online petition asking “the government to commit to maintaining the existing law, so that vulnerable children with SEND can access education and achieve their potential” passed the 100,000 signatures mark and was discussed in the House of Commons in September. The government conceded that the system is “broken” but did not offer concrete assurances or any detail on the forthcoming white paper.
Maria Shahid is a freelance journalist
