Long-awaited plans to overhaul the in-crisis special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system have been delayed and will now not be published until this year
Long-awaited plans to overhaul the in-crisis special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system have been delayed.
The schools white paper had been due to be published this Autumn but will now be released next year.
The decision is understood to have been made extremely recently, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson having given a speech on the white paper just last week.
In recent months, concerns have been raised that Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) – a legal guarantee of SEND support – could be scrapped as part of the white paper.
Parents, campaigners and young people rallied in Parliament square last month to urge the Government not to do so as they warned confidence in the system is already at rock bottom.
Ministers have now decided to delay the white paper to avoid a backlash so they can continue building an agreement with families and experts.
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Ministers reportedly also had concerns that next month’s Budget would be too close to an announcement and did not want it looking like reforms were linked to saving cash.
But the decision will be seen by some as a shock given the urgency of the situation. Ms Phillipson only last week gave a speech to the Confederation of School Trust Conferences saying the change that is needed will be “guided by the schools white paper”.
A Labour source said: “This Labour government has grasped the nettle on SEND in a way in which no other party has had the courage to do, and we will make no apology in taking the time to get this right – and we will.”
Cllr Amanda Hopgood, chair of the LGA’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said: “It is disappointing the Schools White Paper has been delayed. We have been urging the Government to set out its reforms of the SEND system, and it should do this at the earliest opportunity. The system is failing children and families, while councils have been pushed to the brink by rising high needs deficits. Urgent reform is needed.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We’re launching a further period of listening and engagement – testing our proposals with parents, teachers and experts in every corner of the country, so that lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions.
“We know that families are crying out for change, and that is exactly why it is critical we get this right.”
Over the next several months, the department will test policy options in listening sessions in every region of the country and will hold fortnightly ministerial meetings with key parent and expert groups.
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