Government confirms delay to SEND White Paper until early 2026

In a letter to the chair of the Education Select Committee, published yesterday (22 October), Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote: “To help us deliver the most effective set of reforms we can, I have taken the decision to have a further period of co-creation, testing our proposals with the people who matter most in this reform – the families – alongside teachers and other experts.

“[…] We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper early in the new year, underpinned by our belief that high standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.”

The Spending Review 2025, issued in June, had said the Government would set out details of its intended approach in a white paper in the autumn.

The Education Secretary said the SEND reforms will be underpinned by the following five principles:

• Early - "Children should receive the support they need as soon as possible. This will start to break the cycle of needs going unmet and getting worse, instead intervening upstream, earlier in children’s lives when this can have most impact."
• Local - "Children and young people with SEND should be able to learn at a school close to their home, alongside their peers, rather than travelling long distances from their family and community. Special schools should continue to play a vital role supporting those with the most complex needs."
• Fair - "Every school should be resourced and able to meet common and predictable needs, including as they change over time, without parents having to fight to get support for their children. Where specialist provision is needed for children in mainstream, special or Alternative Provision, we will ensure it is there, with clear legal requirements and safeguards for children and parents."
• Effective - "Reforms should be grounded in evidence, ensuring all education settings know where to go to find effective practice that has excellent long-term outcomes for children."
• Shared - "Education, health and care services should work in partnership with one another, local government, families, teachers, experts and representative bodies to deliver better experiences and outcomes for all our children."

She added: “I am acutely aware that our reforms to SEND are some of the most critical this Government will deliver, and that is why it is so essential that we take the time to listen and get it right. I am more determined than ever to transform a system that is letting down our children and look forward to continuing to work with you as we move towards publication of our plans.”

The delay was described by the County Councils Network, however, as “massively disappointing”, with the organisation calling for “comprehensive changes” to make the SEND system sustainable and address the “dramatic rise” in costs.

Cllr Bill Revans, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said: “The present special educational needs and disabilities system is in crisis. The number of young people receiving Education, Health and Care Plans is rising faster than ever before, and the cost of that support is increasing massively. Councils are on course to amass £6bn in deficits by March next year, whilst families are waiting ever longer for the support their children desperately need.

“Time is of the essence - so this delay is massively disappointing. […] Anything other than root and branch reform will place councils in a vicious cycle over overspending and worsening services for families.”

Cllr Amanda Hopgood, Chair of the Local Government Association's Children, Young People and Families Committee, also expressed disappointment that the Schools White Paper has been delayed.

She said: “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 currently not working and is failing children and families, while councils have been pushed to the brink by rising high needs deficits. Urgent reform is needed.”

Rachael Wardell OBE, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), said: "We recognise that reform on this scale is complex and must be well thought through. It is vital that any reform to the SEND system delivers future arrangements that are sustainable, deliverable, and genuinely improve outcomes for children and young people.

“However, the reality on the ground is that the current system is broken beyond repair, and we need significant reform as soon as practicably possible. Children, families, and schools as well as local authorities are all grappling every day with the consequences of a system that is not working as it should.

 "[...] We need immediate, practical action alongside long-term reform."

Lottie Winson