Campaigners call for reform to “strengthen, rather than dilute” legal foundations for children with SEND

According to SEND legal advice charity IPSEA, the aim of the demonstration is “not to resist reform”, but to ensure that any reform “strengthens, rather than dilutes”, the legal foundations on which children and young people with SEND depend. 

The demonstration is being organised in response to the Government’s recent Schools White Paper proposals, which campaigners claim risk weakening “long-established legal safeguards” relied upon by families across England. 

The campaign is led by a coalition of organisations and individuals including:

• IPSEA (SEND legal advice charity)
• Special Needs Jungle, (parent-led SEND website)
• SEND Rights Alliance, (parent group)
• Learning Disability Today, (disability magazine)
• SOS!SEN, (SEND legal support) 
• SEND National Crisis, (parent group)

The coalition revealed that “coordinated regional events” across England will take place simultaneously, and opportunities will also be provided for families who are unable to attend in person to participate and make their views heard.

The demonstration will be planned within the 12-week consultation period of the White Paper, with the date to be confirmed.  

Campaigners said they are particularly concerned about proposals which risk weakening: 

• “The right to provision based on an individual child’s assessed needs (through a shift to standardised “Specialist Provision Packages”);
• The right to enforceable provision (moving from special educational provision being specified in EHC Plans, with a duty to secure it owed directly to the child or young person, to seemingly non-binding Individual Support Plans);
• The right to an EHC needs assessment and plan (with higher or unclear thresholds and restriction to undefined “complex needs”);
• The right to appeal annual reviews decisions for school-aged children (with a move away from existing annual EHC Plan reviews, which carry appeal rights, to reviews only at the end of a key stage, with no clarity on whether these will allow appeals);
• The right to request and secure a specific school placement (including removal of the Tribunal’s power to name a setting) 
• Equal protection for children outside mainstream settings, including EOTAS, post-16 training, alternative provision and youth custody.”

Madeleine Cassidy, Chief Executive of IPSEA, said: “The system for supporting children and young people with SEND is not working as it should, but it can be improved 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. If reform is to rebuild confidence with families, it must strengthen and not strip away the protections that children and young people depend on.

“We are proud to stand with partners in the Save Our Children’s Rights coalition to organise a peaceful, family-led national demonstration highlighting the vital importance of protecting SEND legal rights. We urge ministers to use this consultation wisely: act in the best interests of families, reinforce existing protections, introduce independent accountability, and ensure any reforms genuinely work for all children and young people with SEND.”

The Department for Education has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson