Families' fears over shake-up of SEND support

Parents in Derbyshire have said they are worried a planned government shake-up to funding for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will mean their children may miss out on the support they need.

The government has said it will spend £4bn over the next three years to make mainstream schools in England more inclusive for pupils with SEND.

But the changes will mean fewer children will be on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and parents have said they are worried they will lose out on legal support and funding.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the changes would mean support comes "earlier and faster - avoiding parents ending up in a fight".

Kat Jackson, 36, from Ashover, said she was worried about losing a draft EHCP for her three-year-old son Taran, who has autism.

"We have had to fight tooth and nail to get support in place for our children and to have it removed leaves us with a lot of uncertainty.

"There is a huge amount of worry. I have spent a year and three months fighting to get anything in place for him.

"It just adds to the stress and the wait," she said.

Currently there are more than 480,000 pupils in England with EHCPs but under this reform only the most complex SEND cases will have these plans.

As part of the changes, new Individual Support Plans (ISPs) will be introduced that will be drawn up by schools detailing how SEND children access support.

Helen Purcell, 38, from Spondon, said she was trying to get an EHCP for her daughter Lilah, 10.

She thinks the new ISPs will not be as effective for parents of SEND children as EHCPs come with funding to pay for things like one-to-one classroom support.

Without this Purcell believes schools are more likely to "back out" of offering this extra help for pupils.

"[ISPs] sound great when you are round a boardroom table having a chin wag about it but they are not considering that we already have individual educational plans and they are not working," she said.

Councillor Simon Mabbott, Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for SEND and education, said: "While I welcome the publication of the government's long-awaited Schools White Paper I also add a note of caution as I know there is a great deal of uncertainty about what these changes might mean.

"There is now a national consultation and I'd encourage families, children and young people, schools and professionals to have their say as it's important that views from across the SEND community are heard and considered before any decisions are made.

"We will take time to carefully review the detail of the proposals and the outcomes of the consultation before considering what any future changes might mean for us here in Derbyshire."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the reforms would be a "watershed moment" for children, and a "major milestone in this government's mission to make sure opportunity is for each and every child".

She added ministers would not be withdrawing "effective support", and stressed that the government would be "spending more money", not less, on providing for children with SEND.

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