ABOUT THE LAW

The story of SEND is a complex one, and stretches back over 50 years. For our purposes, we are concerned with the Children and Families Act 2014, specifically, Part Three about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The CFA created legislation bringing in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). These are documents that set out the legally-guaranteed provision to support children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities, aged between birth and 25 years old.

A holistic plan

Legislation was designed to be holistic, wraparound provision, providing the education, healthcare and social care a child or young person required to meet their potential. It aimed to level the playing field so that young people with additional needs could, as far as possible, overcome the systemic barriers and hurdles presented by an education system set up for “ordinary” children.

It places legal duties on the NHS and on every local authority that provides education, health, or care services for people aged 0-25.

Putting the “meat on the bones” of the Act are the 2014 SEND regulations and the 2015 SEND Code of Practice. For an easy-to-understand summary, check out IPSEA’s explanation.

What went wrong?

The intentions of this legislation remain sound.

However, a combination of Government implementation and funding failures, the onset of austerity measures, and an ongoing lack of school and mainstream SEND funding have led local authorities to systematically ignore, undermine and wilfully break the law as a matter of course.

In 2026, the Labour Government is seeking to “revolutionise” education with a new Schools White Paper. We are concerned this might include diluting the Children and Families Act, including increasing legal thresholds for assessment and provision. This would be disastrous for children and young people with SEND.

We do not believe that there is an issue within the legislation which entitles children and young people with SEND in England have the right to an education that meets their needs, to enable them to thrive, make progress and achieve their potential. However, the issue lies in the implementation of the law across systems.

Cracking the wrong nut

The system for supporting children and young people with SEND is not working as it should—everyone can see that. However, it is entirely possible to make it work without weakening SEND legal rights.

Instead of recognising the true cause of the SEND crisis as we have explained, and working towards better supporting the system, the Government has published proposals to dilute and weaken the legal system that supports families. It has also ignored the findings of the recent Education Select Committee report.

The Government is right to prioritise earlier intervention and more effective inclusion. But these are already written into law in the CFA 2014.

BUT it is very wrong to try to solve the problem by diluting the legal backstops that support the system. Without these, there are no effective safeguards. The Government is hoping that volunteer school governors, infrequent Ofsted visits, and the overwhelmed Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) will provide the de facto backstop, but with no legal teeth to prompt action.