Policy work Policy blog Helping MPs and their staff understand SEND law and support their constituents 22 October 2025 One of our key activities at IPSEA is the SEND law training we provide to parents, schools, local authorities and anyone else who wants to understand what the law says about support for children and young people with SEND and how to navigate the system. We also talk regularly to MPs and their staff about how the education system should work for children and young people with SEND, and how families are affected by national policy developments. Nearly every MP we talk to tells us that difficulty accessing special educational provision and support is one of the main issues their constituents ask them to help with. So we decided recently to bring both these things together and offer MPs and their staff as much SEND law as we could fit into a specially tailored webinar. It proved popular, with more than 100 MPs, researchers and caseworkers signing up. We emphasised to MPs when we invited them that, while the Government says it intends to reform the SEND system, the law remains unchanged and children and young people need it to work as it should right now: they can’t wait. Alex Stafford from our legal team gave an overview of what the law says about things like how “special educational needs” and “disability” are defined, and what public bodies’ duties are to children and young people with SEND. She explained the “best endeavours” duty, the nuts and bolts of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment, and what (and who) an EHC plan is for. She debunked myths as she went, and tackled common misconceptions about how parents choose schools, who is entitled to free transport and what constitutes a lawful exclusion from school. And then our team answered questions on everything from what should happen when a school says it’s too full or can’t meet a child’s needs, to how to handle pressure on parents to remove their child from a school’s roll. We hope that, as a result, MPs will have a better understanding not just of what the law says about support for children and young people with SEND but why it matters – and why legal rights to special educational provision that meets individual needs must be protected and not reduced. SEND reform should be all about making the SEND system work as it should – as the Education Select Committee spelled out so clearly in their recent report – not about restricting the help and support children and young people receive. About the author Catriona is responsible for IPSEA’s work in bringing about change by influencing the development of SEND policy nationally. Her background is in public policy and communications, and she has worked for a number of charities and public sector organisations, as well as in Parliament. In the past she has served as an elected councillor in a London borough, a special school governor and a charity trustee. She has personal experience of having a disabled child. In her spare time, she enjoys walking, reading, going to the theatre and being by the sea. Explore more of our latest policy blogs here. Donate now to drive our work championing and protecting the rights of children with SEND At IPSEA, we’re fighting every day to make the SEND system work for children and young people with SEND. But we can’t do it alone. As an independent charity, we rely on donations from people like you, often parents or carers of children with SEND, who know firsthand how children with SEND are being failed. Donate £10 today to help us maintain pressure on decision-makers to ensure that children and young people with SEND have the opportunity to thrive, and that their legal rights are protected. Make a donation Manage Cookie Preferences