If we need a Hillsborough Law to promote public accountability, why risk weakening children's SEND rights?

By Madeleine Cassidy

23 July 2026

There was a powerful moment in Parliament this month when Andy Burnham spoke in support of the Hillsborough Law. After decades of campaigning by the Hillsborough families, he described the proposed legislation as a fundamental shift in the relationship between public authorities and the people they serve. 

Andy Burnham said the law would "pass power from the authorities to ordinary people" and described it as a "rewiring of the state". His message was simple: public authorities should be open, honest and accountable when things go wrong. Families should not have to spend years fighting to uncover the truth or hold public bodies to account. 

He also spoke about the importance of ensuring that families are not re-traumatised by public bodies that exist to serve them.  

Those principles should not stop at Hillsborough. They are equally important wherever public authorities exercise legal powers over people's lives, including decisions about children and young people with SEND. 

While the circumstances are very different, this principle will resonate with families of children and young people with SEND. Many families have had to endure the heavy emotional toll of having to repeatedly challenge decisions and fight for support their child is legally entitled to receive. 

Families shouldn't have to fight for their rights 

Every day, families contact IPSEA because they are struggling to secure the support their child is already entitled to by law. Many describe spending months or even years appealing decisions at Tribunal that have left their child without the education, support or provision they need. 

In 2024/25, around 25,000 SEND appeals were registered, the highest number on record. Of the cases determined by the Tribunal, around 99% resulted in an outcome favourable to the family on at least some of the issues in dispute. 

These figures matter because they demonstrate the value of independent scrutiny. When parents are able to challenge decisions, the Tribunal almost always finds that changes are needed to ensure children receive the support they are legally entitled to. 

Behind every successful appeal lies a child with SEND whose education has often been disrupted and delayed, whose mental health may have deteriorated and whose family has endured unnecessary conflict. 

This is why accountability matters. 

Rights are not the problem 

No one disputes that the SEND system is under immense pressure. 

Yet at precisely the moment Parliament is embracing greater openness through the Hillsborough Law, many families and organisations are concerned that the Government’s SEND reforms could significantly weaken the legal protections available to children and young people. 

Among the Government’s proposals are changes that could reduce independent routes of challenge to decisions made by schools, education settings and local authorities. This will make it harder for families to enforce their child’s legal rights. 

But removing rights is not the same as fixing services. 

When families lose the ability to challenge unlawful decisions, those failures do not disappear. They simply become harder to expose, leaving more children without the education and support they need. 

Accountability strengthens public services 

Public bodies must learn from mistakes rather than hiding them. Local authorities work best when they are transparent, honest and accountable. 

This is not about blaming individual professionals, many of whom are working under immense pressure. It is about ensuring that the system itself is accountable and that children and young people's legal rights are protected. 

If local authorities fail to comply with their legal duties, the answer is not to make those duties harder to enforce. 

If the system is overwhelmed, the answer is not to reduce the rights of the very children and young people it exists to serve. 

Lawful challenge should be recognised as part of good public administration, not treated as an obstacle to it. 

Families should not be further traumatised by having to repeatedly prove their child's needs or enter lengthy disputes simply to secure support that the law already says they should receive. 

Justice and accountability must apply to SEND too 

Commitment to accountability should not exist in one area of public life while being diluted in another. We cannot celebrate transparency on one hand while weakening the legal protections that allow families to challenge unlawful decisions on the other. 

Children and young people must have a SEND system that is lawful, transparent and accountable. 

Andy Burnham said that politicians must do better. The Hillsborough Law reminds us that justice depends on truth. 

If the Government wants to build a better SEND system, it should strengthen confidence that decisions are lawful and can be independently challenged when they are not. 

Reform should strengthen accountability, not weaken it. 

About the author

Madeleine joined IPSEA as Chief Executive in November 2024. She is a very experienced charity leader of both small and national charities, having worked in the fields of family services and disability for over 20 years at senior management level. Originating from Dublin, Madeleine's background lies in consumer marketing and social research, and she holds a post-graduate diploma in Marketing and a Masters in Voluntary Sector Management from Bayes Business School, City University of London. Alongside her work with IPSEA, Madeleine has three children, and is a keen swimmer, painter and photographer.