25 November 2025

IPSEA has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP, about the Government’s plans to reform the system for supporting children and young people with SEND.

Bridget Phillipson announced last month that the planned Schools White Paper, which will include SEND reform, has been delayed until 2026. In a letter to the chair of the House of Commons Education Committee, she set out the Government’s five principles for SEND reform.

Our letter reiterates IPSEA’s view that reforms shouldn’t be rushed, and what matters is making the education system work as it should, so that every child and young person receives the special educational provision and support they need. 

We have emphasised that the SEND legal framework – if it were fully and consistently implemented – encompasses all the elements that policy-makers want to see in a reformed system, including earlier intervention and more inclusive mainstream schools.

We know that one of ministers’ main concerns is how “adversarial” the system has become. We share this concern, but have said in our letter that the system is adversarial not because of the existence of the law but because the law is routinely not applied correctly.

"Ensuring that lawful decisions about children’s education are made first time would be the most straightforward route to making the SEND system less adversarial."

While we agree with the Government’s “five principles”, all are covered by current SEND legislation and statutory guidance. What we believe is missing are the principles of legal entitlement and enforceable accountability.

"Every child and young person with SEND has a statutory right to an education that meets their individual needs, and this right must be enforceable in practice as well as in law."

"Without this legal underpinning and the means to hold public bodies to account, there is a real risk that children and young people will be unable to access the provision they need or to seek redress when they are denied support, with significant consequences for their wellbeing and long-term prospects."  

"Without clear accountability, duties are too easily treated as guidance rather than law, and families are left to shoulder the burden of enforcing their children’s rights through legal action. Embedding accountability at every level of the system, from central government through to local authorities, schools, health bodies and academy trusts, is essential to ensure that decisions are made lawfully, resources are used effectively, and the rights of children and young people with SEND are upheld in practice, not just in principle."

Read our full letter

The MP who chairs the House of Commons Education Committee, Helen Hayes, has also written to the Education Secretary about the Government’s plans for SEND reform, asking Bridget Phillipson to provide more detail on how “parents, educators, experts and representative organisations” will be involved in the “co-creation” of SEND reform.

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