14 May 2025

On Tuesday 13 May, our Senior Solicitor, Georgina Downard, gave evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee, highlighting the urgent need for solutions to make the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system work for children and young people. The evidence session formed part of the Committee’s ongoing inquiry into ‘Solving the SEND crisis’. 

The law isn’t the problem 

Our key message to MPs was that the law doesn’t need to change – the law isn’t the problem. The current SEND system has the potential to work well for children and young people with SEND, but only if the law is fully implemented. Currently, it is not widely implemented and as a result, children and young people are not getting the support they need, when they need it. 

Watch: Georgina explains why the issue lies in implementation, not legislation, and outlines the key changes needed to strengthen accountability in the SEND system.

Strengthening accountability in the SEND system 

One of the most pressing failures in the current system is the lack of robust accountability for decision-making about children and young people with SEND. We made the case to MPs for the following changes: 

• There should be a zero-tolerance approach to local authorities that fail in their duties to children and young people with SEND. Local authorities should be expected (and should have the necessary resources) to make lawful decisions about assessment and provision for children and young people and should face consequences if they don’t.
• The Department for Education should find out what is stopping local authorities from fulfilling their legal duties to children and young people, and should routinely check that local policies – which don’t trump the law – are lawful.
• Ofsted inspections of individual schools and SEND provision in local areas should look specifically at whether schools and local authorities are fulfilling their duties to children and young people.
• The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) should have the power to investigate complaints about schools.
• SEN Support in schools should be made statutory – required by law – with sufficient funding plus training for school leaders and staff. 

Families shouldn’t have to fight 

We told MPs that the onus should not be on parents and carers to fight for what their child is legally entitled to and go through lengthy appeals. Local authorities should be adequately resourced and make decisions in line with the law the first time around – and it shouldn’t be accepted when they don’t. 

We also highlighted that not all families are in a position to appeal. Many face additional challenges that mean it isn’t possible. We are particularly concerned about families with difficult living situations, or without access to a computer, or whose child is in youth custody, or where a parent has SEND themselves. Without parents/carers who can fight, children and young people too often miss out on the provision and support they need and which could transform their lives.   

Watch: Georgina outlines the action needed to reduce appeals to the SEND Tribunal – which lies in local authorities being adequately resourced and making lawful decisions first time.

The role of the Tribunal 

In response to questioning, we told MPs it’s incorrect to suggest that the SEND Tribunal does not consider financial resources of local authorities when it makes decisions. A recent report commissioned by bodies that represent local authorities suggested that the Tribunal takes no account of the realities of financial constraints. But just as EHC plans don’t give individual children and young people more than they need, neither does the Tribunal. 

What children and young people with SEND are entitled to is educational provision that: 

• Is reasonably required to meet their special educational needs,
• Is in an educational setting that’s suitable for them and doesn’t stop others receiving an efficient education, and
• Is not an inefficient use of resources or unreasonable public expenditure. 

We recognise the significant financial pressures local authorities are under. But policy-makers should resist any suggestion that an appropriate solution would be for the SEND Tribunal to base its decision-making on anything other than evidence and law. 

Closing reflections 

Ultimately, choices need to be made about priorities. Policy-makers need to decide whether the education of children and young people with SEND is important enough to prioritise and fund. 

Watch: Georgina responds to a question on how local authorities can better comply with the law in the current financial climate. 

Georgina ended IPSEA’s evidence with a powerful reminder of what’s at stake: 

The Education Select Committee will consider all the evidence gathered as part of its inquiry and is expected to publish recommendations in due course. 

You can watch the full evidence session on Parliament Live, and read IPSEA’s written evidence here.