A report has urged the government to establish a new statutory category of support for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) within schools. This recommendation comes from a SEND taskforce organized by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which advocates for a restructured system of additional learning support tailored for students facing such challenges.
The taskforce”s proposal includes overhauling the current education, health, and care plans (EHCPs) to ensure they are managed by local authorities, particularly for those with the most complex needs. They emphasized the importance of maintaining existing EHCPs as legal documents, assuring that no child would lose their support until there is “significantly better support for families through substantial reform.”
This recommendation follows the government”s recent announcement that it would postpone the release of its Schools White Paper, which includes SEND reforms, until early next year. Geoff Barton, former general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and chair of the IPPR”s inclusion taskforce, expressed that a new statutory support category would provide “important reassurance for parents.”
Concerns have been raised regarding the potential reduction of EHCPs under the proposed government reforms. However, education minister Georgia Gould has asserted that there will always be a legal entitlement to additional support for young people with SEND. When asked about the impact of successful reforms on the number of EHCPs, Barton indicated that while it is possible that fewer may be issued, those already granted would not be revoked. He added, “Instead, you start thinking about, what are the alternative routes?”
The taskforce”s recommendation for statutory additional learning support aims to address learning barriers as early as possible in a child”s life. Barton noted that approximately 50% of children with SEND struggle primarily with speech and language issues, emphasizing the need for localized support utilizing expertise in speech and language therapy. This would allow parents to avoid prolonged waiting periods, which can extend over a year for an EHCP.
The taskforce also called for government investment in earlier intervention efforts, including increased funding for schools to hire SEND professionals and enhance teacher training. Margaret Mulholland, a SEND and inclusion specialist at ASCL, highlighted the critical need to tackle insufficient core funding in schools to ensure the success of any new SEND system. “The question of what role education, health, and care plans play in this new landscape is fraught with jeopardy as families see these plans as a legal guarantee of support for their child,” she added. “Any new approach will need to have their confidence.”
Established in the summer, the IPPR”s inclusion taskforce was created to address the ongoing crisis within the SEND system. Research indicates that one in 14 young people waited over a year to receive an EHCP in 2024. Additionally, local authorities reported a staggering 250% increase in EHCP assessments from 2013 to 2024. In 2023, less than half (46.4%) of EHCPs were issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks.
In Leeds, for instance, over half (57.2%) of young individuals waited more than a year for their EHCP in 2024. A representative from Leeds City Council stated that efforts are ongoing to reduce assessment completion times, which have already seen a 117% increase in EHCPs completed in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period the previous year. In Kirklees and Leicestershire, 46.2% and 44.6% of plans, respectively, took longer than a year to issue.
A spokesperson for Leicestershire County Council mentioned that additional resources and initiatives have reduced processing times to an average of 24 weeks over the past year, with ongoing efforts to improve this further. Similarly, Kirklees Council reported a doubling of EHCPs issued within the 20-week timeline, surpassing the national average, and a recent SEND inspection acknowledged that it now maintains “effective oversight” of new plans.
Despite these improvements, at least one in five young people in 14 other councils faced waits exceeding a year for their EHCP last year. However, in 86 out of 150 local authorities, only 1% or fewer young people waited longer than a year. Researchers suggest that factors such as poverty, the COVID-19 pandemic, and cuts to support services may have contributed to the rising demand for SEND support.
Barton concluded that these reforms require thoughtful planning to determine the specifics, build cross-party consensus, and establish a clear timeline for implementation. Baroness Morgan, an IPPR inclusion taskforce member and former education secretary, emphasized that merely making minor adjustments to the system will not suffice to provide an excellent education for all children, particularly those with additional needs.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education (DfE) acknowledged that it is unacceptable for parents to have to “fight for every scrap of support.” They noted that initiatives are already in progress to ensure support is readily available and accessible at the earliest stages, which includes enhanced teacher training, investments to create more specialist school places, early interventions for speech and language needs, and the integration of SEND leads in local Best Start Family Hubs.
