Why are parents worried about Labour’s possible changes to education for children with special needs?

Warning: This article contains references to self-harm.

Rowan, 14, hasn’t attended a school in four years.

Diagnosed at age five with autism and anxiety, Rowan quickly discovered schools in Worcestershire were not meeting his needs.

“I used to come home and basically have a giant meltdown. Cry, scream, throw things,” said Rowan.

Rowan was out of school for 18 months between the ages of five and seven, as well as a year between the ages of eight and nine.

Under a 2014 law, parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England can ask their local authority to develop an education, health, and care plan (EHCP) to support their child’s learning.

Once issued, EHCPs legally entitle the child to the support outlined in their plan.

Rowan left his most recent school after support listed in his EHCP was withdrawn following staffing changes.

“When the last setting fell apart, they knew as well as I did that, they had nothing else to offer him at that point,” said his mum, Tracy.

Tracy said there had been multiple breaches of Rowan’s EHCP, including failure to provide therapies listed in his plan. She has successfully appealed several times at tribunal hearings against the council.

The most recent example was in May this year – but Tracy and Rowan say they are still waiting for Worcestershire County Council to abide by the order.

Adam Johnston, director of children’s services at Worcestershire County Council, said, “We fully acknowledge that in the past we have not always provided the level of support children, young people and their families deserve.”

Noting a “significant rise in demand,” he said, “we have reshaped our service and added resources to manage this”, resulting in “vast improvements” over the past year.

Tracy sees Rowan’s EHCP as crucial in securing better support for her son.

But government ministers are reportedly considering scrapping EHCPs as part of SEND reforms set to be announced later this year in a Schools White Paper. They cite a sharp rise in demand for support and spiralling costs.

In response, concerned parents march on Westminster on Monday to protest the potential removal of the only legal recourse against local authorities failing to fulfil their statutory duties to children with SEND.

Increasing demand

As of January 2025, over 1.7 million – or roughly one in five – children in England were identified with SEND.

EHCP needs assessment requests submitted by parents to local authorities have doubled since 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

Julie Allan, professor at the University of Birmingham’s School of Education, said: “The increase is partly down to increased awareness of SEND – so more people are looking for a diagnosis. But there’s also the feeling among parents that mainstream schools aren’t meeting their children’s needs.”

As councils grapple with a surge in requests, the percentage of EHCPs issued within the legally mandated 20-week timeframe has fallen from 57.9% to less than half – 45.9% – over the past three years.

“The delay in establishing an EHCP within the 20-week period is one of the major reasons why parents and families and children have lost complete faith in the SEND system,” said Prof Allan.

The speed of receiving support also varies by local authority.

Portsmouth and Leicestershire councils completed just 4.3% of requested EHCPs within 20 weeks in 2024, compared to 100% in Barnet and Wandsworth.

A spokesperson for Portsmouth City Council said they have experienced a “significant increase in requests” over the past five years. They said the council has added staff to deal with increased requests, and the past few months have already shown some improvement.

A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson pointed to “a marked increase in the demand for EHCPs”, noting “the funding from government for EHCPs has not matched this increased demand”.

Waiting for EHCPs

In Devon, the worst-performing local authority last year, only 3.2% of EHCPs were issued on time.

Charlotte, 16, and her mum Karen, know well the delays in obtaining an EHCP in Devon.

“I would come home every day in tears [in primary school], exhausted, burnt out and emotionally dysregulated,” said Charlotte. She would frequently find excuses to miss classes, “not because I didn’t want to learn, but because I couldn’t cope”.

At age 14, Charlotte was diagnosed with autism. During this time, she would experience dysregulation – a state of extreme distress – while at school.

She would sometimes run away from school and engage in acts of self-harm, such as slamming her head against the wall, with one instance so severe she ended up in hospital.

Following Charlotte’s diagnosis, the family applied for an EHCP, but it took Devon County Council two years to approve it, and it took several months for the funding to come through.

While waiting, Charlotte’s school put her on a reduced timetable, which meant she was without full-time education for nearly three years.

Charlotte said getting her diagnosis “should have been the start of proper support, understanding and stability”. “But instead, my school stripped away my support, not added to it.”

A spokesperson for Devon County Council said, “We are unable to talk about specific children. We can say, however, the council is in an improving position to where it was a few years ago.”

“Our priority is always to ensure that children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, have access to quality education in settings that can meet their individual needs.”

Should EHCPs be scrapped?

Successive governments have acknowledged a growing crisis over SEND spending.

In February, the Local Government Association reported that over half of councils were at risk of insolvency due to SEND spending.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News: “We inherited a system on its knees, forcing families to fight for every scrap of support. That’s why we are listening to parents and taking action.”

Ms Phillipson noted £1bn was announced for SEND in the 2024 Autumn Budget, along with an additional £740m in March.

Given the ballooning costs of SEND support, experts and the government appear to agree that more money alone will not fix the system.

As part of their reforms, government ministers have repeatedly refused to rule out scrapping EHCPs.

When asked by Sky News in July whether the government would remove EHCPs, then-schools minister Catherine McKinnell said, “ideally, we are focused on reforming the whole system”. When pressed again on whether they would be scrapped, McKinnell did not give a definitive answer.

But, the potential scrapping of EHCPs worries parents like Habiba, who has struggled to get educational support for her son, seven, who has an oral motor disorder.

She says that, since he was in nursery, several teachers and therapists provided by their local authority, the London borough of Redbridge, have not held the qualifications required in his EHCP. Despite Habiba’s complaints, many of these breaches were not resolved.

Two years ago, Habiba deregistered her son from his school and early last year, she found a specialist school outside the borough that was willing to take him in. Redbridge refused to cover the cost, but Habiba successfully appealed the decision at a tribunal.

We asked Redbridge Council for comment, but have yet to receive its response.

Despite her concerns about scrapping EHCPs, Habiba says the real issue is how difficult it is for parents to ensure they are enforced.

“Yes, there needs to be reform,” said Habiba. “But reform needs to look like: how are we going to best protect the needs, the rights of children?”

Her view was shared by several experts we spoke to.

“In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to have EHCPs for children because their needs would be met. But, as we stand and with the system as it is at the moment, they do provide a level of statutory protection,” said Prof Allan.

“Scrapping them would not be a good idea because this statutory protection would be removed,” she said.

Katie Ghose, CEO of the SEND education charity Kids, said: “We do need the government to embrace systemic reforms. We believe the reformed system must include EHCPs for those children who will continue to need them.”

“The consequences of getting rid of EHCPs would be devastating.”