NEWS: Government White Paper on SEND Reform Delayed

As reported by The BBC, the government’s long-awaited white paper on reforming education for England’s 1.7 million children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is set to be launched this year

Plans to tackle what many are calling a “crisis” in the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England are expected to be published early this year, after a delay from their original autumn schedule.

The government’s White Paper, which will address the needs of 1.7 million SEND pupils, has been postponed, with a Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson saying it will now be released in the “coming months.”

The delay has drawn criticism from MPs and parents. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee recently warned that the SEND system is at a “crisis point,” as councils struggle with rising high-needs deficits.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We have launched the biggest national conversation on SEND in a generation alongside work already underway, including investing at least £3 billion for more specialist places, and dedicated Send leads in every Best Start Family Hub nationwide,”

Councillor Amanda Hopgood, chair of the Local Government Association’s children, young people and families committee, said: “The system is failing children and families, while councils have been pushed to the brink by rising high-needs deficits. We have been urging the government to set out its reforms of the Send system, and it should do this at the earliest opportunity. Urgent reform is needed.”

However, the chief executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, Tom Rees, who is chairing the Department for Education’s expert advisory group on inclusion, said it was important to take the time to get reform of the Send system right.

“Reform of this scale can’t be rushed and I welcome the additional time so both the [expert advisory group] and the government can continue to listen, develop and test ideas which build on the clear principles of reform set out by the Education Secretary,” he added.