Letter to Guardian from celebrities and others warns government against removing EHCPs

The letter, also signed by a number of special needs and disability charities, claims that as new education reforms emerge, “every sign from the government suggests the right to an EHCP is to be removed from children attending mainstream schools”.

EHCPs combine a child’s education, health and social care support into a legal document issued by local authorities in England. Parents can appeal against council refusals to assess a child’s needs or to issue an EHCP.

Around 85% of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are educated in mainstream settings. More than 270,000 of these children have EHCPs.

The letter warns: “Without statutory support, underpinned by necessary extra resources for schools, it’s extremely unlikely that ministers will achieve their aim of more children with SEND thriving, or even surviving, in mainstream education.

“A reduction or complete snatching-away of EHCPs in mainstream education wouldn’t mean their needs magically vanish. It would, instead, increase applications for already overcrowded special schools or mean they would be forced out of school altogether.”

The authors of the letter highlight their support for a newly launched ‘Save Our Children’s Rights’ campaign led by Special Needs Jungle, IPSEA and others, which is calling for EHCPs to be retained.

The letter concludes: “For more than 40 years, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities have had a statutory right to an education that meets their needs. Set alongside catastrophic plans to cut benefits for disabled people, this raises the question of who we are as a country and the kind of society in which we want to live. Whatever the SEND system’s problems, the answer is not to remove the rights of children and young people. Families cannot afford to lose these precious legal protections.”

Today (7 July), the chair of the Education Committee, Helen Hayes MP, also said that Downing Street should “commit” to education, health and care plans (EHCPs), to keep the trust of families who have children with SEN.

“I think at this stage that would be the right thing to do,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We have been looking, as the education select committee, at the Send system for the last several months. We have heard extensive evidence from parents, from organisations that represent parents, from professionals and from others who are deeply involved in the system, which is failing so many children and families at the moment”, she added.

Hayes observed that the letter published in The Guardian was “evidence of growing public concern”, despite reassurances from the Education Secretary that no decisions have yet been taken about the fate of EHCPs.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The evidence is clear that this government inherited a SEND system left on its knees – which is why we are looking at changes to improve support for children and stop parents having to fight for help. It is totally inaccurate to suggest that children, families and schools might experience any loss of funding or support.

“This government is actively working with parents and experts on the solutions, including more early intervention to prevent needs from escalating and £740 million to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools.

“As part of our Plan for Change, we will restore the confidence of families up and down the country and deliver the improvement they are crying out for so every child can achieve and thrive.”

The Government noted it would set out plans for the SEND system in "further detail" this year in the Schools White Paper. 

Lottie Winson