A key Department for Education (DfE) advisor is reported to have suggested that the department is considering restricting education, health and care plans (EHCPs) to children in special schools.
Latest DfE figures, show that in January 2024, there were 249,826 pupils with an EHCP in mainstream schools, compared to 185,964 in special schools.
And then asked whether this narrowing of EHCPS would mean them only applying to children in special schools, she said: “I think, to be honest, that’s the conversation we’re in the middle of.”
“It’s what is the purpose of EHCPs? Are they delivering what they need to? And is the relationship in schools and local authorities in terms of putting the EHCP together and then delivering what the outcomes are, the right relationship with the right amount of stuff in.”
square SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS 'I have no support to care for my disabled son - the SEND system is broken'
Read More
Hannah Rose, from parents’ organisation SEND Reform England, said: “The suggestion that EHCPs could be narrowed to only apply to special school placements is not only deeply alarming but dangerously out of touch with the lived experiences of families.
The Government wants to change the system because of an escalating SEND education crisis, caused partly by the increased number and cost of EHCPs.
In March, The i Paper revealed that the Government was considering was tightening EHCP rules, in a move that could result in more children with SEND being educated in mainstream schools.
This increase is the main reason local authorities have accumulated a combined £3.3bn deficit in their “high needs” education budgets, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in December.
Asked what role EHCPs will play in Labour’s SEND reform, he said that conversations are happening in “real time” with members of the community about the “best way forward”.
But campaigners fear reform could bring large-scale cuts to support for disabled children, especially after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned parents in March that they would need to “think very differently” about what the system will look like.
“The reality parents and children face now is that an EHCP is the only way they can get an education. Most requests for EHCPs come from schools who rely on them to support children’s health and social care needs. Any conversation about replacing these plans should focus on how children’s rights to an education will be strengthened, without the red tape and without the fight.”
The Government has been contacted for comment.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 250,000 SEND pupils could lose their legal guarantees of extra support )
Also on site :