Responding to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) consultation

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Link to Consultation Documents:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first 

 

Link to submit consultation response online:

https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/ 

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Details to submit consultation response by email or post - you don't have to submit a written response, you can also send a video, voice note or other non-written response:

Email SENDreform.CONSULTATION@education.gov.uk, 

Write to SENDAP Reform, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BT

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Replying to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) consultation is crucial for shaping support systems. You can submit your views online, focusing on specific proposals that impact you, rather than answering all questions. Use personal examples of your experiences, keep answers clear, and highlight key concerns within the 1500-character limit per question. 

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Key Tips for Responding:

• Focus on Impact: Focus on the questions that matter most to you, such as the new Individual Support Plans, National Standards, or transition points.

• Personalise Experiences: Share your personal story about what works and what doesn't in your local area to make your response impactful.

• Use Tools and Guides: Organizations like IPSEA, Allfie, and Speech & Language UK offer guides to help you navigate the questions.

• Deadline Awareness: The consultation is open until 18 May 2026.

• Be Honest and Direct: Clearly state if you agree or disagree with proposals and explain why. 

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What to Include in Your Response:

• Evidence-Based Points: When discussing proposals like national standards, share how they might affect individualised support, as recommended by IPSEA.

• Highlight Specific Concerns: If you believe proposed changes might remove support or affect legal rights, like Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) at key transitions, express your views.

• Focus on Inclusion: As per Allfie, it is important to include points about strengthening inclusive education.

• Utilise Final Question: Use the final, open question to raise any points not covered elsewhere. Although the question states some measures have already been finalised, more recently the DfE has said that they will consider responses to all parts of the white paper and consultation document including topics not explicitly covered in the consultation questions.

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Additional Guidance Documents about the proposed reforms: 

(shorter, simpler documents that summarise the schools white paper and SEND consultation for parents & those working in the sector)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-send-reforms-sheets 

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The Council for Disabled Children has shared a 30 minute session designed to help parent carers understand the content of the SEND consultation paper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee8p83R5F-Q 

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Additional Resources - Tools and Guides:

• https://contact.org.uk/about-contact/news-and-views/how-to-share-your-views-on-schools-white-paper/ 

• https://www.ipsea.org.uk/news/how-you-can-respond-to-the-governments-proposals-for-reforming-the-send-system 

• https://www.allfie.org.uk/latest-news/send-review-consultation-guide-what-to-include-in-your-response/ 

• https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/help-for-families/how-to-complete-the-send-consultation/ 

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Timeline of reforms

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What will the government be doing?

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Building inclusion 2026/27 and 2027/28

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Workforce training programmes open for all staff.

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Local authorities (LAs) and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) begin to establish a multi-agency support offer for children, parents, and settings.

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Introducing local area plans (LA and ICB) to prepare for implementation.

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Phased changes

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New funding and accountability system established in law.

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Multi-agency support offer fully established using groups of schools.

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Specialist Provision Packages introduced and used for new Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs); redress changes introduced.

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No changes to support received through Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) before at least September 2030.

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Future system by 2035

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Schools trusted and held to account to meet the need of their cohorts through core funding.

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Funding shifted to early intervention and specialist teachers and support staff.

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Specialist settings and EHCPs in mainstream meet most complex needs. LAs and ICBs better able to plan specialist provision/cohort commission. System trends are closely monitored.

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When will I see results?

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Building inclusion 2026/27 and 2027/28

 

Children and young people both with and without EHCPs receive support from local inclusion services.

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Schools are given additional funding to prepare for reform.

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Increased use of Inclusion Bases will allow for more children to receive specialist support closer to home.

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Phased changes

 

Children and young people in mainstream with EHCPs will feel no immediate disruption.

 

Children and young people in specialist placements have their placement protected until the end of their education.

 

Parents and children and young people engage with the new Specialist Provision Packages and EHCP process and redress.

 

Rebalanced funding will support earlier intervention, and investment in acute crisis support will enable more children to remain in mainstream via the Experts at Hand offer.

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Future system by 2035

 

Inclusive practice embedded within mainstream schools, with specialist provision/ EHCPs for children with the most complex needs.

 

Early intervention and family support helps parents and children before more needs escalate.

 

Crisis support remains available for those who need it.

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Appendix: Summary of consultation questions

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PART A – About You

1. What is your name?

2. What is your email address?

Please note: It is helpful to have your email address if we want to contact you about your answers to the questions in this consultation. You do not have to give your email address, and your views will be considered whether or not you give your email address.

3. Are you happy to be contacted directly about your response?

(Options: Yes; No)

Please note: The Department may wish to contact you directly about your responses to help our understanding of the issues. If we do, we will use the email address you have given above.

4. Are you responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation?

(Options: Individual; Organisation)

If you are responding as an individual, we will consider the views within your response to this consultation to be your personal views. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, we will consider the views within your response to this consultation to be those of your organisation and not necessarily your personal views.

5. If you are responding as an individual, how would you describe yourself?

(Options: student, pupil or learner; parent or carer; teacher, tutor or lecturer; researcher, academic or education expert; governor; health, education or childcare professional; other member of the public)

If more than one applies, please select the one that you think is most important to understanding your consultation response.

6. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, which of the following best describes who/which part of the sector your organisation represents?

(Options: maintained primary school; primary academy; maintained secondary school or sixth form; secondary academy; 16-19 academy; maintained special school or Alternative Provision; special or Alternative Provision academy; other maintained school – e.g. middle school or boarding school; other academy school; independent school; academy trust; sixth form college; general further education colleges (including designated institutions); special post-16 institutions; local authority provider; independent training provider; childminding business; maintained nursery school; private, voluntary or independent early years group setting; representative organisation or trade association; local authority; government organisation/agency; other (please specify))

If more than one applies, please select the one that you think is most important to understanding your consultation response.

7. What is the name of your organisation?

(Free text 250 word limit)

8. What is your role within the organisation?

(Free text 250 word limit)

9. Would you like us to keep your name and/or organisation confidential?

9a. Name: (Options Yes; No)

9b. Organisation: (Options: Yes; No)

10. Would you like us to keep your responses confidential? (Options: Yes; No)

If yes, please explain why you consider it to be confidential.

(Free text 250 word limit)

 

PART B – Consultation questions

Q1. We want children, young people and their families to be involved in making better, evidence-based decisions about SEND, both in their local area and across the country.

How can we make sure children, young people and their families have a genuine say in these decisions?

Q2. How can we make sure that high-quality evidence and best practice inform decisions about SEND? Please share examples.

Q3. How can we ensure that children are best supported by the Universal offer?

Q4. How can we ensure that children in the Targeted layer, are best supported?

Q5. How can we ensure that children in the Targeted Plus layer, are best supported?

Q6. How can we ensure that children in the Specialist layer are best supported?

Q7. How do you think early years settings, schools, and college can best support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people?

Q8. Do you agree that the refreshed ‘areas of development’ will support educators to understand and address barriers to learning and participation? Please explain your answer.

Q9. What arrangements would best support effective joint working between early years providers, Best Start Family Hubs, health, local authorities, and parents for children with SEND in the early years?

Q10. How can the early years foundation stage (EYFS) two-year old progress check and the Healthy Child Programme development review be improved so that children’s needs are identified and supported more quickly? Please share examples.

Q11. What should the top three priority areas be for building and sharing evidence within the National Inclusion Standards?

Q12. What are the most important issues for national training to cover, to help support children and young people with SEND?

Q13. What practical actions can help teachers, educators and leaders manage workload whilst implementing these changes?

Q14. How should the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) role evolve to better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND?

Q15. What would provide assurance for families that an Individual Support Plan (ISP) is high-quality and contains the essential information?

Q16: How can we ensure Individual Support Plans are clear, concise and practical for professionals to use?

Q17: How can we best support transition for young people with SEND, so that they are well supported into post-16 provision and further education, training or employment?

Q18. How can we make sure that every area can meet the full range of the needs of children and young people through Inclusion Bases?

Q19. How can we make sure that Inclusion Bases help children and young people succeed in mainstream settings?

Q20. Through the Experts at Hand offer, we want to ensure that mainstream settings can get quick specialist support for children and young people.

What arrangements are needed between local area partners (education, health, social care) to deliver this Experts at Hand offer effectively?

Q21. What needs to be in place so that children and young people with low incidence, highly complex needs can always access the right specialist placement?

Q22. How can Specialist Provision Packages be designed to effectively support the main types of need we currently recognise?

Q23. We propose that EHCPs will guarantee educational provision set out in a Specialist Provision Package, with day-to-day provision captured in Individual Support Plans.

What is needed to make these proposals work effectively?

Q24. We propose creating a more direct route to Specialist Provision Packages and EHCP assessments for children under 5 with complex needs.

How can we make sure this works in practice?

Q25. What would you expect to be considered as part of the needs assessment, for example evidence and expert or professional input?

Q26. What factors should LAs take into account in proposing to parents and young people a list of potential settings to name on a plan?

Q27. What information and support do parents need to make a decision about which setting will be best for their child?

Q28. What do you think is the right maximum length of time for a temporary placement in Alternative Provision (AP) schools? Please explain your rationale.

Q29. We have set out our plans to regulate Independent Special Schools (ISS) sector.

Do you agree that these proposed changes will lead to suitable placements being available at a fair cost? Please explain why.

Q30. How should settings be held accountable for how they spend their Inclusive Mainstream funding?

Q31. Do you agree that more SEND funding should sit directly within mainstream budgets? Please explain why.

Q32: In relation to pooled funding, we propose that every school becomes part of a local SEND group.

Do you agree that this proposal aligns with our aim for all schools to be part of high-quality, community-based trusts?

Q33: How should disagreements about membership, provision, or funding in groups of schools for SEND be resolved?

Q34: How can we ensure the most effective use of these local partnership groups?

Q35. Which stakeholders are important for the success of local partnership groups, and why?

Q36: How can we build stronger collaboration and a culture of improvement through local SEND strategic plans?

Q37. What information, advice and guidance can best support children, young people and their families to ensure greater fairness across the system?

Q38. Do you agree that a SEND specialist (e.g. a SENCO) should sit on the school complaint panel, when the complaint relates to SEND support and provision? Please explain why.

Q39. This consultation outlines a series of measures intended to reform the SEND system. Some of these measures have already been finalised, and this is clearly indicated within the document.

With this in mind, is there anything further you would like to contribute to help inform the remaining proposals that are still under consideration?​