Labour’s SEND Reforms Overlook Key Issue, Campaigner Warns

The government has just announced £4billion towards SEND reform in England – a sum which is desperately needed and one that couldn’t come soon enough for families who have children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the UK.

More than 1.7 million pupils are identified as having Special Educational Needs, including over 400,000 children with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

These are big numbers and the pressure of diagnosing and properly supporting them hits families hard.

Many have been unsupported and their children have suffered as a result. Others have taken their children out of education and into home schooling.

Families’ stories of being failed by the system have been getting louder and reform of SEND is clearly needed.

However, it’s crucial that we do not redesign structures while carrying forward existing disparities.

Department for Education data shows that Black pupils represent around 3% of the school population, yet account for approximately 6% of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

They are represented at roughly twice their population share within EHCP provision.

But disproportionality alone does not tell the full story.

Evidence shows that Black pupils with SEND are also heavily affected by exclusion practices and are more likely to have behavioural needs interpreted punitively rather than supportively.

We know from our Black Child SEND research that Black children and their families suffer from delays in recognition, diagnosis and inconsistent access to appropriate support.

As the White Paper detail is published, clear commitments will be needed on intersectional equity, ethnicity-disaggregated data, protection of statutory rights and accountable implementation.

SEND is very tricky, as there is no one-size-fits all mould.

But, as complicated as it might be, we need to overlay intersectionality into the system.

We need to learn from the research which highlights the holes families have to jump over due to individual factors.

Investment alone will not determine success. Whether disparities are narrowed in practice will depend on how reform is delivered.

Nobody fits into neat boxes, we will need to understand the use of the word “complexity” to understand how complexity works in the case of SEND diagnosis and analysis.

Families everywhere are worrying about what this white paper will mean for their children, and hoping that it will bring some positive change.

There is a huge opportunity for a real step change to happen here, but it will only truly work if we understand that all SEND support is not equal, and that who you are can determine the access and support that you get today.

If we address these complexities within new determined support from the government it will be a huge win for our children.