'Parents are battling a broken system that's failing special needs children'
Parents whose confidence has been eroded by the special educational needs system are "very, very fearful" support could be scaled back, a top MP has warned.
Labour 's Helen Hayes, who chairs the Commons Education Committee, said ministers' failure to confirm they won't cut education, health and care plans (EHCPs) was causing alarm for families. She said the "broken" system needed reform but warned the Government it risked repeating the same mistakes that forced Keir Starmer into a humiliating climbdown over disability benefit cuts.
The Government plans to publish a white paper in the autumn detailing reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. But it is shaping up to be a fresh battle between the Prime Minister and backbenchers. Ministers however have tried to reassure parents they have "absolutely" nothing to fear over support being reduced.
But in a warning this morning, Ms Hayes told BBC Radio Four: "I hope the government will learn the lessons from the welfare bill and the events that we saw last week in Parliament and understand that the best way to get effective reform of the system, that also delivers for the public finances, is to work directly and closely with the people who are most affected by the system you're wanting to reform, and that is what we haven't seen so far with the question of SEND reform."
An EHCP is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. It is a legally binding document which sets out the support a child is entitled to.
Ms Hayes said many families have had to battle the system to get an EHCP, which has impacted their trust in the authorities. And she said, despite it not being a perfect process, EHCPs still provide important legal protection for parents in holding authorities, schools and other services to account over the support their child should receive.
"I think it is understandable that many parents would feel very, very fearful when the government won't confirm absolutely the EHCPs and all of the accountabilities that surround them will remain in place," she said.
Admitting the EHCP system was failing families, Ms Hayes went on: "We have a system that is broken. It is failing families, and the government will be wanting to look at how that system can be made to work better.
"But I think they have to take this issue of the lack of trust and confidence and that the fear that parents have and the impact that it has on the daily lives of families. This is an everyday, lived reality if you are battling a system that is failing your child.
"EHCPs provide statutory certainty for some parents. It isn't a perfect system. I've heard from many parents who get an EHCP for their child and then find that it isn't being implemented properly and it's hard to sort that out, or they then find that the resources that should be there aren't really there. And it is also a system that many families who don't necessarily have resources to fight through the EHCP system fall by the wayside at the moment."
She added: "So it's not a system that's working perfectly at all, but it does provide important statutory protection and accountability. If you have a community who simply don't trust the system, any suggestion of the erosion of those rights and accountabilities is just the wrong place to start."
Early years education minister Stephen Morgan this morning refused to confirm whether scrapping EHCPs were on or off the table in talks about SEND reforms. Asked if EHCPs will remain, he told LBC: 'We're working through everything at the moment. I'm not going to get into the detail around what the measures will be in terms of improving outcomes for children. I want to listen to experts. I want to listen to parents. I want to listen to teachers to get it right for the future.'
But he assured parents should have "absolutely" no fear that support for children with special needs will be scaled back. Pressed by LBC if campaigners and charities should have no fear about the future of SEND support for children, Mr Morgan said: "Absolutely. What we want to do is make sure we've got a better system in place as a result of the reform that we're doing that improves outcomes for children with additional needs."
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