SEND reform on hold: what the delay means for families and schools

She examines the government’s reasons for the delay and the potential impact on children, families, and schools awaiting change.

The Department for Education (DfE) in England has announced a delay to its much-anticipated White Paper, originally expected in autumn 2025. The white paper will set out reforms to the system for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (“SEND”). However, this will now not be published until 2026.

According to a letter from the Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, the delay reflects the government’s desire to undertake a further period of “co-creation”. This is being taken to mean that there will be further consultations with families, teachers, experts and other stakeholders. This is a welcome opportunity for all those affected to feed into the process and express their views and wishes for what SEND reform should look like and the priorities that need to be addressed.  

She emphasised that reforms for the SEND system “are some of the most critical this Government will deliver, and that is why it is so essential that we take the time to listen and get it right.”

The letter also set out the five guiding principles for the reforms: early support, locality of provision, fairness, effectiveness, and shared responsibility across education, health and care services. 

Of course, there are some who are frustrated and disappointed with the lack of action and the delay in publishing this white paper. Local authorities continue to face significant financial and logistical pressures and consider the changes needed as urgent. However, it is clearly in children’s best interests for these changes to be fully considered by all affected and to allow for a positive change which ensures the needs of these pupils are met and schools are properly funded to provide the support required.

For children and young people with SEND, the delay means continuing in the current system for longer. Whilst this allows for stability and clear legal requirements and guidance, it also means the issues also remain; delays in assessments, long waiting times for support, uneven quality of provision, and sometimes inadequate resources, to name a few.

Those of us working in this area sincerely hope that a genuinely inclusive and co-produced reform may lead to a system that works better for children, families, schools and other services in the long run and that the extra time allows for further evidence gathering, pilot programmes and testing of new models.

It is a chance to build a system that emphasises early intervention, locality, partnership working and fairness — as highlighted in the five principles outlined by the DfE.

The delay reflects the government’s recognition of the complexity and importance of transforming the system for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. While the extra time may allow for more robust policy development, it also carries risks of further delay in resolving urgent issues. For families, children and educators the hope will be that the eventual reforms deliver meaningful, timely improvements, not just another long wait.

Erin Smart is an associate in the education law team. She advises on a wide range of educational issues and specialises in special educational needs, including assisting clients to apply for Education Health and Care (“EHC”) needs assessments and EHC plans.