This space is for Parent Carers who live in Essex (excluding Southend and Thurrock) to share their views on the SEND reforms.

Your feedback will help us understand parent carer views and will be used to inform Essex Family Forum’s response to the national SEND consultation. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

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❓ About the Questions

There are 39 questions in the SEND consultation document.

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We have also created some Poll Questions (Blue Boxes) to gather your views

Your responses will help us answer the consultation questions in full.

You can find the full consultation document in the Useful Information section (scroll / swipe right →).

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Schools will receive dedicated funding to support children with additional needs

Families should see quicker access to specialists, such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists

Inclusion Bases will be introduced in every secondary school and many primary schools, offering a calmer space and specialist support

School and college buildings will be made more accessible

National Inclusion Standards will set out approaches that are known to work for identifying and supporting needs

Schools will work together in local groups, sharing resources and improving support

There will be a clearer school complaints process, with set timeframes and independent SEND experts involved

Schools will be required to publish an Inclusion Strategy explaining how they support all pupils and use SEND funding

Ofsted inspections will check how well schools and colleges include and support children with SEND

Proposed changes to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including early, fair support, with shared accountabilities across local partners.

Also includes links to the Easy Read version, guidance on how to order Braille or large print copies, and the following supporting documents:

• SEND Reform: Equalities Impact Assessment

• SEND Reform: Child’s Rights Impact Assessment

• Background on Projections

• Specialist Provision Packages – a summary page outlining the proposed specialist provision packages

Reforms to the schools and SEND systems in England to ensure that every child can achieve and thrive.

The link also includes the Easy Read version and the 6,500 Additional Teachers Delivery Plan.

There are 39 consultation questions linked to different parts of the proposed policy and legislative changes.

Not every part of the document is open to consultation, which means there are some proposals we cannot influence through feedback.

The questions we are asking focus on the areas where views can help shape the response and influence decisions.

We are asking for your input so we can respond and highlight what matters most to parent carers in Essex.

We encourage parents and carers to share their thoughts and experiences. Your feedback will help ensure the voices of families are heard and that what matters most to children, young people and those who support them is reflected.

The government is proposing a new SEND support system. Here are the key ideas being suggested:

More inclusive schools
All schools would be expected to be inclusive. Mainstream schools would have more funding, resources, and expertise to support children with SEND. This is called the “universal offer.”

Three levels of support
Children could move between levels depending on their needs. These are not steps and can change as needs change.

1. Targeted support – Small group interventions or adjustments provided by school or college staff.

2. Targeted Plus – A new “Experts at Hand” service, bringing specialists like speech and language therapists or occupational therapists into mainstream schools.

3. Specialist support – Support through nationally defined Specialist Provision Packages (SPPs). These would also form part of the support in an EHCP.

New Individual Support Plans (ISPs)
All children with SEND would have a digital Individual Support Plan.

This would record their needs and the support they receive day-to-day, and would be updated as needs change.

Settings will have a statutory duty to record and monitor special educational needs and provision in an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for children and young people with SEND, to be reviewed annually at a minimum.

EHCPs will remain
Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) would still exist and be improved for children and young people with the most complex needs.

What about children who already have an EHCP?

Children with existing EHCPs would not see any changes before September 2030 at the earliest.

Any changes would happen gradually at natural transition points, such as moving between stages of education.

We are asking for feedback on some key questions where families’ views can help shape the response.

1️⃣ Staff training
What should teachers learn to better support children with SEND?

2️⃣ Managing staff workload
What will help schools make these changes without overwhelming staff?

3️⃣ The SENCO role
How should the SENCO role develop?

Your feedback will help us explain what matters most to parent carers when responding to the consultation.

1. More training for teachers and staff
The government plans to introduce a national SEND training programme for staff in early years settings, schools and colleges.

2. Better understanding of children’s needs
The training will help teachers and school staff recognise SEND earlier and understand how to support children with different needs.

3. More inclusive classrooms
Staff will learn strategies to adapt teaching and classroom environments so more children with SEND can succeed in mainstream settings.

4. A large national investment
Over £200 million will be invested over three years to improve staff knowledge and confidence in supporting children with SEND.

5. Aim for better support for children
The goal is to ensure children and young people with SEND receive the right support earlier, improving their learning and wellbeing.

We are asking for your feedback on key questions where families’ views can help shape the consultation response

1. How can we make sure children and young people are best supported at each level of support?

This includes the Targeted, Targeted Plus, and Specialist layers. We want to understand what best support should look like at each level.

2. What reassurance do families need about Individual Support Plans (ISPs)?

ISPs would record a child’s needs and the support they receive. We want to hear from parents and carers about how these plans can:

• Be high quality and meaningful

• Include the essential information professionals need

• Be clear and easy for professionals to use

• Work well for families and children

  
  

Your feedback will help us explain what matters most to parent carers when responding to the consultation.

Key points:

• £15 million investment to develop national guidance on what good SEND support should look like in all education settings.

  
  

• A digital library of tools and resources to help staff identify needs early and provide the right support.

  
  

• Guidance will cover universal support, targeted interventions and specialist support across the 0–25 system.

  
  

• New research (£4 million) will develop better ways to identify SEND earlier and understand children’s strengths and needs.

  
  

• Children, young people and families will help shape the standards so they reflect real experiences.

  
  

The aim is to give schools clear, evidence-based guidance so children with SEND can be identified earlier and supported more consistently.

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

Your feedback will help us explain what matters most to parent carers when responding to the consultation.

Alternative Provision (AP)

Education, Health and Care Plans

Inclusive Mainstream Fund

Independent oversight

Independent special schools (ISS)

Local area accountability

Parental Preference

Pooled funding in schools for SEND

Resolving concerns about specialist provision

Support for children and families in the earliest years of life

Updating the SEND Code of Practice

You are therefore very welcome to share what you think is positive and any concerns you may have here.

Please note that we can only include feedback that is relevant to the consultation questions in our response.

However, understanding your wider experiences and views is still really helpful for informing our work.

All education settings will have a legal duty to record and monitor children and young people’s special educational needs and support through an Individual Support Plan (ISP).

ISPs will be:

• Easy to access and use, available in a digital format, you can view and contribute to

• Consistent across schools and settings, so information follows your child as they move.

Each ISP will clearly set out:

• Your child or young person’s strengths and barriers to learning

• The support and provision they will receive

• Any reasonable adjustments are being made

• The outcomes the child or young person is working towards

ISPs will be developed together with you and your child or young person from the very beginning, ensuring your voice is central to the process.

For children receiving targeted support, ISPs will include evidence-based interventions based on the National Inclusion Standards, so you can feel confident that the support is effective.

To keep plans up to date:

• ISPs will be reviewed at least once a year, or more often if needed

• They will be living documents, updated as your child’s needs change

ISPs will also be:

• Standardised across different settings, helping ensure smoother transitions (for example, when moving schools)

• Tailored to your child’s level of need, with clear guidance to help settings provide high-quality support

What would help reassure you that your child’s Individual Support Plan (ISP) will be high-quality, easy to understand, and include all the important information, while also being clear and practical for staff to use?

You may have heard terms like SEN units, resourced provision, or pupil support units. The DfE will now use one clearer name for all of these: Inclusion Bases. These are part of mainstream schools and are designed to help children get the support they need while still being included in everyday school life.

There will be two types of Inclusion Base:

• Support Bases – set up by schools or academy trusts to provide extra, targeted help for children who need additional support.

• Specialist Bases – set up by local authorities to provide more specialist support for children with more complex needs.

  
  

Over time, the DfE expects every secondary school to have an Inclusion Base, along with similar support available in local primary schools.

These bases will help more children access mainstream education successfully, with the right support in place for them to thrive.

All Inclusion Bases will follow proven, evidence-based approaches to make sure children receive consistent, high-quality support.

The DfE will also publish national guidance so that all schools follow clear standards and provide the best possible support for children and young people.

How can the DfE make sure that Inclusion Bases in every area meet the full range of children and young people’s needs and help them succeed in mainstream schools?

What needs to be in place so that schools can quickly get the right specialist support for children and young people when they need it?

You might want to think about:

• How well education, health, and social care services work together

• How easy it is for schools to access specialist advice and support

• How quickly support is put in place

  
  

These packages will:

• Be based on strong evidence about what works

• Be developed by experts and tested with parents and carers

• Be regularly reviewed by an independent national panel

• 
  

Each package will clearly describe:

• The type of needs it supports

• The help, support and adjustments required (including staff, training and equipment)

• The outcomes children and young people should be working towards

  
  

Specialist Provision Packages will be used to shape Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). In future, EHCPs will be for children and young people who need this level of specialist support. EHCPs will continue to guarantee the support a child or young person is entitled to, including education, health and care provision.

Day-to-day support in school or college will be set out in an Individual Support Plan (ISP), which is developed locally.

Decisions about whether a child or young person needs a Specialist Provision Package will be made through a local authority assessment. This will include input from families, education settings, and relevant professionals.

Specialist Provision Packages will allow local authorities to proactively commission specialist placements based on their assessment of need within their population.

Some children and young people have very complex, less common needs and need highly specialist support.

This support is not always available in every local area, which can make access more difficult. The DfE will explore working across "regions" (Essex is in the East of England Region, which comprises 11 local authorities) to improve consistent high-quality provisions and more timely access

The aim is to make sure support is clear, consistent across the country, and based on what works best for children and young people.

What needs to be in place to ensure children and young people with highly complex or less common needs (low incidence) can access the right specialist placement when they need it?

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

They will be based on a Specialist Provision Package, setting out the support needed and expected outcomes.

Day-to-day support will be written in an Individual Support Plan (ISP), allowing flexibility to meet each child or young person’s needs.

EHCPs will be developed with schools/colleges and in consultation with parents and carers, after support needs and placement are agreed.

Schools or settings will have the legal duty to deliver the educational support in an EHCP not the local authority as is currently.

There will be a faster process for children under 5 with complex needs to access support and an EHCP.

The assessment process will be clearer, simpler, and include the views of families and children/young people.

EHCPs will become more consistent and easier to use, including a standard digital format.

EHCPs will be for children and young people who need specialist support. Where needs are less complex and do not require a Specialist Provision Package, support will be provided directly by the school or setting through different levels of support (universal, targeted, or targeted plus), including access to specialist advice through the “Experts at Hand” offer.

Support will be regularly reviewed to make sure it is working and meeting needs.

However, there are also significant concerns that need clear answers before parents can feel reassured.

The biggest concern is the potential impact on legal rights and protections currently available through the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. EHCPs currently provide enforceable legal protection, particularly through clearly specified provision in Section F and parental rights around placement preference and tribunal appeal. Parents need reassurance that any reform will strengthen these protections, not weaken them. There is understandable concern that terms such as “Specialist Provision Packages” and “Individual Support Plans” could move the system away from individually assessed, bespoke provision and towards standardised models based on what is available or affordable rather than what a child actually needs.

SEND children are not one-size-fits-all. Two children with the same diagnosis can present completely differently, and support must remain child-centred, flexible and needs-led. Families would be extremely concerned if support became based on pre-set packages rather than detailed individual assessment.

There is also concern that the proposed tiers of support could unintentionally create additional gatekeeping before children are able to access statutory assessment. Parents are already experiencing long waits, delays, repeated cycles of “wait and see”, and barriers to obtaining timely support. The introduction of Targeted and Targeted Plus support may help some children, but there is concern that this could delay EHCP assessments for children whose needs are already clearly significant. Children in crisis cannot wait years for the system to improve.

The proposal for Individual Support Plans raises significant questions. Parents need clarity on whether these plans would be legally enforceable, whether there would be accountability if support is not delivered, what routes of challenge would exist, and whether tribunal appeal rights would remain available where provision is inadequate. Without this, there is concern that an ISP could become a weaker alternative to statutory protection.

The proposals around inclusion bases may be positive for some children where this genuinely provides meaningful access to support within a suitable mainstream setting. However, inclusion must not be interpreted as mainstream at all costs. For some children and young people, specialist provision remains the most appropriate setting. Parents would be deeply concerned if inclusion bases became a cheaper alternative used to refuse specialist placements, or if children were physically present in mainstream settings but effectively segregated, repeatedly removed from class, placed on reduced timetables, or not meaningfully accessing education. Inclusion should mean the right support in the right environment—not simply physical presence.

There are also concerns around hidden exclusion, emotionally based school avoidance, school trauma and children missing education. Families know that unmet SEND needs can quickly escalate into attendance difficulties, dysregulation, exclusions and placement breakdown. Reform must directly address these realities rather than assuming more mainstream capacity automatically resolves them.

Funding announcements sound positive, but parents need clarity on how investment will directly improve support for children and families. Families have heard significant funding announcements before, yet continue to experience long waits for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, educational psychology input, CAMHS support and specialist placements. Workforce shortages remain a major concern. Training is important, but training alone does not create workforce capacity, reduce caseloads or deliver specialist intervention. Parents need confidence that the workforce exists to deliver what is being proposed.

There is also concern about postcode inequality. Families already experience major differences between local authorities, schools and services. Any national reform must reduce inconsistency, not create further variation depending on geography, funding pressures or local interpretation.

Another important issue is parental voice and co-production. Families are experts in their children and must be central to decision-making. Parents need assurance that these reforms are being genuinely co-produced with families, carers and young people—not simply presented to them after strategic decisions have already been shaped. SEND parent groups, independent advocacy organisations and diverse family voices, including families in crisis, children missing education, home-educating families and underrepresented communities, must all be meaningfully included.

There is also confusion around what exactly is being presented. Some parts of the presentation describe reforms in definitive terms, while other slides state these are only proposals. Parents need complete transparency about what is current policy, what is consultation material, what is local planning, and what remains subject to national decision-making.

Overall, SEND parents are not against reform. We support meaningful reform that improves inclusion, early intervention, accountability, access to specialist support and better outcomes for children and young people. However, families will understandably challenge any proposals that weaken legal rights, reduce parental choice, create additional barriers to support, standardise children’s provision, or prioritise affordability over suitability.

The key question for families remains: will these reforms genuinely improve children’s rights, access to timely support and individual outcomes, or will they create a more complex system that becomes harder to navigate and easier to restrict access within?