Christine McLean with daughter Charlotte, 13, spoke out about changes to special needs education (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Express)
Parents have submitted more than 10,000 formal complaints about special needs education to Ofsted during the past three years. Latest figures showed one in five of all complaints received by the school inspectors involved help for children with special needs.
The scale of the conflict between parents and schools was revealed as the Department for Education (DfE) gears up to announce controversial reforms to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the autumn. Ministers are considering cutting the number of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued to children, which give youngsters a legal right to support.
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The DfE insists no decision has been made but parents are gearing up for a fight and Labour MPs are prepared for another battle after forcing the Government to carry out u-turns over cuts to winter fuel payments and disability benefits. Ofsted received 10,260 complaints about state-funded schools that had an element of concern about SEND provision between 2022 and 2024.
Read more: Chris Packham threatens legal action over possible education cuts
Read more: Overwhelming public support for children and young adults with additional needs
And in a sign dissatisfaction was growing, parents launched 24,000 appeals to special needs tribunals in the last financial year, an increase of 36% from the previous year.
Some were trying to overturn a decision to refuse to give their child an EHC plan while others were claiming support promised in a plan had not been delivered.
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Campaigners Disability Rights UK warned the current system was failing children in evidence to the Commons Education Committee.
The group said: “Families face hurdles at every stage, from years long waiting lists to get diagnosed to battling councils for the support they’re entitled to and getting schools to take them seriously.”
Council leaders warned reform is essential because the current system is driving them to bankruptcy.
There are now 576,000 children with an EHC plan, significantly more than double the number in 2015 when it was 236,165.
Funding for SEND from the DfE is ￡10.7billion but the Local Government Association has estimated councils have deficits of ￡3.5billion as a result of the higher costs they face.
MPs have warned more councils will be forced to follow Birmingham, which declared itself effectively bankrupt by issuing what is known as a Section 114 notice.
Councillor Bill Revans, leader of Somerset Council, told a Commons inquiry that section 114 notices will be “issued like confetti”.
But parents are deeply concerned about potential changes and Parliament is to debate calls on September 15 for the Government “to commit to maintaining the existing law”, after a petition was signed by 119,262 people.
Christine McLean, from Reading, whose daughter Charlotte, 13, attends a special needs school, said she fears children will be denied essential help if they are refused EHC plans.
She said: “If these proposals move forward, it will not only devastate families like mine today — it will cripple the support system for generations of vulnerable children and ultimately, the strength of our future workforce.
“My daughter was diagnosed with autism aged four. She began her education in a mainstream reception class, where — even at that young age — she was written off. The expectations for her were so low that she was never given a chance to succeed.
“It was only when she transferred to a specialist school that she began to thrive.”
Schools Minister Cathering McKinnell said in a written answer in Parliament: “The department knows that families face real challenges getting education, health and care (EHC) plans where their children need them and ultimately, even after fighting to secure the entitlement, a plan does not guarantee that the right support will be delivered.
“That is why the department is currently considering reforms to the SEND system and will be setting out proposals in a White Paper in the autumn."
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A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government inherited a SEND system on its knees – which is why we are listening closely to families as we work to improve experiences and outcomes for children, and have committed to protecting the legal right to additional support for children with SEND.
“We are laying the groundwork for reform to ensure all children have access to the help they need, from more early intervention in mainstream schools across ADHD, autism and speech and language needs, through to ￡740 million investment to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools.
“As part of our Plan for Change, we will restore the confidence of families up and down the country and deliver the improvement they are crying out for, so every child can achieve and thrive.”
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