Join the Save Our Children’s Rights Protest!

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On May 9th 2026, parents, their families, and other supporters from around the country will gather to send a message to the Government about the SEND proposals in the Schools White Paper: Not in Our Name!

We do not want rights diluted. We do not want individualised provision replaced with “packages”. We do not want the SEND Tribunal restricted. We do not want children placed in potentially unsuitable units without the protection of an EHCP.

We DO want better inclusion. We DO want better accountability. We DO NOT want rights diluted, or to come without guarantees of provision or redress

The Save Our Children’s Rights campaign is holding a ‘Save SEND legal rights’ national protest in central London and regional demonstrations across the country on 9th May.

PROTEST: WESTMINSTER

REGIONAL EVENTS: BIRMINGHAM | BRISTOL | DERBY | DONCASTER | LEEDS | ISLE OF WIGHT | LIVERPOOL | MANCHESTER | NOTTINGHAM | STAFFORD | CHURCH STRETTON, SHROPSHIRE

ALL DETAILS HERE ON THE SOCR WEBSITE

OR ORGANISE ONE NEAR YOU!

Please join the SEND protest to send a clear message— Do not remove our children’s SEND legal rights!

What’s being planned?

• A rally and SEND protest in central London (We are awaiting confirmation for the use of Parliament Square)
• Regional demonstrations as listed above
• If you are unable to attend an event at one of our locations listed above and would like to set something up locally, please get in touch via campaign@socr.org.uk.
• Sign up to our SOCR mailing list and our social media (links at the bottom of the page).
• You can also join our SOCR Facebook group to discuss the proposals

We are grateful to the National Education Union (NEU) for their support with these demonstrations. NEU national and regional offices are providing key liaison for these events.

How you can support the national demonstration

• Can you organise a regional or local event? If so, get in touch
• Can you volunteer as a steward, first aider or other supporter?
• Can you offer sound equipment and expertise for PA systems?

Even if you just intend to show up – we want to hear from you! If you have ideas about how to make these events as accessible and enjoyable as possible, please fill in the form below.

Please note, you must not organise an event without first contacting us. We cannot support ad hoc events that have not been in close contact with our volunteers so we can provide advice, support and help with materials

Watch the presentation

Download the briefing as a PDF, prepared by the Save Our Children’s Rights Campaign. Also explained below.

Why are we protesting?

Because the system hasn’t worked as intended, the government wants to make changes.

• It wants to mainstream schools more inclusive, so more children with SEND can attend and thrive there.
• It wants to stop schools refusing to admit a child because of their SEND needs.

These are good things.

• It also wants every school to have what it’s calling an “inclusion base”—what you may know as a unit or resource base.

These can be good things

The Government’s proposals also include:

• New legal duties on inclusion for mainstream schools
• New ‘layers’ of support for children with SEND, including a right to an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for every child with SEND. This echoes the pre-2014 School Action and School Action +, that was replaced by a single graduated approach. (This was supposed to give SENCOs more opportunity to be creative, but SENCOs and teachers did not have the capacity or, without ringfenced funding, the money, to make this work.)

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that the Government also wants to limit the rights that support families to have their children’s needs met.

The Government’s proposals:

• Give this new legal right to have an ISP for a child with SEND— but no right to any particular provision in that plan, and no legal route of redress if things go wrong
• Instead of individualised provision in an EHCP, it wants children to be in one of seven “Specialist Provision Packages” (SPPs) determined nationally
• Only children who qualify for one of these packages would have an EHCP—this means the legal threshold effectively moves upwards.
• Parental preference of school/college would be restricted and if they appeal, the SEND Tribunal wouldn’t be able to order a specific school or college for a child with an EHCP. Instead, it would have to tell the council to make the decision again. This could result in repeated appeals over placements.
• Inclusion bases that the Government wants in every school have a weak evidence base to support their use, often do not have the right expert staff, the right funding, or opportunities to be part of the school as a whole. This creates barriers to being included and to the right provision. There can also be a mismatch between a child’s actual needs and the specialist provision available in the base.

What are our concerns?

1. Individual needs must remain the foundation of support:
   The current legal framework is built on support tailored to a child’s assessed needs. Proposals to introduce nationally defined “Specialist Provision Packages” shift the system away from individual needs and towards standardised, resource-led models.
2. A plan without enforceable provision is not protection:
   A duty to produce an Individual Support Plan (ISP) is not enough without a clear, enforceable duty owed to the child or young person to deliver the provision within it. A document alone does not secure support.
3. Fewer children will qualify for EHC plans:
   Proposed changes limit EHC plans to children and young people with “the most complex needs” and a narrower scope of assessment. This would mean many children who currently qualify may no longer be eligible, and instead receive an unenforceable ISP and not be eligible to attend a specialist setting (depending on which SPP they receive).
4. Fewer opportunities to appeal decisions for school-aged children:
   Proposals move away from existing EHC plans, which must be reviewed by local authorities annually and carry a right to appeal, towards reviews only at the end of a key stage for school-age children.
5. Placement rights will be weakened:
   Proposals remove the Tribunal’s power to name a specific school. The ability to challenge placement decisions through an independent Tribunal is a cornerstone of accountability and any weakening of that safeguard risks shifting power away from families and risks more children and young people being left without a school or college place that meets their individual needs.
6. Reform must work for all children and young people:
   The proposals raise serious unanswered questions for children educated otherwise than at school (EOTAS), young people post-16 in training, those in alternative provision and children in youth custody.

What does the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign want?

SOCR wants meaningful independent routes to challenge decisions, including robust SEND Tribunal powers, must be retained

This means:

1. Reform must strengthen support without diluting individual, enforceable legal rights.
   • ISPs need to be legally binding and enforceable by a parent or young person
   • Meaningful independent routes to challenge decisions, including robust SEND Tribunal
     powers, must be retained
2. Keep legal rights the same:
   • SEND legal rights must remain as a backstop, regardless of improvements in
     mainstream inclusion.
   • The system for supporting children and young people with SEND is not working as it should. However, it is possible to improve the system without weakening legal rights.
3. Don’t make it harder to get the right support
   • Making it harder for children to secure an enforceable EHC plan, an appropriate school placement, or the statutory right to legally challenge decisions, risks leaving children and young people without the support they need. Legally enforceable protections cannot be replaced by reassurances that schools will provide what children need.

What should I tell my MP?

1. Tell your MP why your child’s legal rights have helped them get the right support — and what would have happened otherwise
2. Ask them: How can families trust the proposals if rights to enforceable provision and appealable decisions are weakened or removed?
3. Ask them: How would provision in Individual Support Plans would be enforced in law? Remember: Families need rights, not reassurances.
4. Ask them: How will children’s individual needs be met if they are too high for mainstream, but do not fit into one of the proposed Specialist Provision Packages? If possible, give examples of how your child’s needs do not fit into the Specialist
   Provision Packages.
5. Ask them: What the threshold would be for an EHC needs assessments and receiving an EHCP? This is currently set out in section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
6. Ask them: How will “the most complex needs” be defined?
7. Ask them: How will the system ensure children are not left without a suitable school
   or college if the Tribunal is not allowed to name a placement?
8. Ask them: How will provision be made for children with SEND who are not in school or
   college? EOTAS isn’t mentioned AT ALL— and neither are children out of school.
9. If your MP is holding SEND Engagement events: Use this form to give us your reaction
   

Take action

1. CONTACT YOUR MP: You can help raise awareness of these concerns by contacting your MP. Our campaign partners, IPSEA, have produced a template letter which is available here
   Write to your MP: protect the legal rights of children and young people with SEND
2. Special Needs Jungle has help for you to answer the consultation here
3. Respond to the Government consultation, which closes on 18 May – SEND reform:
   putting children and young people first
4. Join the national demonstration: Saturday 9 May 2026 in London or one of the regional centres Please follow our social media pages for further
   details once announced.
   SaveOurChildrensRights.org.uk

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