with Kate Cox, Senior Solicitor, IPSEA
Updated May 2026
Despite what many local authorities and schools are telling parents, the law on SEND has not changed. Proposals are just that: proposals. They can—and will—be changed.
So we asked IPSEA, the SEND legal advice and training charity, to reassure parents, teachers and everyone else, about what the law is NOW—and still will be for several years to come. Legal change takes a long time, and in the meantime, the Children and Families Act is fully in force, along with all your children’s rights. And, if our collaborative campaign, Save Our Children’s Rights, which includes IPSEA, has anything to do with it, they won’t change either. Please share this article with your fellow SEND parents, with your child’s school, and anyone else you think needs to see it.
Here’s Kate Cox, IPSEA senior solicitor, to set out your child’s current EHCP entitlements…
EHCPs are issued when necessary. It’s a right that must be protected by Kate Cox, Senior Solicitor, IPSEA
In the run-up to the Schools White Paper, we continue to hear, almost daily it seems, all manner of speculative commentary on special educational needs (SEN) and the need for ‘reform’ (the meaning of which seems to shift depending on the speaker’s agenda).
This often frames children and young people’s legal rights as a driver of rising costs and systemic strain, a harmful and disingenuous narrative that misrepresents both the law and the reality faced by children and young people, and their families every day.
One aspect of recent speculation is that Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs or EHC plans) may no longer be available for children and young people in their current format. We have, so far, heard they may be limited to pupils in special schools, or only once sequentially tiered support in mainstream education has failed, or for those deemed (by whom?) to have ‘severe’ and ‘complex’ needs (whatever this means).
IPSEA, along with our partners in the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign, strongly opposes this. Let’s quickly recap the law before explaining why such a move would be both misguided and entirely unnecessary under the existing legal framework.
Where do we find SEND rights?
England’s SEND framework, set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 (the Act) and the SEND Regulations 2014, is fundamentally needs-focused.
It ensures that children and young people receive an education that meets their individual needs. No more, but certainly no less.
Who has SEN?
Legal rights only arise if a child or young person has SEN (section 20 of the Act). Far from being a meaningless term as has been suggested, this simply means that:
- they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age and/or a disability that prevents or hinders them from accessing mainstream education in some way, and
- this calls for educational or training provision to be made for them that’s additional to or different from that made for the majority of others their age.
All children and young people with SEN have their needs met either by their school, college or nursery setting through SEN Support, or through an EHC plan with their local authority.
What is an EHCP/EHC plan?
Let’s straighten out a few facts first:
- Contrary to some commentary, an EHC plan is not a “drain on society” or a “tap that needs turning off”.
- It does not depend on diagnostic labels, a level (or otherwise) of cognitive ability, or local area.
- Importantly, it also does not depend on what type of education setting a child or young person attends, or for their needs to meet a particular threshold of severity.
- It certainly is not only available as a “last resort” when all other support has failed the child or young person.
An EHCP is simply a legal document setting out a child or young person’s individual needs and the support reasonably required to meet these needs.
It carries important rights. Once an EHC plan is issued:
- The local authority has a legal duty to secure all the special educational provision (section 42(2) of the Act).
- If children and young people don’t receive the provision specified in their plan, parents and young people can (and do) take legal action to make sure it is delivered.
- Parents and young people can also make sure the plan contains everything required by section 37(2) of the Act (and SEND Regulation 12), by appealing the contents of it to the independent appeals body, the SEND Tribunal
- The SEND Tribunal applies the law and finds in favour of families around 99% of the time, because of the prevalence of unlawful decision-making by local authorities.
The purpose of an EHC plan is therefore two-fold.
- To clearly set out an individual child or young person’s needs and the support they reasonably require, and
- To guarantee that support will be delivered, at the right time, at the right level and in the right way.
When are EHC plans issued?
Again, the legal test is simple.
EHC plans are issued when necessary (section 37(2) of the Act). Broadly speaking, this means that if a child or young person won’t get the support they need without an EHC plan, then a plan is likely to be needed.
Whether an EHC plan is necessary is decided based on evidence, following a statutory assessment of needs called an EHC needs assessment, and facts.
It is not decided based on the type of school, college or nursery a child or young person attends, on assumptions about the ‘severity’ of their needs, or what other children, who may share a particular diagnosis yet have different needs, require.
The law is not concerned with the type of education setting a child or young person attends when considering if they need an EHC plan, whether they have a diagnosis, or whether their needs meet an assumed level of severity, and rightly so.
Many children in mainstream are ONLY there because of their EHCP
EHC plans are only issued when they are deemed necessary. Nearly half of all EHC plans issued are for children in mainstream schools, according to government statistics.
We know from our work at IPSEA that many children and young people in mainstream settings cannot have their needs met without an EHC plan in place. In fact, many children can only remain in mainstream schooling because they have an EHC plan.
So, let’s speak plainly: restricting EHC plans to pupils at special schools, or only when set tiered support has failed a child, would represent legally-sanctioned gatekeeping and a decimation of rights.
What would EHCPs only in special schools look like?
Restricting EHCPs to specialist settings would mean:
- EHC plans would not be available for pupils for whom they are, in fact, necessary.
- Parents would no longer be able to hold their local authority to account for a failure to secure provision.
- Children and young people who do not, or cannot, attend a school, college, or nursery would have no access to an EHC plan.
- Numbers of children unable to attend school due to unmet needs would likely rise even higher.
- Applications for special schools would rise so a child could get the support they may previously have been able to access in mainstream with an EHCP
If the government’s goal for SEND reform is to reduce the number of EHC plans (and the rights they carry) then stripping access to them will do it, but the personal, societal and long-term financial costs will be significant.
Any reduction in legal rights will affect all children and young people with SEN, and disproportionately impact particular communities, such as care experienced children and young people who we know are significantly more likely to need an EHC plan.
The law is clear – EHC plans are available when necessary. This legal right must be protected so that all children and young people with SEN can access an education which meets their individual needs.
Images made with Napkin
Disabled Children’s Rights are Under Attack.
We’re fighting, but we can’t do it alone: we need your help more than ever.
We’re volunteer-run, but costs are rising. To help us keep going, please consider a one-off or, if it’s possible, a regular donation.
Read more about being a regular donor here.
We use Zeffy to fundraise, which doesn’t charge us a fee, so 100% of your donation reaches us.
Key Content
Also read:
- Beyond EHCPs: Why Inclusion Needs More Than a Document
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms
- How health and family support systems are failing children starting school
- WEBINAR RECORDING! The implications for children’s legal rights to EHCPs and EOTAS of the Government’s SEND proposals
- When things go right: Shining a light on SEND Practitioners making a positive impact [Giveaway!]
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children
- Have your say on the future of transport for disabled children and young people
- Unison voices major concerns over SEND reform health plans for sick and disabled children out of school in the EOTAS consultation
- Top Tips for the EOTAS & EHCP consultation: Protect your child’s rights to statutory SEND support
- Navigating constraints: Why a former PCF chair thinks the current model is missing the mark for families
- Dear Secretary of State for Education, Lucy Powell: an Open Letter from Special Needs Jungle and SEND legal charity SOS!SEN
- Research: Disabled young people define inclusive education as “learning in the place that’s right for them”
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children
- Not in our name: How manufacturing consent for proposed SEND reforms has broken the social contract.
- Part 2: The Testimonies. Children died; the system looked away. Will government SEND reforms make this scandal even worse?
- Children died. The system looked away. Today, the Government is calling the human cost of cutting rights, “reform” [Part 1]
- Down Syndrome Act Guidance Consultation: Why you should care (even if you don’t have Down’s syndrome)
- Understanding Parent Blame: Stories of institutional failure and complex trauma BOOK GIVEAWAY!
- The privacy dangers for children and their families in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
- Let’s Consign Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) to the History Books
- How undiagnosed SEND fuels the ‘school-to-prison’ pipeline, part one
Don’t miss a thing!
Don’t miss any posts from SNJ – simply add your email address below. You must click the link in the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your free subscription.
You can also keep up with us by following our
Want more? Be an SNJ regular donor!
SNJ is a non-profit and everyone who writes here does so voluntarily. We need your support to help us with costs by donating once or as a regular patron. Find out more here
- The Unacceptable Truth: 20 SEND legal rights at risk from the Government’s SEND reforms - September 9, 2026
- WEBINAR RECORDING! The implications for children’s legal rights to EHCPs and EOTAS of the Government’s SEND proposals - September 3, 2026
- From suspicion to support: why the Government’s child protection reforms matter for disabled children - August 28, 2026
Please share this article!
Discover more from Special Needs Jungle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Put simply, the 2014 Act imposes on LAs a responsibility that they can’t meet. They have neither the skills and understanding – crucial! – nor the funds, and have been prevented from building their own provision.