The Leader of Somerset Council, Cllr Bill Revans, has expressed his frustration at news of delays to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reform.
A Schools White Paper was due to be published in the autumn. However the Government announced yesterday (Wednesday 22 October) that SEND reform, and other policies for schools in England, will now be published in 2026 to allow for further co-design and testing of the proposals.
Leader of Somerset Council, Cllr Bill Revans, said: “Time is of the essence – so this delay is massively disappointing.
“The present SEND system is in crisis. The number of young people needing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) is rising faster than ever before. The cost of that support is increasing massively. Councils are on course to amass £6bn in deficits by March next year. Families are waiting ever longer for the support their children desperately need.
“We need comprehensive changes that will make the system sustainable and address the dramatic rise in costs we have seen over the last decade. Anything other than root and branch reform will place councils in a vicious cycle over overspending and worsening services for families.”
Cllr Revans and the Lead Member for Children, Families and Education, Cllr Heather Shearer, met with dozens of families who gathered outside County Hall in Taunton earlier this month to protest about SEND provision, to listen to their experiences. The protest was part of a national action across England organised by a parent-led organisation representing more than 35,000 families, called The Send Sanctuary UK.
Cllr Shearer said: “This is a national crisis, and we stand with the parents of SEND children and families in Somerset who believe they are unheard and misrepresented in Westminster.
“At Somerset Council we have identified a raft of innovations and improvements, but children are coming to us in a state of crisis. What’s really needed is urgent and effective reform of the SEND legislation that properly addresses the increasing complexity of need that children and families are experiencing now.”
