ISC Daily News Summary

There is widespread media coverage today of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with many outlets focusing on ministers' plans for reform ahead of a forthcoming white paper.

The government's reforms may require experts to see greater evidence of SEND before offering children support plans, according to The Telegraph, amid reports that ministers are considering scrapping education, health and care plans (EHCPs) due to rising costs. Speaking to the paper, a Whitehall source said the current system of obtaining an EHCP was not sufficiently "evidence-based" and that experts' time was being wasted filling out paperwork. However, charities have warned against any plans to make it harder to gain support or to remove the right to a tailored EHCP. Suzy Yardley, the chief executive of Child Autism UK, warned: "I’m sure that there is bureaucracy, but … you need to keep the legal rights for children in place while looking at how to streamline that." By Poppy Wood, Amy Gibbons and Ben Butcher.

As ministers consider increasing the number of places for children with SEND units at mainstream schools, disability campaign group Let Us Learn Too has vowed that parents will "not stop fighting" against the reforms. iNews takes a closer look at what ministers are planning, and profiles the Ontario SEND system, which is reportedly being held up as an exemplar given its well-resourced SEND provision in mainstream schools. The Canadian province's model sees the ministry of education allocating funding to district school boards via grants designed to help meet their responsibility to support pupils with SEND. Hayley Harding, a parent of two children with SEND and the founder of Let Us Learn Too, welcomed ministers looking towards the system in Ontario, which she says "puts children and its families at the centre". By Richard Vaughan and Connie Dimsdale.

In a letter to The Guardian yesterday, numerous SEND charities and campaigners warned against government changes to the SEND system that would restrict or abolish EHCPs. Helen Hayes, chairman of the Commons Education Select Committee, has also urged the government to commit to keeping EHCPs, in order to maintain the trust of families of children with SEND. "I think at this stage that would be the right thing to do," she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Schools minister Stephen Morgan reiterated Ms Phillipson’s refusal to say whether the white paper would include plans to change or abolish EHCPs, telling Sky News he could not "get into the mechanics" of the changes at present. By Peter Walker.  

David Blunkett, the former education secretary, has said ministers must use "incredible sensitivity" when making changes to the SEND system. Lord Blunkett, who attended a residential school for blind children, also urged the government to reassure parents that it was seeking "a meaningful replacement" for EHCPs. By Sally Weale and Peter Walker, The Guardian. 

Speaking to The Independent, a mother from Hertfordshire warns that cuts to SEND support could be "devastating" for families, saying her son’s education and mental health were saved by specialist help. Renata Watts has two children who have EHCPs and tells the paper the support transformed the life of her eldest son, Elliot, who had become mentally unwell and isolated. Describing the impact of being given an EHCP, she says: "From zero per cent attendance, he went to 100 per cent. He got three A*s at A-level. He’s just completed a master’s in computer security. He will go on to be a massive asset to the UK. All of that would’ve been lost without that legal duty to support him." By Jabed Ahmed.

A feature in The Guardian outlines what EHCPs are and why parents and campaigners are concerned about the government's plans to reform the SEND system. By Sally Weale. A similar item, outlining how EHCPs work and the risks of removing entitlements from vulnerable groups, is published in The Times. By Chris Smyth and Georgia Lambert.

In this week's episode of The Guardian's Politics Weekly podcast, presenters Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the future of SEND support. Highlighting the anxiety of those impacted by the government's plans to shake up the system, Ms Crerar calls for ministers to "explain exactly what these reforms might be, before they get to the point of publishing the white paper in the autumn".