Cerebra has issued an initial response to the Government’s proposed SEND reforms, focusing on the rights of disabled children, the desire to push disabled children to mainstream schools and the reduction of powers of the SEND Tribunal. Cerebra is very concerned about the likely increase in Systems Generated Trauma.

Background

For many reasons, families of children with disabilities know what it is like to live with uncertainty. After six and a half years, one of those uncertainties has been removed, as the Government’s review into education for children with special educational needs has concluded with the publication today of the Schools White Paper.

This represents a fundamental rethink into how children with special educational needs will be educated. The Government intends to replace the Children and Families Act 2014, which, along with regulations and a code of practice, sets out the current rights and entitlements to special education provision with a new law.

Current legislation and reasons for review

There is nothing wrong with the current statutory framework, it is good law[1]. We believe that the primary reason that the Government wants wholesale change is to contain costs, which have been increasing significantly over the last few years and are forecast to increase further.[2]  It intends to do this by increasing capacity and expertise in mainstream schools by creating inclusion bases and reducing access to more expensive special schools.

Mainstream vs special schools

We agree with the principle that, where appropriate, children should have their special educational needs met in their local mainstream school and be educated alongside their non-disabled peers, but for some children this is not appropriate and places at special schools should not be restricted for children who need them.

Reduction or removal of disabled children’s rights

We entirely oppose the removal of any rights for children with special educational needs.

We are extremely concerned that the proposed shift in SEND provision will be accompanied by the reduction or removal of disabled children’s rights by making access to Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) much harder, leaving schools to decide what provision a child needs.

An EHCP sets out a child’s special educational needs and the special educational provision to meet every one of those needs. It is the legal mechanism by which families can enforce their child’s right to an education in what is a very broken system.

If the proposed system works as the Government intends, the demand for EHCPs would naturally reduce as needs will be met out of ordinarily available provision in mainstream schools.

There would be no need to remove rights. But the Government needs to demonstrate this works. It should not remove rights at all, and it definitely should not legislate to remove rights based on an untried and untested model.

Reduction of SEND Tribunal powers

We entirely oppose the reduction in powers of the SEND Tribunal, which is a key mechanism available to parents to hold local authorities to account. These include removing the power of the SEND Tribunal to direct a local authority to provide a place at a specific school, which could be potentially disastrous for a child.

The job of the SEND Tribunal is to step into the local authority’s shoes and remake the decision that is being appealed. Local authorities lose 99 percent of all appeals because they consistently make unlawful decisions.[3] There is no reason to think this will change in the proposed new system.

Removing rights and accountability mechanisms will not solve the problem. The Government are proposing to improve complaints and mediation processes. We help many families with social care complaints and know this system works poorly.

We are not convinced that making families go through a complaints system, before being able to make a more limited appeal to the SEND Tribunal, will be fair, timely or effective.

Proposed funding increases

We welcome the increased funding that is attached to the proposals and the intention to increase access to specialist support in mainstream schools. There Government has come forward with some solid proposals. Whether these will be sufficient to meet needs remains to be seen.

Systems Generated Trauma

Our report, Systems Generated Trauma, published in November 2025, found that a large percentage of families are traumatised as a result of fighting for the right educational provision for their children.

We are deeply concerned that the proposed changes set out in the White Paper will have the unintended consequence of traumatising even more families because we believe that the changes are fundamentally about saving money, rather than meeting children’s special educational needs.

The Government’s School’s White Paper and SEND Consultation can be found here and here.

23 February 2026, amended 24 February 2026

[1] https://www.ipsea.org.uk/blog/responding-to-the-national-conversation-on-send-reform-why-existing-law-already-answers-the-governme

[2] Slide 18 https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2026/02/SS2026-Preview-Slides.pdf

[3] https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/las-win-none-25k-send-appeals-over-200m-shocking-announcement/