Scrapping Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will reduce legal support for disabled youngsters, south west London charities have warned.
The move is being considered by the government as part of wider reforms to SEND services, with a white paper due to be published this month.
But Jonathan Rourke, senior SEND education advisor for Twickenham-based disabled children’s charity Skylarks, wants EHCPs to stay.
He said: “EHCPs provide legal protection for families.
“If they were to be pulled out that legal support would drop away.”
Former school standards minister Catherine McKinnell said the proposal has been discussed due to a belief the plans have been ineffective.
But her successor, Georgia Gould vowed SEND youngsters will always have the right to additional legal support.
Mortlake charity Action Attainment’s founder and CEO Samantha Silver echoed Rourke’s view on how vital ECHPs are.
She said: “EHCPs are the only legal framework to secure funding and support for people with special educational needs.”
Meanwhile, the Barnes Fund local needs analysis highlighted special needs children who lack an EHCP face significant challenges.
The parliamentary Education Select Committee (ESC) has also spoken out against the proposal.
According to their report, the current number of plans is unsustainable but systemic reform cannot involve the removal of statutory entitlements from the system.
According to the BBC, nearly 1.3 million SEND pupils currently get support without an EHCP, but they are prized by parents for the fact they secure a legal right to support.
But over 630,000 children and young people now have a plan – the highest figures since their introduction in 2014.
According to the Department for Education, SEND spending is set to top £12 billion in the next financial year.
Against such a backdrop, the government believes that drastic action needs to be taken to ease the budgetary pressures facing councils across the country.
The ESC further stated a lack of clarity regarding the timescale and level of investment needed represents a major hurdle to achieving reform.
Rourke said: “We need to make sure schools are getting enough resources to do what they need to do.”
Silver also highlighted the need for additional revenue, even if the ESC suggestion of moving more SEND children into mainstream schools goes ahead.
She said: “The idea needs to account for the fact that teachers and large school environments would require more investment.”
Rourke, meanwhile, claimed current Ofsted practices fail to help SEND children achieve positive outcomes in schools.
He said: “Ofsted needs to focus more on inclusive practices and inclusion.
“It needs to focus on that as much as it does on academic performance and attendance.
“The inclusive side of things needs to be as important as the results.”
In response to the issues raised, Ofsted said: “That is not the case. You might find it helpful to take a look at our recent announcement about our renewed framework, which sets out how every education inspection will focus on provision for disadvantaged children – including those with special education needs and / or disabilities and those who are known to social care.
“This recent speech from Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, also sets out the importance of inclusion in our inspections.”
Feature imaged: Unsplash
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