Laura Trott: Consequence-driven look at the SEND overhaul and who will feel the changes first

If you searched for laura trott and landed here, this explains what the coming SEND overhaul will change next for families and schools. The government says it will publish a White Paper on Monday that starts a decade-long transition intended to expand and speed support, extend school-led legal plans for every child with identified needs, and introduce formal reviews of children’s needs — while promising not to remove effective support.

Laura Trott — who notices change first and how fast it may arrive

Here’s the part that matters: ministers have framed the next phase as a shift toward quicker, more locally delivered help. The education secretary has said the plan will involve increased spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) rather than cuts, and that existing effective support will not be taken away. At the same time, the system will put more emphasis on routine reviews of each child’s needs so support can be adjusted — a process the government says should already be happening more often than it is now.

Key elements the White Paper is expected to set out

The policy paper due on Monday will describe a multi-stage transition. Schools will be required to draw up school-led Individual Support Plans (ISPs) for every pupil identified with special educational needs; these ISPs will carry some form of legal underpinning so they sit alongside existing legal instruments. Education, health and care plans (EHCPs) are said to remain important in the redesigned system, but leaks indicate EHCPs will be subject to reassessment in a different cadence — with a reassessment point after primary school beginning in 2029.

What families are saying and one concrete case

Families already struggling to get help are anxious the reforms could help or harm. May Race describes a collapse in support for her son Joseph, who is 12, lives near Winchester and has autism, dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; his autism is noted as the type known as pathological demand avoidance (PDA). Joseph has largely been out of school since around age eight, now rarely leaves the house and is too unwell to meet professionals who might assist — his mother says the current SEND system has failed him and that resource shortages, inflexibility and poor understanding have made him worse, not better.

More than 1. 7 million children in England were classed as having special educational needs in the academic year 2024-25, a scale that families point to when warning that any change could have wide consequences. Some parents worry the reforms might limit support; ministers insist children who already occupy specialist places and have specified support will not lose them, but parts of that assurance are unclear in the provided context.

Timing, transition and the fiscal backdrop

The government frames the approach as a decade-long, careful transition away from a system many acknowledge is not working. The White Paper will be published on Monday and is meant to set out how the changes roll out over that period. One leaked timing detail is that reassessments of EHCPs are planned to start after primary school from 2029. The reforms arrive against a backdrop of rising costs in the SEND system and pressures on local education authorities that have built up high levels of debt while funding placements and support.

All state schools will have to join trusts in the education overhaul — a further structural change noted in the context that is likely to shape how ISPs and school responsibilities are coordinated, though the practical consequences are not spelled out here.

Short micro Q&A to clarify immediate practical points

• Q: Will effective support be removed? A: The education secretary has said the government will not withdraw effective support and plans to spend more on SEND.
• Q: Will every child get a legal plan? A: Every child with identified special educational needs is to have a school-led Individual Support Plan with some legal status.
• Q: When will EHCPs be reassessed? A: Leaks suggest EHCP reassessment after primary school will begin from 2029; details are to be set out in the White Paper.

It’s easy to overlook, but the shift toward legally backed ISPs changes the locus of many decisions from external assessment to school-led plans — that will be the real test for families and local authorities as the decade-long transition unfolds.

The real question now is whether the promised faster access and increased spending will land in ways families notice without gaps in the years of transition. Some assurances are explicit; other details remain unclear in the provided context and will need to be checked once the White Paper is published.