Government White Paper Education: What the SEND overhaul, funding pledges and political fallout mean at a glance

The government has published plans to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system in England, and the new proposals are being framed as a broad rethink of entitlement, assessment and support. This government white paper education announcement introduces new terminology, funding commitments and a long timetable for change that will affect children with SEND, parents and local authorities — and it arrives amid a separate political dispute over historical files linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Government White Paper Education: core structural changes to SEND

The reforms introduce individual support plans, or ISPs, alongside new layers of day-to-day help labelled "targeted", "targeted plus" and "specialist", and a set of national inclusion standards. The education secretary said the aim is to get support to children with SEND "when they need it, as routine and without a fight. " ISPs are described as flexible documents that set out a child's needs, the support they should receive and what it hopes to achieve; they are intended to capture daily needs in contrast with education, health and care plans, or EHCPs, which provide the statutory framework and legal entitlement to support.

Key changes to EHCPs and what will qualify

The biggest structural change is a tightening of access to EHCPs. By 2035, only children with the most complex needs will qualify for an EHCP. EHCPs remain legal documents that identify a pupil's needs and set out the support to be provided, with local authorities responsible for ensuring those plans are followed. Until 2015 the proportion of pupils with EHCPs was relatively stable at 2. 8%; since then it has nearly doubled to 5. 3%. The government has said it is worried that, without reform, demand will continue to grow and that it would become unsustainable.

Reassessment timetable, parental rights and transition rules

Children who already have an EHCP, or who have been assessed as needing one, will keep them until they finish the phase of education they are in (for example primary or secondary). Reassessments will begin from September 2029. As an example of how the roll-out works in practice, pupils who are now in Year 2 will be reassessed when they reach Year 6. Parents will still be able to apply for new EHCPs, which will continue to be delivered by local authorities, and they will retain the ability to challenge decisions about support at tribunal. The government expects the proportion of children with EHCPs to grow in the foreseeable future while reforms are implemented, but it hopes the growth rate will slow and that the proportion will return to its earlier level by 2035.

Funding commitments and the broader political pitch

Alongside the structural reforms, a separate 10-year education plan has been presented as generous in places but with acknowledged weaknesses. The plan asserts an ambition to control rising SEND costs by investing now. Financial commitments spelled out include £1. 6bn to be spent over the next three years to ensure needs in mainstream schools are identified early and met consistently, and a further £1. 8bn earmarked for speech and language therapists, educational psychologists and other professionals to bring their work into schools. A new generation of Sure Start–style family hubs will each include an in-house SEND practitioner. The plan is positioned around mainstream inclusion, and its proponents argue a move toward more open school cultures will reverse previous shifts away from mainstream provision.

Politics and timing: MPs, historical files and a live police inquiry

At the same time as the SEND package has been unveiled, MPs are debating a Liberal Democrat-led attempt to compel ministers to release documents about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment as a trade envoy in 2001. The government will not oppose the release of the files and a government minister has confirmed support for the motion. However, documents that could prejudice an ongoing police investigation will not be published until that investigation has concluded. The minister has warned the release will take time because many relevant documents are not held digitally but exist only in hard copy; some documents are mostly 25 years old or earlier and may be substantial in number.

Public debate, rhetoric and uncertainties

The national conversation around SEND has been sharp and, at times, adversarial. One critique in public discussion accuses commentators of demonising disabled and vulnerable children and their parents and of promoting an "overdiagnosis" narrative. A case highlighted in the debate involved a call on social media that sought a parent willing to appear in media discussions for a fee of £150. Supporters of the reforms argue the changes are an inclusive investment; critics warn of threats to parental rights and of political risks should a subsequent government pursue different priorities. The plan's advocates describe the announcement as a "once-in-a-generation chance for change, " while some aspects of the rollout and the final sentence of a major commentary are unclear in the provided context.

Details outlined here are drawn from the material released with the reform package and contemporaneous parliamentary statements; elements relating to the police inquiry and the paperwork release remain subject to the timeline of the investigation and to practical constraints around document formats.