EHCPLetterJuly25SD

Letter to Labour MP for Telford Shaun Davies

(With links)

Dear Shaun Davies MP

Record SEND Exclusions and Proposed Removal of EHCP's

A recent report from the BBC should raise profound concern regarding the future of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in England, in light of both the Department for Education’s recent exclusion statistics and reported plans to phase out individual Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for all but the most complex pupils.

The published figures for 2023/24 show an alarming 954,952 suspensions in state schools , a 21% increase and 10,885 permanent exclusions. Over 100,000 of these exclusions were of primary-aged children, and alarmingly nearly half involved pupils receiving SEND support. These figures signal a system increasingly unable to meet needs, instead resorting to exclusion and removal.

In this context, reports such as those in the "i" newspaper, that the Government intends to replace EHCPs with SEND “units” in mainstream schools making provision more generalised and potentially removing statutory entitlements for the majority are deeply concerning. 

For over two decades, I have had the task of representing my own SEND children through the fractured system. I have also stood beside other families navigating the system that too often feels impenetrable, adversarial, and indifferent to their daily struggles.

So I can say with conviction that the realities faced by our families cannot be fully understood from behind a desk in in SW1 or London. 

What may appear on paper as efficiency or change is, to those of us on the ground, the withdrawal of lifelines. 

It is precisely this gaping gulf in understanding that makes strong, enforceable legal rights not only necessary, but indispensable.

EHCPs are a legal safeguard, and should never been seen as an administrative burden. EHCPs exist not to create bureaucracy but to secure and enforce a disabled child’s rights to support. 

For many families, the EHCP is the only mechanism to ensure that local authorities and schools meet assessed needs. The suggestion that these could be withdrawn for most children in favour of discretionary in school support would significantly weaken accountability, and leave families without any recourse when provision fails.

The record 24,000 SEND Tribunal appeals in 2024/25, a 36% increase on the previous year, are not a sign that EHCPs are the problem. They are proof that EHCPs are the only thing currently working for many families.

SEND units cannot replace individualised legal rights. The Government has reportedly drawn inspiration from the model used in Canada. However, this comparison fails to acknowledge that it provides every child with an individual education plan (IEP) , regardless of how complex their needs are. Their system respects both inclusion and personalisation.

In contrast, the proposed English model appears to remove individual legal entitlements from the majority of disabled children. 

Such a proposal would amount to regression dressed in the language of progress. It is fundamentally misleading to suggest otherwise. 

If this is the Government plan, I would caution that it risks a breach of International law. Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) guarantees the right to inclusive education at all levels for disabled people. It commits the UK to ;-

(1) Ensure that persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability;

(2) Provide persons with disabilities with equal access to quality and free primary and secondary education in inclusive settings;

(3) Ensure that reasonable accommodations and support measures are provided to facilitate effective education and social participation.

It is a fact that EHCPs are currently the primary legal instruments by which the UK ensures these Article 24 duties are met. To remove them and replace them with an undefined or unenforceable school-based arrangement would place the UK in serious breach of its international obligations. 

Any new policies that replace enforceable duties with so-called "targets" or "ambitions" will not be acceptable. Terms that may sound promising but carry no legal force. We must not allow a shift from binding obligations to political aspiration to go unchallenged. The rights of disabled children should never be reduced to mere policy statements without accountability.

The risk is that children will remain nominally in “inclusive” settings, but without the personal support required to make that inclusion meaningful. Many children will simply feel totally abandoned. 

In addition disadvantaged families will suffer the most. For families without the means to litigate, negotiate, or privately fund support, EHCPs are the last remaining tool to ensure their children’s needs are met. Removing EHCPs will widen inequalities and cement a two-tier system in which only the most advantaged can access meaningful provision.

I therefore respectfully urge you to lobby collegues and ministers:

1. Publicly commit to the universal availability of EHCPs where needs meet statutory thresholds, regardless of complexity.

2. Confirm that any new model of support will not remove individual legal entitlements, or water down enforceability.

3. Ensure that reforms fully comply with Article 24 of the CRPD, and publish a legal and equality impact assessment prior to any legislative proposal.

4. Commit to meaningful consultation with disabled people, families, legal experts, and front-line professionals prior to any publication of the proposed White Paper.

The children and families most affected by these reforms are already among the most vulnerable in our society. They deserve better than opaque policymaking and austerity-driven reform. They deserve rights, protection, and inclusion with dignity.

I urge you to lobby the minister to proceed with extreme caution, and to centre the lived experiences of families in shaping the future of SEND provision.

Finally I would also urge your government to stop dismissing the concerns of those who have spent decades living this experience as “scaremongering.” Many of us have dedicated our lives to protecting and advancing the rights of disabled children and young people. We raise these alarms not out of ideology, but out of first-hand knowledge of what happens when rights are removed and replaced with vague promises. The time has come not for defensive soundbites, but for genuine, transparent engagement. 

Yours sincerely,

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2vn950d5go

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2023-24

https://inews.co.uk/news/send-units-mainstream-schools-replace-individual-care-plans-children-3792046?srsltid=AfmBOoocX0VW1hLEwVFZkhC_MXbXt8nqIv7eQu5K7eJYTDOUq8PuOPlt