Four families who have battled to get Education Health Care Plans ((EHCPs) fear government reforms of the SEND system will strip away the legal protections for their children
Nicola Holmes, 55, lives with her husband Wayne and their children Ethan, 18, and Ella, 16, in Tewkesbury, Glos. She spent years fighting to gain meaningful EHC Plans for Ethan, who is autistic, has Down’s Syndrome and severe anxiety, and Ella, who is autistic with a PDA type profile and is situationally mute.
“The current SEND system would work if everybody adhered to the law. But children are being awarded an EHCP and local authorities don’t comply. They argue they’re not funded properly by the government.
“Parents are having to take local authorities to tribunals, and 98% of the time succeeding, which is what happened with our son. A judge made an order, but we’re in a position a year later where the local authorities are still arguing about his provision. It takes so long, children age out of the system.
“We don’t know the details of the planned reform, but I fear the government is going to hand more power to local authorities, which is very frightening because they’re not accountable as it is.
“Some people say an EHCP is a way of getting a bespoke education, but there has to be significant needs and failures to have already taken place with a child to warrant them even being considered.
“The number of EHCPs awarded has doubled since 2009 because the Sure Start system was axed, which took away much-needed early intervention, and schools are more populated so children with these conditions are struggling much sooner because the environments are overwhelming.
“The government buzzword ‘inclusion” may look attractive and will make savings but removing EHCPs and clumping everyone together means disabled children will lose life chances.
“If the government is serious about wanting to help disabled people into work, they have to help them in education first.
Hayley Harding, 41, from Surrey is mum to Matthew, 10, and Connor, eight. Hayley runs organisation Let us Learn Too. Matthew has autism, ADHD and dyspraxia and attends a specialist base attached to a mainstream school. Connor is autistic and attends a mainstream school with full time 1:1.
“Since having an EHCP Matthew has achieved things we never thought possible. He can read and write and should be able to get a job eventually if the support continues. Having an EHCP has meant everything to him.
“Before Connor had an EHCP I had to force him to go to school – he was kicking and screaming, he was having multiple meltdowns.
“But once he had the EHCP that all changed. I don’t know if he’ll be able to go to school if that support is taken away.
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“Parents just want their children to go to school, learn and be happy. However, avoiding finding out what our children’s needs are by taking away the assessments and plans that identify them is not the solution.
“The government must stop and properly consult disabled children and their families about what they are considering. By not doing so, they are going to create a system that is even worse than it is now.”
Influencer and author Lisa Lloyd, 40, lives in Aylesbury with husband Terry and their two autistic children Finley, 10, and seven-year-old Poppy.
“EHCPs are absolutely vital for a lot of children in mainstream schools – they help children get the right support they desperately need so they can access education.
“Without the EHCPs there will be so much more school avoidance and many teachers leaving the profession because they cannot cope with the number of SEN children they have and they can’t give them the right education.
“I know from experience the way my son was before we got him an EHCP. For the first two years of primary school, he didn’t have that EHCP, and he slipped further and further behind because he didn’t have the right support in place.
“He was having meltdowns, he was overwhelmed and touched out with schoolwork – he couldn’t cope. But with an EHCP he was a completely different child.
“With EHCPs being removed from children in mainstream settings, this is going to have a knock on effect because more children will be sent to SEN schools because they will not be able to cope in a mainstream school without an EHCP.
“The only step will be to move them into SEN schools which means even less room for SEN children.”
Aimee Bradley and husband Davin, both 41, live in Hampshire with their three autistic children, Autumn, 12, Ashton, six, and Blake, three.
“This whole situation has left me feeling sick with worry. All we want is for our children to be able to thrive at school. Why is that too much to ask? Why is it always so difficult for children like ours to be given an education that actually meets their needs, so they can do their best, enjoy school, and have a life beyond it?
“Instead, it feels like we are heading towards a future where so many disabled children are left traumatised and completely let down. Without EHCPs and without proper funding, most mainstream schools simply cannot meet the needs of every child with special educational needs. It just does not work like that, no matter how much they try to spin it.
“This whole thing feels like nothing more than a cost-cutting exercise at the expense of some of the most vulnerable children in this country. It shows exactly how little value they place on our children’s lives.
“They present this as some kind of positive early intervention plan. It is not.
“Parents like me know exactly what this is. It is a way to reduce the number of EHCPs and strip away legal protections by making it harder to qualify. It does not matter how they dress it up, because the reality is clear.
“If EHCPs are restricted, thousands of children will be pushed out of education completely or left to struggle in schools that cannot meet their needs. This is not fixing anything. It is simply pushing children out of sight so the government can save money.
“What worries me even more is that the Education Secretary has been asked several times about her stance on this, and not once has she clearly denied that EHCPs could be removed.
“Her silence, or rather her constant redirection, speaks volumes. It leaves parents like me with absolutely no hope or reassurance. It feels like they are deliberately avoiding the truth because they know the backlash will be huge.”
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