Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will put in place transitional safeguards for children and young people who currently hold an EHCP to ensure that, during reassessment under the new SEND model proposed, there is no reduction in the level of support or legal protections to which they are entitled.

Under the department’s proposals, a triple lock of transitional protections will ensure children get the support they need.

• Every child with a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in a special school until they finish education.
• Transition will only begin in 2029 once the new inclusive mainstream system has been fully built.
• No child with a current education, health and care (EHC) plan will transition until 2030.

As they approach the point of transition, children and young people with an existing EHC plan will have their needs re-assessed under the new system, with the tribunal as a backstop. If they need a specialist provision package, then they will get a new EHC plan forming their package of support. Alternatively, they will transfer to an Individual Support Plan (ISP) which will be in place ahead of any change in how their support is delivered, developed in partnership with their families

An ISP will set out key information, such as a child or young person’s identified need, provision, intended outcomes and any reasonable adjustments, if they have them. Local authorities’ new Experts at Hand offer will also strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings so that specialist expertise can be accessed by children and young people without an EHC plan.