Closed Since 18 May: What's Actually True About SEND Reform

This is the education commute. Both voices on this show are synthesized. The judgment isn't right. So I want to start today by, um, by setting a very exact scenario for you. It's a scenario that, well, you know, intimately well. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It is Thursday at pickup longest day, right? Thursday at pickup. You are standing there right by the gate, managing the usual end of day rush and a parent catches you. And you can see immediately, just instantly, that they already have their phone out. Exactly.

The phone is already out. They aren't just coming over to chat about the weather. No, definitely not. The screen is open. It is visibly displaying an article they have just read. They step right up to you at the gate, and they ask you a very specific question. Right. And word for word, the exact question you hear is, is it true they're scrapping EHCPs? Is it true they're scrapping EHCPs? I mean, you are standing at the gate, the parent is looking right at you, and you have...

You have exactly four seconds. Four seconds. Yeah. You have four seconds before your silence starts reading as a yes. And that is just, that is the heavy reality of this exact moment because when you are asked a question loaded, you know, a question about removing a child's specialized support, any delay in answering feels like a confirmation of the worst. Right. It really does matter. And that silence, that the parent's anxiety is just validating itself. Exactly. And here is the... the real problem here. The honest version of this answer is much longer than four seconds.

Oh, much longer. It is entirely impossible to fit the full honest reality into that brief window of silence because the reality is that nothing is scrapped and nothing is passed. The honest answer actually requires a paragraph. Right, but absolutely nobody wants to hear a paragraph while standing at a school gate. No. They don't. They are looking for a yes or a no. Which puts you in an incredibly difficult position. Right. to figure out what that paragraph actually needs to be. Well, to figure out how to give the honest version of the answer without losing them entirely, we have to start with the foundational facts.

We do. We have to look at exactly where the legislation currently sits. Yeah, we have to strip away the panic and just establish the hard date, the legal reality. So let's do that. Right. So the consultation itself was titled exactly, send reform, putting children and young people first. OK, send reform. putting children and young people first. That was the official title. And that consultation opened on the 23rd of February and closed on the 18th of May, 2026. The 18th of May, 2026. So we are, I mean, we are well past the closure date.

We are. And if you go and check the gov .uk page directly this week, like looking right at the official page, it is still marked closed. Just closed. Nothing else. Just closed. There is still no published government response. None. Wow. Yeah, that is the current status. We also need to look at how the House of Commons Library defines this. OK, what do they say? Well, they are very clear on where the legal framework sits right now. Their exact wording is that the current send legal framework remains in force unless and until legislation is introduced.

I really want to repeat that wording. It remains in force. unless and until legislation is introduced. Exactly. I mean, that is a definitive statement. Yeah. We have to confirm for ourselves that absolutely nothing in the consultation is law. None of it is law. Nothing. But there's a shape to it, presumably. Right. I mean people aren't panicking about nothing. No, you are right to point that out. People are reading articles, they are seeing numbers on their screens, and they are reacting to a very specific shape. Right.

That shape is what is generating these massive unconfirmed numbers. The proposed shape and we must keep emphasizing the word proposed. It breaks down into four specific tiers. Okay, let's break down those four tiers then because this is exactly what parents are reading about on their phones at the gate. What is the first tier? Tier one is universal. This is defined as everyday high quality teaching for everyone. Okay, universal. Everyday high quality teaching for everyone and the second. Tier two is targeted. Targeted refers to small group support and digital plans for commonly occurring needs.

Small group support and digital plans for commonly occurring needs. Got it. That moves us to the third tier, which is the one generating a lot of the conversation, right? Yes. Tier three is targeted plus. Targeted plus. Yeah. I recognize that specific tier name from the discussions happening right now. It is heavily discussed because targeted plus is the proposed home. experts at hand. Experts at hand. What exactly sits inside that designation? What does that mean? Experts at hand means educational psychologists, speech and language therapists available on tap.

On tap? On tap, not on a waiting list. That is the crucial distinction proposed inside Targeted Plus. Educational psychologists and speech and language therapists available on tap, not on a waiting list. I mean, I can see why a parent reading that would have an immediate reaction. Absolutely. In the final tier. The fourth tier is specialist. Specialist is EHCPs for the most complex needs. Okay, so we have Universal, Targeted, Targeted Plus, and Specialist. Now, I have to ask about the financial side of this shape. Because along with those tiers, you know, there is money attached.

Oh, yes. What are the actual figures being discussed here? The consultation named some very specific figures. There is seven billion... in additional send support. 7 billion. There is 1 .6 billion for an inclusive mainstream fund. 1 .6 billion for an inclusive mainstream fund. Then there is 1 .8 billion specifically for those experts at hand we just talked about. 1 .8 billion for the experts at hand. And finally, there is 3 .7 billion in capital through 2030. Hold on. Let me just pause here. 7 billion, 1 .

6 billion, 1 .8 billion, 3 .7 billion. You are listing these massive figures, but I have to stop and ask, is this money actually flowing? That is a fair catch. Right. No, it is not flowing. These are real numbers named inside a consultation. The figures exist in the document, but absolutely none of it is committed spending. Wait, none of it is committed? None of it, because there is no actual policy behind it yet. Oh, wow. So the tiers, the universal, the targeted, the targeted plus, the specialist and the billions of pounds attached to them.

They are strictly theoretical right now. They are entirely theoretical, which means we cannot spend our time at the gate discussing uncommitted money and proposed tiers. Right. Because you only have those four seconds. Exactly. We have to pivot. We have to give that parent the crucial piece of information that actually matters today. We need the fact that actually answers their exact question about scrapping EHCPs. Right. So what is that crucial piece of information? Here's the most important fact. There are no changes to any existing EHCP before September 2030.

None. Say that specific date again? September 2030. September 2030. That date is everything. It really is. There are absolutely no changes to any existing EHCP before September 2030. Right. And if we look closely at the transition details, new style assessments at transition points do not even start until September 2029 at the earliest. So new style assessments at transition points don't start until September 2029 at the earliest. Yes. Which means existing plans are completely untouched before then. Entirely untouched. If a child has a plan today, it is protected on exactly the terms that was written on for at least four more years.

Protected on exactly the terms it was written on for at least four more years. That is the reality. It is. So let's take that reality back to the school gate. Back to the Thursday pick up. The parent has the phone open to the article. They ask, is it true they're scrapping EHCPs? And because you know the foundational facts, you lay out the honest answer. No. Not now. Not confirmed. Not for years. And never for the plan your child already has. No. Not now. not confirmed, not for years, and never for the plan your child already has.

That is the answer. It acknowledges the long -term discussion but completely secures the present moment for that family. And you can deliver that entire factual sequence in 20 seconds. A 20 -second answer instead of a terrifying four -second silence. Having established this, we have to look at how this specific phrasing is applied practically across different educational settings. We can take this exact same idea and apply it to three rooms. Let's start with the primary setting. In a primary setting, this looks like a Senco adding one factual sourced sentence to the parent newsletter.

They detail the consultation closure date. they detail where updates will be posted. Just one factual sourced sentence, nothing more. Right. It is not reassurance theater. No. The Senco isn't writing paragraphs trying to manage every possible emotional reaction or promising things they cannot control. It is simply one factual sourced sentence detailing the closure date and where the updates will be posted. It keeps the communication clean and grounded in the legal reality. It does. Now let's look at the second room. The secondary setting. In a secondary setting, applying this same idea looks like the pastoral team briefing form tutors with the exact September 2030 protection date.

Briefing every form tutor with that exact date. Exactly. Because what happens when a year 11 parent asks this question at an options evening? Right. They don't have the primary school newsletter. They're standing in front of a form tutor asking about the future. By briefing the tutors, you ensure that the answer is uniform across every tutor room. Uniformity is vital here. It has to be uniform. You cannot have five different guesses from five different form tutors. Oh, absolutely not. The pastoral team guarantees that every single tutor knows the September 20 -30 date, so the parent gets the exact same factual response regardless of which room they walk into at the options evening.

Which brings us to the third room, the specialist setting. In a specialist setting, the stakes of this conversation are incredibly clear. Making sure families know their current EHCP hold exactly as written is the entire focus. It has to be the focus, because a specialist setting's offer sits entirely inside that plan. The offer sits entirely inside the plan. Everything they do for that child is dictated by the terms written in that document. So the protection date is the headline, not a footnote. It is the most vital piece of information those families need to hear.

So we have the SENCO in the primary setting using a factual sourced sentence. We have the pastoral team in the secondary setting ensuring uniform answers from form tutors. And we have the specialist setting making the protection date the absolute headline. The same idea applied perfectly to three different rooms. Yeah. So let's do the gate redux. Let's role play that Thursday pickup gate interaction again. The parent catches you. The phone is open to the article. The question is asked, is it true they're scrapping EHCPs? But this time, instead of the silence, instead of trying to figure out how to condense a paragraph of uncommitted policy into a yes or no, you deliver the precise 20 second answer.

You say, there's a consultation. It closed in May. No response yet. Nothing's changed for your child's plan. And it's protected until at least 2030, regardless of what's eventually decided. There's a consultation. It closed in May. No response yet. Nothing's changed for your child's plan. And it's protected until at least 2030, regardless of what's eventually decided. That 22nd answer is complete. It really is. It is factual. It addresses the article on their phone. It states the current legal reality. And it protects their child's specific plan. You are armed with the perfect response.

But having the perfect response yourself is only part of the job. Exactly. The final step is testing whether your broader team is just as prepared as you are. You have to know if the rest of the staff is carrying the same factual boundary. So here's the test. At break, ask whoever's next to the kettle. If a parent asked them that exact question tomorrow, would their answer match yours? Or would you find out at the gate that you'd both been saying something slightly different? You really do not want to find out the gap the hard way.

No. Finding out at the gate that you and a colleague have been giving slightly different answers creates immediate confusion and panic for the parents. It completely undermines the factual boundary you just worked so hard to establish. You have to ask them at the kettle, see if their answer matches yours. And there is a second test you need to run. Right. This one is a leadership test. If a governor asked your SENCO tomorrow to explain the reform status in two sentences, could they do it, consultation closed, no response yet, EHCP is protected till 2030, or would it turn into 10 minutes of, well, it's complicated?

That 10 minutes of, well, it's complicated, is exactly what we have to avoid. Absolutely. If a governor asks your SENCO tomorrow, they need those two sentences. Consultation closed, no response yet, EHCP is protected till 2030. Right. If it turns into 10 minutes of complication, it means the foundational facts have been lost in the noise of the uncommitted proposals. Sticking to the legal reality is the only way to avoid that 10 -minute trap. Which brings us to the final rule of thumb for this entire situation. I believe this is settled today.

Gov .UK actually publishes the response not before whatever anyone's heard at a gate between now and then. That is the line to hold. Before we finish, let's recap. We have three things off the drive for you to remember today. Number one, the consultation closed on May the 18th, and there is no response yet. Consultation closed May 18th, no response yet. Number two, there are four tiers proposed with uncommitted money. Those tiers are universal, targeted, targeted plus, and specialist. Four tiers proposed, universal, targeted, targeted plus, specialist, and the money attached to them is uncommitted.

And number three, There are no existing EHCP changes before September 2030. No existing EHCP changes before September 2030. Those are the three things off the drive. I also want to note that the consultation we discussed, as well as the House of Commons library briefing, are linked in the show notes. Read them. We're the trailer, not the film. Both voices on this show are synthesized. The judgment isn't. Safe trip in. See you in the gates.