The government’s Schools White Paper has been delayed until next year, education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said.
The Department for Education had been expected to announce its plans for reforming the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in a White Paper in the autumn.
However, the government has now confirmed that this will not be published until after the turn of the year.
In a to Commons Education Select Committee chair Helen Hayes, Ms Phillipson writes: “To help us deliver the most effective set of reforms we can, I have taken the decision to have a further period of co-creation, testing our proposals with the people who matter most in this reform - the families - alongside teachers and other experts as you highlight in the select committee’s report.
“We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper early in the new year.”
There has been widespread concern that the government’s SEND reforms could result in education, health and care plans being cut or reduced.
In her letter, Ms Phillipson indicates that the government’s SEND reforms will be underpinned by five principles. These are:
- Early - that children should receive the support they need as soon as possible.
- Local - that children with SEND should be able to learn at a school that is close to their home.
- Fair - ensuring every school should be resourced and able to meet common and predictable needs.
- Effective - that reforms should be grounded in evidence, ensuring that all schools know where to go to find effective practice.
- Shared - ensuring education, health and care services should work in partnership with one another, local government, families, teachers, experts and representative bodies.
Ms Phillipson’s letter adds: “I am acutely aware that our reforms to SEND are some of the most critical this government will deliver, and that is why it is so essential that we take the time to listen and get it right.”
Concerns over SEND reforms
Tom Rees, who leads the DfE’s expert advisory group on inclusion, said: “I’ve said before that reforming the SEND system is both the most important and the most complex policy area in education today. There is a lot of appetite for change, and it’s important to take the time to get this right.”
He added: “Reform of this scale can’t be rushed and I welcome the additional time so that both the expert advisory group and the government can continue to listen, develop and test ideas, which build on the clear principles of reform set out by the education secretary today.”
Commenting on the delay, Geoff Barton, chair of the IPPR Inclusion Taskforce, said: “I think it’s very sensible. The government has set itself the task of creating a more equitable system. I think this announcement gives us the space to ask the question: what sort of society do we want to live in and what kind of education system do we need to have in order to deliver that?
“At the moment our education system works well for a lot of young people but it doesn’t work for well for everyone, and asking how we achieve that is a very big question.”
Mr Barton told Vlog that the SEND reforms provide a “once in a generation” opportunity to change the system for the better and it is important that this opportunity is not missed.
There had been concerns that the government’s SEND reforms could result in reduced rights for children and young people.
But last month schools minister Georgia Gould told a Westminster Hall debate that there would always be a legal right to additional support for children with SEND.
The White Paper is also expected to set out plans for wider reforms beyond SEND.
Earlier this month Ms Phillipson said it would deliver a “generational reset” in the contract between white working-class families and schools.
The DfE has also announced that it will set a target for 90 per cent of pupils to reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check and introduce mandatory reading tests for Year 8 students as part of its White Paper plans.
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