Our response to the Education Select Committee report into ‘Solving the SEND crisis’
This week, the House of Commons Education Select Committee published its final report from their inquiry into Solving the SEND Crisis. The inquiry draws on testimony from teachers, health commissioners, SENCOs, parents, councils, academics and charities.
The Committee spent many months examining evidence submitted from experts and those with lived experience of the SEND system, as well hearing oral evidence from a range of people, including young people.
They have now published a report based on this evidence, setting out recommendations for the Government ahead of the upcoming White Paper detailing their proposals for reforming the SEND system.
Although parliamentary Committees are influential and their recommendations are taken seriously, the Government is not required to adopt them. It will be up to the Government how many of these recommendations are incorporated into the White Paper. However, it is very positive that the Committee’s report echoes so many of Kids’ own recommendations.
Kids’ evidence to the SEND inquiry
Kids, alongside many other disability charities, has been closely involved with the inquiry. Back in January 2025 we submitted detailed written evidence to the Committee (now published on their website), and our CEO, Katie Ghose, also gave oral evidence to the Committee, sharing the voices and experiences of children, young people, and families we support.
What are the conclusions of the report?
The report reflects what Kids and many others said were the main reasons for the SEND system being in crisis:
- Years of underinvestment and cuts to school and local authority budgets
- Delays in early identification and support
- Limited capacity and access to health specialists and professionals
- Lack of awareness and understanding of SEND among teachers, school and local authority staff
- Overall lack of accountability across the system
- Young people experience a drastic decline in support after the age of 16 because the post-16 education sector is overlooked in the SEND framework
The report highlights how the SEND system often feels like a battle for parents. Without early identification, children’s needs can grow more complex, leaving families and schools fighting for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – currently the only legally binding way of securing support.
They describe a system where key professionals, like speech and language therapists or educational psychologists, are often unavailable. Health and care services are not legally required to deliver their parts of EHCPs, and many mainstream schools still lack the culture and attitudes needed to support inclusion.
These findings echo what young people in our Kids Collective, along with parents, have been telling us for years: the SEND system is not fit for purpose and can even feel hostile towards children, young people, and their families.
The report makes clear that this must change, and that Government reforms must urgently focus on rebuilding trust with children, young people, and parents across the SEND community.
Key themes and recommendations
We’re pleased to see that many of the report’s findings align with the issues Kids has long highlighted and our key recommendations are reflected in the final report.
Here are just some examples of the results of Kids’ input.
Inclusion, training and awareness of SEND
The report highlights that a clear definition of inclusion is essential for achieving meaningful inclusive mainstream education. In our submission, we also called for the Department for Education (DfE) to co-produce this definition with children, young people, parents, and SEND experts.
The report states that not only must there be a clear definition, but schools should also be held accountable to it.
On this point, Kids’ evidence to the Select Committee’s oral evidence session was highlighted in their report:
Katie Ghose, CEO of Kids, a charity that supports children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families, told us: We welcome the Government’s drive for inclusive education in mainstream schools to become a reality. For that to happen, the Department for Education should clearly define inclusive education… that would take us some way forward.
The report includes many recommendations for how the Government can deliver truly inclusive mainstream schools, but one key point is the training of teachers and school staff. This is something Kids has supported for many years. From speaking with young people, parents, and SEND professionals, we know this is often the top priority for improving the education experiences of children with SEND.
We also recommended a whole-school approach to change the culture and attitudes in mainstream schools and were pleased to see the Committee’s report supporting this:
We heard about the importance of a whole-school approach to SEND, in which all staff have the skills to support and educate children with SEND, and responsibility is shared across all teachers, leaders and support staff, including teaching assistants (TAs), who are often at the forefront of delivering SEND support rather than falling solely on the SENCO.
Early years
At Kids we have consistently highlighted how underfunding, limited understanding and training in SEND, and lack of multi-agency working are locking too many children with SEND out of early years settings altogether. The report recognises these barriers and calls for greater investment and early intervention in the formative years of a child’s life, echoing our evidence.
Early identification of SEND and strengthening support
The report supports our calls for earlier support and interventions, including from specialists. We urged that schools should have a legal duty to provide legally binding support for children and young people in the SEN Support category.
The report also says there should be clear definitions and expectations for the support ordinarily available in mainstream schools. It recommends that the Department for Education set national standards for SEN support, giving schools a consistent baseline and helping children and parents know what support they are entitled to at each stage.
Accountability for health as well as education
Families often tell us how delays in accessing health support hold up their child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The Committee recommends strengthening accountability frameworks to ensure health services are fully integrated and responsive within the SEND system, making them legally accountable for delivering their part of the plan.
It also calls for SEND Tribunals to have the power to issue legally binding recommendations to health bodies, which would require them to provide their parts of the EHC plan.
School accountability and Ofsted
When our CEO, Katie Ghose, gave oral evidence to the Committee, her testimony was directly quoted in the report. Two of the Committee’s recommendations mirror our submission closely, including improving SEND training for Ofsted inspectors and using inclusion-focused measures in inspections.
“Solving the SEND crisis demands a highly collaborative approach starting ‘from the top’, national standards and a SEND workforce strategy to help turbocharge SEND support in schools, all underpinned by a clear definition of inclusive education and adequate investment.
The Committee has grasped the nettle and identified all the building blocks required to rebuild a system that supports every child to enjoy the ordinary things: fun, friendship and a safe place to learn.
Kids congratulates Helen Hayes MP and her committee on their diligence in capturing the voices and experiences of disabled children and their families. They show the Government exactly where to focus the most effort for the maximum return – to reset a system that will mean families do not need to fight for their rights.”
– Katie Ghose, CEO at Kids
Looking ahead
The Committee’s report is an important step forward, and we are encouraged to see so many of our recommendations reflected in its findings. We hope the Government will carefully examine the detail and put the Committee’s comprehensive recommendations at the centre of the forthcoming White Paper – beginning with a clear definition of inclusive education and outlining how to shift the system from crisis response to early help.
At Kids, we will keep working with families, schools, health professionals, and policymakers to push for a SEND system that works – one where every child can thrive.