I’ve made it a point to visit dozens of schools across our constituency to better understand the issues they’re facing and champion the hard work of our teachers and support staff. A topic that comes up on each and every one of those visits is SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) provision. 

I know many of you have been waiting for the publication of the government’s SEND White Paper with bated breath and there have been rumours circulating regarding its content in the leadup to this week’s publication. With that in mind, I would like to outline some of the key changes made in the SEND White Paper and how that reflects some of the concerns raised by parents and teachers in Crewe & Nantwich. 

Where schools are able to offer SEND support, classrooms are often stretched with staff spreading themselves far too thinly to accommodate as many pupils as possible. Where local provisions are not available, parents are left with no choice but to send their children miles away to a private facility, costing the taxpayer billions. 

The average cost for a child to attend one of these places is £63,000, compared with £26,000 at a state special school, meaning private companies are extracting huge profits from the public. In some cases, parents have told me that the care received is inferior to the local state provision. 

Additionally, due to the location of many of these private institutions, transport costs for the children using them are abnormally high, costing the taxpayer £2bn last year. 

The SEND White Paper addresses these issues through £4bn investment over the next 3 years and major improvements to the current broken system.  

£1.6bn of that will be delivered through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, which will allow existing local schools to expand their SEND offering, keeping children closer to home and allowing mainstream public schools to provide more support for children up-front, without the battle for an EHCP.  

New Targeted and Targeted Plus layers of support will ensure children get the right help in mainstream settings. Every child receiving Targeted or Specialist support will have a digital Individual Support Plan (ISP).  

Early years settings, schools and colleges will benefit from £3.7 billion of capital investment from this year to 2030 to create tens of thousands of new places in Inclusion Bases in mainstream settings, make buildings accessible and create new special school places. 

All staff will benefit from national SEND training, backed by over £200 million over three years. £1.8 billion of funding over three years will create a new ‘Experts at Hand’ service bringing education and health professionals directly into mainstream settings. 

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will continue for those who need them, based on national, evidence-based guidelines. After September 2029, reviews at transition points (end of primary, secondary and Post-16) will determine whether children and young people move to a new specialist EHCP or an ISP. All existing EHCPs and protections will remain in place until September 2030. No child will be asked to leave a special school. 

I know that some parents were concerned that reforms to SEND would result in students losing EHCPS, where many families had to fight to get them. Hopefully, the release of this White Paper provides some reassurance that changes to SEND will not come at the expense of a child losing out on the support they need.  

The announcements in the SEND White Paper are not the end of this conversation. The Department for Education has launched a consultation into the proposed reforms to capture the views of parents and teachers, particularly those close to SEND children. I would encourage all of my constituents to make their voices heard by responding to the survey by 18th May 2026. I will be personally engaging with representative SEND organisations and individuals across Crewe & Nantwich to make sure that any queries they have are addressed by the government. 

If any of you would like to discuss this matter in more detail, I would love to hear from you.  Please send your thoughts to Connor.Naismith.MP@parliament.uk