Andy Burnham is likely to face a battle with the parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) despite having the option to offer concessions to controversial reforms.
Providing extra educational support for SEND children – such as paying for taxis to take them to school and back – is costing local authorities billions of pounds, and they are racking up huge debts as a result.
The Government wants to tackle this by limiting the number of children eligible for legally entitled support by toughening up the criteria, and by educating more SEND children in mainstream schools.
Many parents, however, are opposed to the reforms as they believe their children’s education will suffer.
‘Completely mad’ to water down the changes
Burnham could offer “planned concessions” already built into the reforms to help get the legislation through Parliament, a source told The i Paper, but this is unlikely to include major changes to the proposals.
The former Greater Manchester mayor recently told The i Paper that he wants to overhaul the SEND system to ensure children’s needs are met and prevent them from drifting “away from the labour market”, but he is yet to lay out officially the details of what reforms he wants to see.
However, the source said the incoming prime minister would be “completely mad” to water down the proposed changes to the SEND system.
Diluting the proposals, the source said, “would just cost the Treasury so much” at a time when the current system is “literally unaffordable”.
The looming row comes as a surge in the number of children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legal documents that unlock council-funded support – has placed unsustainable pressure on local authorities in recent years.
The number of EHCPs increased to 638,700 as of January last year, which is 10.8 per cent higher than the year before and 80 per cent higher than in 2018-19.
In March, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated that local authority SEND deficits would hit £14bn by 2028/29. Although councils will be reimbursed for 90 per cent of their overspend accumulated up to 2025/26, a further £9bn is projected to build up over the next two years.
Councils have welcomed the plans to restrict eligibility for EHCPs from 2030, which are set to reduce spiralling costs by 2035. EHCPs may be harder to retain and reserved for pupils with the greatest needs.
‘I want him to listen to what parents are saying’
But the reforms have triggered backlash from parents of children with SEND, who are fighting against any changes that reduce their children’s legal rights.
Ministers have launched several “listening” sessions during the reform process with families, campaigners and teachers in an effort to avoid a repeat of the backbench rebellion following Sir Keir Starmer’s botched welfare reforms.
Jo Hampson, 45, from Manchester, and a mother of three children with additional needs, said parents are “ready to fight” the changes, which she fears would trigger a surge of school avoidance and “push families into mental health crisis”.
Amy Serton, a SEND parent and campaigner who organises the Manchester wing of a national campaign to “save children’s rights”, said parents will “fight for as much as we can because our children matter”.
She told The i Paper the campaign against the reforms would continue unless Burnham decides to “keep all legal rights, EHCPs and the process exactly how it is, [as] we know that we’ve got something to fall back on when everything else fails”.
She fears her 10-year-old daughter, who has special educational needs and mental health issues, may “not be here today” if she did not have the legal rights to fight for a place at a special school via the tribunal system.
But the source close to the reform agenda said there is “no other option than bringing in these reforms”.
“The system does two things,” the source said. “It is an improved system, but it will also cost the state less money. The old system was literally unaffordable, and just because we have a change of government, it doesn’t suddenly become affordable.”
Speaking before the reform proposals were unveiled in December 2025, Burnham – who was the mayor of Greater Manchester at the time – told PoliticsHome that support should not be “taken away” from families under the reforms.
He agreed that the SEND system should eventually “move away” from EHCPs, but in a way that does not “frighten” the public.
The source said it is “not remotely credible” to suggest there are other options for making the system sustainable, but admitted there are certain “concessions baked in” that could be used to get the legislation through Parliament.
“With reforms like this, you build in concession strategies,” they said, adding: “I would be very surprised if Burnham significantly rowed back, [but] there will be concessions baked in.”
£4bn package to mainstream schools more inclusive
It is understood that potential concessions could include tweaks to the new appeals process, or an expansion of the legal duty associated with new Individual Support Plans (ISPs).
Under the SEND consultation proposals, schools would have a legal duty to give all children with identified additional needs an ISP that outlines their needs and day-to-day support, but this would not be legally enforceable.
However, ministers are less likely to concede on central pillars of the reforms, such as a planned change meaning parents will no longer be able to name a specific school at the SEND Tribunal. If the Tribunal rules in favour of parents – which happens in 99 per cent of cases – councils are liable to pay private school fees that can exceed £100,000 a year per pupil, as well as taxi costs to transport children long distances.
Ministers are backing the reforms with a £4bn funding package to make mainstream schools more inclusive and reduce the reliance on private SEND schools.
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