The Government's emerging plans for the Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system are based on five overarching themes:
- Early intervention, including earlier in children’s lives when this can have most impact.
- Local provision, so young people can learn at a school close to their home, alongside their peers, as well as the vital role of special provision for complex needs.
- Fairness, so every school has the resources and capability to meet changing needs – stopping parents fighting for support and ensuring clear legal safeguards for children and parents.
- Effective practice, grounded in evidence to ensure excellent long-term outcomes.
- Shared working that means education, health and care services working in partnership with local government, families, teachers, experts and representative bodies.
These themes formed the basis of the Government's national conversation, open for comments betwen December 2025 - January 2026.
The key points from our submission are below:
- We support the overarching themes and focus on early intervention, local provision, fair access and support to address the postcode lotteries that exist, integration and shared working across agencies, and harnessing effective practice and expertise wherever possible.
- Co-production and choice are critical to the future of an effective SEND system. Children, young people, carers, families and those working in the sector must all have a role in shaping effective provision. The role of the voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector is critical in this.
- Data and the applications and systems used to support indivudals with SEND is an essential part of the puzzle. Done well the capturing and sharing of data reduces duplication, frustration and tension while allowing for planning and future proofing of services. Commissioning based on an understanding of current and future needs is foundational to any system's success.
- We agree with the National Autistic Society that support should be based on need, not diagnosis. As a member of the Disabled Children's partnership, we support the recommendation that every child has a written record of the support they need. The duties and responsibilities around timely assessments, EHCPs and other support plans must be clear to avoid much of the stress that currently exists within the system.
- Comprehensive mandatory SEND training for health and care staff, early years and schools (students, teachers, support staff and specialists) is another building block upon which the system must be built.
- There are many barriers stopping services from working well. We drew on insight from our Special Interest Group on Children and Young People's provision (CYP SIG) to set some of these out, and to invite Ministers to visit the specialist provison delivered by VODG members to see firsthand the essential contribution the VCSE sector makes. Barriers we referred to include:
- Silo'd budgets and a lack of integarted commissioning. Our Reframing Commissioning principles set out the different way conversations can take place to ensure services are co-produced, ambitious, future proofed and collaborative.
- The lack of stautory acountability for joint working.
- Differing eligibility criteria, assessment processes and timescales across services creating practical obstacles.
- Workforce capacity.
- Early planning that follows a child from birth and/or diagnosis through to adulthood, with particular focus on transitions to ensure children and families are not faced with a cliff edge, where support very swiftly falls away.
- We also set out what a successfiul model could look like, again based on input from our CYP SIG, including:
- Clearer and more timely access to assessments and support
- Early intervention for families to ensure everyone in the household impacted by SEND is able to access the support they need
- A recruitment drive for the specialists needed and training for all staff applicable to their roles and responsibilities
- Joint commisisoning and joint working between care, health and schools to allow for the sharing of expertise, data and information in a way that improve everyone's journey through the system.
- Dedicated coordinators and early transition planning
- A focus on outcomes and what best suits each individual child and family
- Sharing of good practice and solutions that already exist.