The report says SEND must become an intrinsic part of the mainstream education system and urges the Government to invest in the skills of all current and future school staff to make SEND the responsibility of the whole school.
Education Committee chair Helen Hayes said: ‘The Government must develop a standardised, national framework for the support that children with SEND can expect in school, long before requiring an education health and care (EHC) plan, so that there can be confidence and clear lines of accountability. In the long term, a genuinely inclusive, well-resourced mainstream education system will bring down the desperate struggle to obtain an EHC plan. This will also help stabilise the sector financially.
Hayes said the Government must put SEND firmly on the agenda of local NHS commissioners and appoint senior responsible officers for SEND at a local level.
The cross-party report, which cites examples of best practice in Ontario, Canada and Norfolk, calls on the Government to invest in education and health workforces, to ensure the health service steps up to its role in solving the SEND crisis and to improve collaboration between the two sectors.
The MPs recommend a review of the national funding formula for schools to take better account of factors that vary between local areas such as prevalence of need, deprivation and distances travelled by home-to-school transport. They also highlight the need to expand the number of specialist school places in the state sector so that more children can be educated closer to home and spending on expensive independent school places can be reduced.
The number of children and young people identified with SEND has risen from 1.3m to 1.7m since the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014. In 2024/25, over 1.2m children and young people were receiving SEND support, and nearly half a million had an EHC plan.
The County Councils Network of the Local Government Association told the Committee that ‘increased complexity', with children being diagnosed with multiple, complex needs, has become the ‘new normal'.
Autism is the most common type of need cited in EHC plans (33.6%) but the Committee heard that since the Covid pandemic there has also been a particular increase in speech, language and communication needs and social, emotional and mental health needs.
Education secretary, Bridget Phillipson said: ‘This report highlights the deep-rooted issues which have plagued the SEND system for too long.
‘I am continuing to listen closely to families, teachers and experts, as we put together plans to transform outcomes for every child with SEND, building on the work we have already started.
‘The report rightly highlights the need for actions we're already taking, to make sure that evidence-based support is available as routine, without a fight, for every child who needs it – from significant investment in places for children with SEND, to improved teacher training, to our Best Start Family Hubs in every local area.'
