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The Schools White Paper setting out the Government’s reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system will be delayed until the new year, the Education Secretary has said. In a letter to the chairwoman of the Education Select Committee, Bridget Phillipson said the Government will bring forward a full Schools White Paper early in the new year. The Schools White Paper had originally been expected in autumn. In the letter to Helen Hayes, Ms Phillipson said: “To help us deliver the most effective set of reforms we can, I have taken the decision to have a further period of co-creation, testing our proposals with the people who matter most in this reform – the families – alongside teachers and other experts as you highlight in the Select Committee’s report. “We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper early in the new year underpinned by our belief that high standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.” She added that ministers at the Department for Education (DfE) have been engaging extensively with families and experts in recent months, which is now being fronted by Georgia Gould, who was appointed in September. The Education Secretary set out five principles for Send reform in her letter, focusing on children receiving support early and locally, rather than travelling far away. Reforms should be effective and grounded in evidence, she added, with all schools fairly resourced to meet “common and predictable needs”, and education, health and care services working in partnership with each other as well as councils and families. Where specialist provision is needed for children “we will ensure it is there, with clear legal requirements and safeguards for children and parents”, Ms Phillipson added in the letter. The Government will test policy options being considered in the period of extension. The chief executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, Tom Rees, who is chairing the DfE’s expert advisory group on inclusion, said it is important to take the time to get reform of the Send system right. “Reform of this scale can’t be rushed and I welcome the additional time so that both the [expert advisory group] and the Government can continue to listen, develop and test ideas which build on the clear principles of reform set out by the Education Secretary today,” he added. There have been concerns that EHCPs may be cut under the Government reforms, however, Ms Gould has previously said there “will always be a legal right to additional support” for young people with Send.
