Ministers are facing calls not to cut education schemes for children and youth with special educational requirements and people with disabilities.
Campares say that education, health and care plans (EHCP) are “precious legal protection”, warning that thousands of children can lose access to education if the schemes are abolished.
The government says it inherited the system “left on the knees”. Speaking on Sunday of the BBC with the Laura Kunsberg program, Education Secretary Bridget Philipson described it as a “complex and sensitive area” when he was asked if he could rule when he scored EHCP.
But Chhaya Education Minister Neil O’Brien has criticized the government for “broken promises and U-turns”.
An EHCP is a legally binding document that ensures a child or young man with special or educational requirements in England to get correct support from the local authority.
The complete details of the proposed changes are scheduled to be held in October, but the ministers have not refused to abolish the education plans – no decision has been taken.
One in Letter to The Guardian newspaperCampaigners have said that without EHCP in mainstream schools, “Many thousands of children are being deprived of important provisions, or losing access to education completely”.
He said, “The answer is not to remove the rights of children and youth. Families cannot take the risk of losing these precious legal safety,” he said.
The signs of the letter send parents, including the head of charity, professor, actor Sally Philips, and campaigners including broadcaster Chris Paqt.
Talking to BBC Sunday with Laura Kunsberg program, Philipson said: “I can say very clearly that we will better support and strengthen it.
“I am spending a lot of time to listen to my parents, disability rights groups, campaigners and others as well as colleagues of Parliament, as it is important to get this right.”
Chhaya Minister O’Brien said that the government has “no credibility left”.
O’Brien said, “This is a government defined by broken promises and U-turn. He said that he will appoint more teachers and he has less. He said that he would not increase taxes on working people, but did it.”
Munira Wilson, a spokesman for education of Liberal Democrats, said that the removal of EHCP would “be a major cause of concern for parents”, saying that “a child, or their family, they should face uncertainty when they get that support”.
Speaking to the Radio 4’s Today program on Monday, Helen Hess, Chairman of the Education Committee, said that sand reforms should be done in a way that “builds” the “trust” of the parents who lost faith in the system.
Although the government cannot set its plans to send it till later in the year, he also said that he hopes that the minister will learn lessons from the welfare bill and We saw incidents in Parliament last week,
U-turn on the proposed welfare changes is triggered by a large rebellion of backbench labor MPs, making the decision of future expenses “difficult”, Education Secretary said on Sunday,
The data of the Education Department released in June showed that the number of EHCP has increased.
Overall, in January 2025 there were 638,745 EHCPs, which was 10.8% at the same point last year.
The number of new schemes started during 2024 also increased by 15.8% in the previous year, to 97,747.
In 2023, requests increased by 11.8% to 154,489 in 2023.
A spokesperson of the Education Department said: “We are clear that there is no plan to send tribunals, or to remove money or support from children, families and schools.”
The spokesman said that it would be “completely wrong to suggest that children, families and schools may experience any loss of money or support”.
