Children with special needs will 'always' have 'legal right' to support, education secretary says

The education secretary has said children with special needs will "always" have a legal right to additional support as she sought to quell a looming row over potential cuts.

The government is facing a potential repeat of the debacle over welfare reform due to suggestions it could scrap tailored plans for children and young people with special needs in the classroom. Politics latest: Minister says 'those with broadest shoulders should pay more tax' Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Bridget Phillipson failed to rule out abolishing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) - legally-binding plans to ensure children and young people receive bespoke support in either mainstream or specialist schools.

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said parents' anxiety was "through the roof" following reports over the weekend that EHCPs could be scrapped. She said parents "need and deserve answers" and asked: "Can she confirm that no parent or child will have their right to support reduced, replaced or removed as a result of her planned changes?" Ms Phillipson said SEND provision was a "serious and complex area" and that the government's plans would be set out in a white paper that would be published later in the year.

"I would say to all parents of children with SEND, there is no responsibility I take more seriously than our responsibility to some of the most vulnerable children in our country," she said. "We will ensure, as a government, that children get better access to more support, strengthened support, with a much sharper focus on early intervention." ECHPs are drawn up by local councils and are available to children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is provided by the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) budget.

They identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs. In total, there were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025 - up 10.8% on the same point last year.

'Rebel ready' One Labour MP said they were concerned the government risked making the "same mistakes" over ECHPs as it did with the row over welfare, when it was eventually forced into a humiliating climbdown in the face of opposition by Labour MPs. "The political risk is much higher even than with welfare, and I'm worried it's being driven by a need to save money which it shouldn't be," they told Sky News.

"Some colleagues are rebel ready." The MP said the government should be "charting a transition from where we are now to where we need to be.