What are the SEND reforms/White Paper and how are Kirklees supporting the reforms?

What are the 'SEND reforms' and the 'White Paper'?

The 'white paper' is a Government White Paper: Education Reforms 2026, which outlines what the Government would like to do to improve the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system in England, through a 10-year plan.

It was published by the Government on the 29th March 2026 and is said to be the biggest transformation of SEND in over a decade.

Their information sheet for those leading or working in mainstream schools gives a quick overview of their main proposals, including:

A new three-tier model of support above the universal offer – targeted, targeted plus, and specialist.
New Individual Support Plans for all children with SEND.
The retention and improvement of EHCPs for children with the most complex needs.
A share of the £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund over three years.
A share of £3.7 billion of capital investment from this year to 2030 to create Inclusion Bases in mainstream settings.

Although some elements of the transformation will begin this year, the changes to the law are not expected to be in place until 2029.

Why are the Government doing this?

The government believe that the current SEND system is becoming operationally and financially unsustainable and therefore, is in need of changes.

They want to be Putting Children and Young People First as part of the Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving. (You can read more information on the reforms by clicking the links underlined.)

The DfE has produced a range of accessible materials, including information briefings, an Easy Read summary and a British Sign Language video of the proposals. These are available below:

SEND Reform: putting children and young people first (Easy Read) (PDF document)
SEND Reform: putting children and young people first (web-accessible version) (PDF document)
SEND Reform: putting children and young people first (print-ready version) (PDF document)
SEND Reform: putting children and young people first (large print) (PDF document)
SEND Reform: putting children and young people first (CYP version) (PDF document)
SEND Reform: putting children and young people first (BSL version)

What is Kirklees doing to support the reforms?

Kirklees has spent time bringing people together to help shape its plans for the SEND reforms. This has included professionals from both inside and outside Kirklees, as well as children and young people, parents, carers, and local parent groups. Their views have been an important part of the discussions with the Department for Education (DfE).

We have held several events to gather ideas and feedback, which have helped us develop our plans for how we will put the SEND reforms into practice. Kirklees has now submitted its proposal to the DfE and is expecting to hear the outcome in early Autumn 2026.

At the same time, we have joined a regional partnership called the West Yorkshire SEND Reforms Network. This group brings together local councils, health partners, education providers, and youth organisations to improve support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

What does this mean for families?

✅ Children and young people should be able to get help earlier.

✅ Schools, health services and councils will work more closely together to provide support.

✅ Parents, carers, children and young people will have a say in how services are improved.

✅ The goal is to make SEND support easier to access and more consistent across West Yorkshire.

The network is committed to sharing a summary of each meeting on every local authority's Local Offer website. This will help families understand what the group is working on and the improvements it hopes to achieve for children and young people with SEND. You can download the minutes from the meetings below:

WYSRN Meeting June 2026

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Last updated: 30/03/2026