Labour’s ‘class war’ on SEND: Ministers vow to strip funding from independent special schools as they brace for MP backlash over cutting EHCPs

Labor today vowed to cut funding for independent private schools amid fears of a new ‘class war’ in education.

Ministers unveil a major overhaul of support for SEND and disadvantaged students alarmed by rising costs.

A £4bn package over three years will aim to support education in mainstream schools and colleges with a specialist bank teachers and therapists in every field.

But under pressure from Labor MPs and unions, the government has conceded that SEND spending will not fall for at least five years, and potentially until after 2035.

Education Minister Georgia Gould also made clear in a series of broadcast interviews this morning that the money would be diverted from the independent private schools that many parents are currently able to choose from. He accused them of ‘making profits off defenseless children’.

Labor MPs are concerned about changes to EHCPs, which entitle children to the highest level of support.

The plans are planned to be re-evaluated after children finish primary school from 2029. The government has acknowledged that this means the proportion of children with EHCP will fall from 5.8 per cent currently to around 4.7 per cent by 2034-35.

However, a lower legally enforceable tier of SEND support would be individual support plans (ISPs). There will be no need for diagnosis to access these.

Keir Starmer held a breakfast meeting with school leaders and charities in Downing Street this morning.

Under the proposals, pupils with less complex and severe needs such as autism and ADHD would reportedly no longer be eligible for EHCPs after the number of children with them rose from 240,000 to 639,000 in a decade.

The number of EHCPs is predicted to continue to increase until 2029-30 but will then decline as they are limited to only the highest needs.

ISPs will have multiple layers of support, targeted and targeted plus.

Evaluations of the new system, which will be consulted for 12 weeks, will start in September 2029, with no changes to existing support until at least September 2030.

Keir Starmer held a breakfast meeting with school leaders and charities in Downing Street this morning.

He said ahead of the official publication of the draft proposals: ‘Too many children are being held back by a system that does not work for them.’

The Prime Minister spoke of his own brother Nick, who died on Boxing Day 2024, struggled with learning difficulties and was “cast aside”, adding that his “life was very different to mine” because the system did not work for him.

“I’m not saying there haven’t been huge improvements since then, but the same sentiment still applies to children who don’t get the opportunities and chances they need to go as far as their talents and abilities can take them,” Sir Keir said.

The measures will be available for consultation for one year.

Ms Gould told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘‘too much’ money is ‘going to the wrong places’ and ‘private schools backed by private equity are profiting off of vulnerable children’.

When we put it to him that the aim of the reforms was to contain the cost, to limit the increasing number of children classified as having special educational needs, he said: ‘The aim of these reforms is to improve the situation of children.’

He added: ‘We will allocate more money for special education needs.’

He added: ‘I think we’ve seen a massive 86 per cent increase in spending in the last five years, but so much of that money is going to the wrong places.

‘You know, private capital has supported private schools that make profits off of vulnerable children.

‘We want this money to go into our classrooms, the kinds of things I mentioned, because, you know, too many kids are failing.’

Ms Gould continued: ‘We are changing the way we spend money. ‘We are shifting money away from private equity-backed independent types of private schools and introducing a new price cap to ensure the savings from this are put back into our education, into mainstream schools.’

A central part of the proposals includes reforms to how the £8bn funding is targeted, taking into account household income rather than whether a child receives the free school meals used to allocate them.

Labour’s new disadvantage funding formula will take into account where the child lives, as well as how low the parent’s income is and how long it has been that way.

The Conservatives have criticized the proposals as part of Labour’s class war after VAT was added to private school fees.

Education Minister Bridget Phillipson said the Government was ‘hugely ambitious for children and young people with Send’, saying they deserve a system that ‘lifts them up and puts no limits on what they can achieve’.

He said: ‘These reforms are a turning point for a generation of young people and generations to come, and an important milestone in this Government’s mission to ensure opportunities are for every child.’

But NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said the idea that the Send provision could be adequately overhauled with ‘this low level of funding’ was ‘absurd’.

‘While the increased early support for Send is welcome, years of underfunding and declining external services mean this new funding is barely a drop in the bucket of investment needed to deliver real improvement in schools,’ he said.

Education Minister Georgia Gould made clear in a series of broadcast interviews this morning that the money would be diverted from the independent private schools that many parents are currently able to choose from.

Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott said: ‘Every child deserves to get the support they need. But it is wrong to narrow down the gaps in disadvantage by pulling everyone down.’

Yesterday Ms Phillipson was forced to deny that she was a ‘class warrior’, vowing to ‘come down hard on those who benefit from the system’.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: ‘We have seen a huge expansion in private equity, into specialist schools where quality is often very, very variable and costs are high.’

When asked if he saw himself as a ‘class warrior’, he replied: ‘No, I don’t. ‘I’m truly ambitious for every child in our country, regardless of their background.’

Ms Phillipson claimed the new funding formula was a ‘golden opportunity’ to cut the link between history and success.