CHILDREN with the most complex needs will keep their support plans under sweeping schools reforms, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson vowed today, as unions warned against backdoor cuts and pupils missing out.

Ms Phillipson pledged the government will “take away that fight that so many parents” face in accessing legally guaranteed support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

Under major reforms set to begin from the end of this decade, the Department for Education estimates the proportion of children with Send getting education, health and care plans (EHCPs) will start falling from 2030.

EHCPs are legal documents setting out entitled support.

Speaking as she unveiled the schools white paper, Ms Phillipson said: “Forget the misinformation you might have heard. EHCPs for children with the most complex needs will stay.”

The reforms propose new individual support plans with multiple tiers for children without the most complex needs, dependent on need rather than diagnosis.

Children with EHCPs will be reassessed at the end of their education phase.

The government has announced £4 billion investment in the Send system, including £1.6bn over three years for an “inclusive mainstream fund” and £1.8bn for a bank of specialists available to schools.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede welcomed the ambition but said the inclusion grant “is too small.”

“It only equates to a part-time teaching assistant for the average primary school and two teaching assistants for average secondary schools,” he said.

“This is not enough to make schools more inclusive.

NASUWT general secretary Matt Wrack said that “years of underfunding and diminished external services mean that this new funding is barely a drop in the bucket of the investment necessary to drive real improvement in schools.”

He said that “£1.6bn over three years may sound like a lot of money, but it equates to just a few thousand pounds per setting.”

GMB national officer Stacey Booth said that opportunities for training and development must extend to support staff.

The National Autistic Society raised concerns that the reforms are not “anywhere near enough to fix the broken Send system.”

Local Government Association chairwoman, Cllr Louise Gittins, said councils welcomed the aspiration but “all settings need to be empowered and resourced to meet the needs of children with Send.”