LPCF SEND Reform 2026

Experts at Hand

New Government Guidance Published

The Department for Education have published the Year 1 guidance for the new Experts at Hand programme, a key part of the SEND reforms.
The guidance confirms that Parent Carer Forums should be involved in the strategic planning, governance, commissioning and co-production of local Experts at Hand offers, helping to shape how specialist support is delivered in mainstream settings. See guidance

Experts at hand

What parents of children and young people with SEND need to know

The Government is developing a new Experts at Hand service as part of its proposed SEND reforms.

The aim is to give mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings quicker access to specialist advice and support, helping children and young people receive help earlier without unnecessary delays. This may include expertise from professionals such as educational psychologists, specialist teachers and speech and language therapists.

The intention is to:

Increase specialist support available within mainstream settings.

Help staff better understand and meet individual needs.

Provide earlier intervention before difficulties escalate.

Improve inclusion and reduce the need for families to fight for support.

The service is still being developed and forms part of the wider SEND Reform proposals currently under consultation. LPCF will continue to monitor developments and gather feedback from parent carers about how these changes may affect families in Lincolnshire.

National Panel of Experts

The Department for Education has announced the appointment of a national panel of experts to help shape the future SEND system, with the aim of ensuring that children and young people with SEND receive better support in every classroom.
The NNPCF welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this important work and to ensure that parent carer voices are reflected in the development of the future system.

Sarah Clarke, NNPCF Co-Chair, has been appointed as a member of the panel. Commenting on her appointment, she said:

“I am happy to be appointed to the expert panel for National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages. It is exciting to be appointed alongside such a range of education, health and research professionals and to be able to get started on this important work”

Jo Harrison, Co-Chair of the NNPCF, has been appointed to chair the Parental Engagement Group. Commenting on her appointment, she stated: “I am pleased to have been asked to chair the Parental Engagement Group and look forward to supporting the Panel, ensuring that parent carer voices help shape the future SEND system.”

LGA and CCN Research Report on SEND Reform

The Local Government Association (LGA) and County Councils Network (CCN) have today published an independent analysis of the Government's proposed SEND reforms, as set out in the White Paper Every Child Achieving and Thriving and the consultation SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First.

The report, SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First – The View from Local Government on Impact and Implementation, considers both the proposed reforms and feedback from councils on whether the changes are likely to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND and support more needs being met within mainstream settings.

LPCF View
Many of the themes highlighted, including earlier support, improved inclusion, reduced conflict and better joined-up working, reflect issues that parent carers regularly raise with LPCF.

While the ambitions of the reforms are positive, families consistently tell us that success will depend on whether support is delivered in practice. Parent carers want to see timely support, improved communication, greater consistency between settings and services, and confidence that children and young people will receive the help they need without having to fight for it.

LPCF will continue to gather feedback from families and ensure that the parent carer voice is represented locally, regionally and nationally as SEND reforms develop.

You can access the report here

NNPCF Response to the DfE consultation:

The NNPCF response reflects extensive engagement with Parent Carer Forums (PCFs) across England through their Community of Practice sessions, regional feedback, workshops, surveys throughout the consultation period.

The response highlights key themes raised by families via their PCFs such as inclusion, accountability, co-production, workforce capacity, early support and the need for meaningful improvements for children and young people with SEND and their families.

LPCF have engaged with all of the Community of Practice sessions held by the NNPCF and continue to do so.
Response here

Kings Speech

( Message from the DFE )

Today the King's Speech announced the Government's intention to legislate to implement the proposed SEND reforms following the consultation.

This is what it means:

The King’s Speech allows for the Government to announce its legislative agenda intentions for the upcoming parliamentary session. When a Bill is announced in the King’s Speech, this is only confirming the government’s intention to legislate, it is not the introduction of legislation.

To become law, the Bill needs to first pass through debate in both Houses in Parliament.

As set out in the Every Child Achieving and Thriving White Paper we intend for the new system to come into force from 2029 at the earliest, following the passage of the Bill. There will be no changes to EHCPs before at least September 2030.

LPCF Consultation Response

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) have now published its full response and accompanying report relating to the proposed 2026 SEND reforms consultation.

As an independent parent carer forum, LPCF gathered feedback from parent carers across Lincolnshire through surveys, consultation workshops, Zoom sessions, volunteer engagement events, social media discussions and wider engagement activity to help ensure lived experiences were reflected within the consultation process.

The report brings together LPCF’s submitted consultation responses alongside wider themes, survey findings and anonymised parent feedback shared throughout the consultation period.

A key challenge within the formal consultation was the 1,500-character limit applied to each response. LPCF worked hard to ensure the strongest themes and concerns remained visible within those restrictions, albeit challenging at times.
The report highlights recurring themes raised by parent carers including:

Early identification and intervention

Workforce capacity and training

Accountability and transparency

Access to specialist provision

Communication and joined-up working

Confidence in needs-led decision making

The importance of genuine co-production with families

LPCF would like to sincerely thank every parent carer, volunteer and supporter who contributed feedback, attended events or shared experiences during the consultation period. Your voices continue to play an essential role in helping shape conversations about SEND services and future reform.

You can read the full LPCF SEND Reforms Consultation Report here

SEND Reforms -LPCF Parents Survey

The LPCF parents survey is now open for the next 6 weeks. We are gathering the views of the LPCF membership about the SEND reform proposals.

Our survey only takes a few minutes but is crucial for us to evidence how you view the new proposals and will form part of our LPCF Consultation response.

All feedback is anonymised.

Closed 26th April 2026

Results Above

LPCF "Members only" Virtual Consultations

You may have heard that the Government has announced proposed changes to SEND support for children and young people.

At this stage, these are proposals, and LPCF wants to make sure that the voices of Lincolnshire families on the LPCF membership are heard.

We are holding 3 virtual consultation sessions where parent carers can come along, hear a simple overview of the proposals, and share your thoughts and experiences.
These are on:-

Monday 23rd March 11.30am - 1.30pm

Wednesday 25th March 7pm - 9pm

Wednesday 1st April at 12.30pm -2.30pm

You don’t need to know all the details about the reforms — what matters most are your views.

Your views will help LPCF gather evidence from LPCF families across Lincolnshire and contribute to LPCF's consultation response.

Please come along, listen and help shape the feedback we submit.

Please book your place on the events page.

Before you attend it may be helpful to read the Easy Read and Parents summary here

The White Paper Documentation

The documentation has been made available for you on the Quick links at the top of the page.

Every child achieving and Thriving: This is the white paper which sets out the government's plan for reforming schools and the SEND system.

An easy read version is also available.

6500 Additional Teachers Delivery plan - outlines the strategy to recruit 6500 additional teachers and is intended to be read alongside "Every child Achieving and Thriving"

SEND Reform:putting children and young people first is a consultation document published aongside the White Paper.
There is an easy read version, a version for children as well as alternative formats. (this is available on Quick links under SEND reform 2026 )

There are several other key documents under the SEND Reform 2026 Quick link including:-

SEND reform:Equalities Impact Assessment

SEND Reform: Child's Rights Impact Assessment

Background on projections

Specialist Provision Packages

These documents provide additional context & supporting information.

Under our Quick link titled Guidance you will also find the following short documents which bring together key information. They are designed to provide clear and accessible guidance for parents, carers and professionals.

The series includes:

What parents of children and young people with SEND need to know

What to expect from your child’s journey through education

What every parent can expect from the reforms

Information on SEND reform for those working in early years settings

Information on SEND reform for those leading and working in mainstream schools

Information on SEND reform for leaders of special schools, alternative provision (AP), and specialist post-16 institutions

Information on SEND reform for those working in post-16 settings

Information on SEND reform for parents and carers of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

Information on SEND reform for parents and carers of children and young people in special schools.

2026 SEND Reforms

The Government has announced proposed national changes to the way support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) may be delivered in the future.
These proposals are often referred to as the “SEND Reforms”.
At this stage, these are proposals — not final decisions.
There will be consultation and further detail before any changes are implemented.

Why This Matters to Families
SEND reforms may affect:

How needs are identified

The way support is recorded

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

How schools and services work together

What information families receive

How consistent support is across the country

plus other changes in the SEND arena.
LPCF understand that national changes can feel worrying or uncertain. Our role is not to create alarm — but to ensure parent carer voices are clearly heard.

LPCF’s Role
Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) is an independent, pan-disability charity. We:

Gather and evidence the lived experiences of families in Lincolnshire

Share feedback with the Local Authority, Health partners, DFE, Ofsted and national networks

Attend meetings relating to SEND reforms locally and nationally

Provide acessible information to parent carers

Contribute to consultations where appropriate LPCF do not make decisions about national policy, but we do influence how changes are understood and implemented locally.


How You Can Get Involved
You can:

Complete surveys

Respond to consultation questions

Attend virtual consultation sessions

Share your experiences through our “Your Say” page

Join discussion opportunities on Facebook We will share updates here as more information becomes available.

A Calm Approach
There is a lot of information circulating nationally. On this page, we will:

Share verified updates

Clarify what is confirmed and what is still proposal

Explain what changes could mean in practical terms

Provide opportunities for families to contribute their views You do not need to understand every technical detail. We will work to break it down clearly.

Our LPCF committment remains:

Independent

Evidence-led

Pan-disability

Focused on improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
As reforms progress, our priority is to ensure that families on our membership are represented.