UK MPs call to scale back special needs referrals amid ADHD rise

MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee have called for costly special needs referrals to be scaled back and replaced by in-school help amid a funding crisis fuelled partly by the rise of ADHD. The committee argues that reform is needed to prevent long waiting lists and to ease financial pressure on councils as demand for Education, Health and Care Plans grows.

The crisis is underpinned by a 50 per cent real-terms rise in SEND spending since 2018, a trend driven by an 80 per cent increase in the number of children and young people receiving EHCPs, legal documents that guarantee state-funded support for special needs. Previous research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found an explosion in diagnoses of ADHD, autism and speech and language needs fuelling the trend, the report notes.

The Education Committee argues that help for lower-end needs should be provided at a grassroots level by schools, reducing the need for costly EHCPs. Many pupils with milder needs lack sufficient resources at school, delaying or preventing timely support, which in turn prompts families to seek official EHCPs. The committee says the current rise in EHCPs is unsustainable and calls for the government to publish statutory requirements for all schools to handle these cases before escalation, including specifying minimum resources, specialist expertise and equipment. It also calls for better teacher training and for support to be provided before or without an official diagnosis.

The report emphasizes identifying needs early in a child’s education to enable mainstream support and argues that SEND must become the responsibility of the whole school. A cultural shift toward in-house provision, the committee says, would help stabilise finances for schools and local authorities and, in the long term, reduce demand for complex EHCPs.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the report highlights deep-rooted issues in the SEND system and that the government is listening closely to families, teachers and experts as it develops plans to transform outcomes for every child with SEND. She noted ongoing actions to expand places for children with SEND, improve teacher training and roll out Best Start Family Hubs in every local area, along with other evidence-based supports that can be delivered routinely.

Labour is due to publish a white paper imminently outlining reforms to SEND funding, the note adds. The watchdog’s report frames a broader aim: to make mainstream education inclusive for the vast majority of children with SEND, thereby reducing the need for formal EHCPs and ensuring sustainable funding for local authorities. The trend of rising ADHD diagnoses, alongside autism and speech and language needs, has been identified as a driving force behind the trend, the committee and researchers say, underscoring the urgency of reform.