This is a pivotal moment for special educational needs | Letters

Your article (Special needs services in England face ‘total collapse’ from increasing demand, 14 November rightly highlights what many of us working in education have known for years: England’s special needs services are in chaos.It is nothing new for local authorities to place children with significant special educational needs in mainstream schools, not because it is the best placement for them, but because specialist placements are unavailable or too expensive. Inclusion is a laudable principle, but the reality is that many mainstream schools lack the trained staff and resources, let alone the necessary infrastructure, to meet the increasingly complex needs. Calling this “inclusive” is, for many children, a contradiction in terms.The rising number of education, health and care plans reflects a genuine and growing need, not parental opportunism. Yet instead of expanding specialist capacity, the government appears intent on making it harder for families to secure support, most worryingly through proposals to limit or abolish special needs tribunals.This is a pivotal moment. If the government’s reforms prioritise cost-cutting over children’s rights, the consequences will be severe and long-lasting. We need transparency, proper funding, firm safeguards for families and a recognition that inclusion cannot be achieved on the cheap.Michael RobinsonGosport, Hampshire