The publication of the SEND White Paper signals long-overdue recognition that the current system is failing too many children and families.

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Reform is necessary. But reform alone is not enough.

If equal measures are applied to an unequal system, inequity does not disappear; it is redesigned. Without an explicit equity lens, we risk transporting existing disparities into a newly structured framework.

SEND does not operate in isolation. It sits at the intersection of disability, race, poverty, geography and access to advocacy. Yet in a document exceeding 50,000 words, intersectionality is referenced only once.

Because implementation, not intention, determines who benefits first, and who remains waiting, and which families suffer as a result.

We already know the current system pushes families into escalation. Parents win around 98 per cent of SEND tribunal appeals, and disputes........

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