Overview

• The Policy Exchange report argues relaxed criteria and incentives have driven overdiagnosis, putting combined education, welfare and mental‑health costs at about £16.6bn a year.
• Recommendations include making Education, Health and Care Plans non‑statutory, limiting new plans in mainstream schools from next year, and giving schools ring‑fenced SEND budgets with greater discretion.
• The paper also proposes tougher disability‑benefit rules, including doubling the qualifying duration for Personal Independence Payment to 18 months and reviewing Child Disability Living Allowance with periodic reassessments.
• Jeremy Hunt endorses the report in a foreword, warning that rising SEND spending threatens council finances and arguing society is medicalising routine childhood development.
• Parent advocates contest claims of widespread overdiagnosis as the government highlights £740m for specialist places and a plan to extend school mental‑health team support to an additional 900,000 pupils by April 2026.