The legal rights of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are under threat.We must act now.

Current laws, mostly in the Children and Families Act 2014 and associated regulations, enable children and young people with SEND to access things that others take for granted, or don't need. Things like:

• Having their individual needs identified and met. For some, this means being granted a statutory Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) - a legal document based on assessment by professionals, including educational psychologists, that sets out the support they need.
• Attending a suitable school where they can learn and achieve.
• Receiving essential support needed to access learning. This might mean speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, one-to-one support, materials in braille, specialist equipment, and so much more.
• Taking action when needs aren't being met. Parents and young people with SEND can appeal decisions about EHCPs and school placements to the SEND Tribunal. Families are successful in 98.3% of tribunal appeals, showing just how often local authorities already fail to follow the law.

But these legal protections are under threat.

There are worrying indications that the government plans to weaken or remove these rights in order to save money. This could leave some children and young people with no legally enforceable right to an accessible education that meets their needs.

At SOCR, we demand that any such plans are halted, and all education reforms work in the interests of children and families, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

• No rolling back of the existing legal rights of children and young people with SEND
• A commitment that reform of the system will not include any dilution of the law
• Government plans for inclusive mainstream to be implemented within the existing legal framework

The SEND system is in crisis due to a decade of underfunding, schools reaching breaking point and an erosion of the help available to children without an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP). As that help has evaporated, more children need an EHCP. Cuts to schools funding means they can offer even less help, employ fewer teaching assistants and so on… leading to the SEND vicious circle.

Despite constant rumours and articles, the government has said nothing that is remotely reassuring. The government's strategic advisor on SEND, Dame Christine Lenehan, stated that the government is considering restricting EHCPs to children in specialist schools, or to those who need support from the NHS and social care, not just education.

If these changes were made, the majority of children who have an EHCP could lose their plans and their associated rights, even those with profound needs. Some may be unable to access education at all, and any legal changes could mean their families lose the ability to appeal and fight for what their children need.

With this threat to legal rights combined with concerning aspects of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, government plans to place more disabled children into mainstream schools, and planned cuts to disability benefits for disabled young people, it is more important than ever that we unite to protect SEND rights.

We are expecting a Schools white paper in the autumn which will include the plans for reform of the SEND system. The government insists nothing has been decided so far.

It is not too late to defend the legal rights of those with SEND, but we must act now before decisions are made.

We are ready to fight for the legal rights of children and young people with SEND and we need you to join us.

Here's what you can do:

• Sign our petition
• Write to your MP using this template letter
• Submit a photo or video to our photo campaign: "Because of my legal rights"
• Follow our social media accounts: Facebook and Instagram
• Spread the word on social media using the hashtag #SaveOurChildrensRights

This campaign is not just for those with a disabled child or those who work within the SEND system. Changes to the law would impact every classroom in England.

We should all be concerned by the prospect of a government rolling back the rights of some of the most vulnerable in our society. Whether you are directly affected or not, we ask you to help defend children's rights.

The government is focussed on making mainstream schools more inclusive so that more children and young people with SEND can attend them. They are talking about earlier identification of needs, earlier intervention, and better support being made available to children without an EHCP.

There is no doubt that all of these things should be a priority for a government looking at improving our education system. But these things would require vast investment, and the entire basis for this reform is cost-saving. Considering restricting or removing EHCPs in this context can only have one motive: once there is no longer any legal requirement to meet needs, money can be saved by removing that support.

If children and young people are no longer legally entitled to the help they need, what will happen when the support they need fails to materialise?

Local authorities have been lobbying for sweeping changes to the system, including stripping individual funding and statutory status from EHCPs (meaning they would no longer be legally enforceable) or removing them entirely, removing parents' right to appeal to tribunal, and even redefining SEND itself.

This is not because these rights are not necessary or generous. It is because local authorities are financially and legally responsible for securing the support needed by children and young people with SEND, but have huge debts due to insufficient funding. Rather than advocating for the funding they need to meet their legal duties, they have instead asked the government to strip the rights of vulnerable children in a bid to save money.

No, the law is strong but has never been properly funded or implemented. We know the current system's failures and shortcomings. Only 50% of EHCPs are produced within the statutory 20-week timescale. Families are often faced with a huge gap between the provision their child is meant to receive and what they actually get, which entails the need to constantly fight. But the problem here isn't the law - it's that the law isn't being followed, adequately enforced or properly resourced.

This campaign is led by a coalition of organisations and individuals, including Special Needs Jungle, IPSEA, Learning Disability Today, SEND National Crisis, SOS!SEN, SEND Rights Alliance and others committed to defending children's rights.

Most of the people involved in SOCR are parent carers with lived experience of navigating the broken SEND system. We've fought for the help our children need. We know the importance of EHCPs and the tribunal because, without these, our children would have no legal right to special educational provision that enables them to thrive at school. We know the difference that this has made - not just to us, but to hundreds of thousands of children and young people, their futures and their families.

We know from personal experience that we cannot allow these legal rights to be lost.