ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on problems in the special educational needs (SEN) and inclusion policy field, which derive from the Warnock legacy. The SEN system in England is characterised by complexity and dependence on the wider system with negative effects. Under the SEN Code of Practice the local offer is meant not only to provide information to parents and carers of children with SEN and disabilities on the additional provision available to them but also to provide a process by which, through consultation, provision might be developed. An education framework commission (EFC) promises benefits but has risks too. It could be an opportunity to increase national participation in debates about education and so increase understanding, which is itself a public and political educational activity. An EFC could reconnect policymakers with citizens by being responsive to parents/carers, children and young people, and professional and citizen interests, and so raise the horizons of the education system.
