Under existing proposals, health, social care and education services will have a statutory duty to assess children and young people with SEN and disabilities, creating a single multi-agency plan tailored to each child.
But as the consultation into the SEN green paper draws to a close, Jane McConnell, chief executive of charity Independent Parental Special Education Advice, warned that tribunals will only be able to hold education providers to account unless government plans are amended.
"Education will be the only service with a statutory duty to deliver the provision in the plan," McConnell explained. "That wouldn't be anything different from what we've got currently.
"Things like speech therapy and physiotherapy are deemed to have an educational purpose as well as a health basis," she added. "I am aware the government wants these therapies to go into the health budget, so we're concerned that education authorities won't have the legal duty to provide them."
The only existing route of redress against social care provision is through judicial review, according to Kevin Williams, chief executive of Kids, who described such an action as "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".
He instead urged the government to use the common assessment framework (CAF), which is already being used by some councils to support disabled children. "We would encourage the government to give CAF statutory force," he said.
Jane Gallagher, spokeswoman for Dyslexia Action, said children with "hidden disabilities" might be overlooked under multi-agency plans.
"Our big concern is that all the resources are going to be directed at young people with severe disabilities," she said. "Most of the children we work with don't present problems until they're about seven or older, so by the time children are identified as having problems, there may not be sufficient resources to support them."
The consultation closes on 30 June.
