p between experiences of SEND and safeguarding concerns are multi-directional. Of all children in need as at 31 March 2023, half had a special educational need compared with 17.1% of the overall pupil population (DfE, 2024a). In relation to serious youth violence, there is a disproportionate relationship between children and young people’s involvement and intersecting inequalities of ethnicity, racism and poverty (HMIP, 2024). In addition, a recent Ofsted report flagged the relationship to unidentified needs, particularly of children and young people who might be considered neurodivergent and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with long waits for diagnoses, treatments and therapies as contributing factors to vulnerability and risks (Ofsted, 2024a). Wide-ranging reforms to SEND were brought in under the Children and Families Act 2014, which introduced Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The expectation was that EHCPs would be reserved for a small cohort of children and young people with complex health needs and disabilities, with most children with special educational needs supported effectively within inclusive, mainstream schools. Over the ensuing decade, various factors have contributed to exponential increases in the numbers of children and young people with 28 ECHPs. These include real terms cuts to school funding; the driving forward of the academisation agenda; the narrowing of the school curriculum; accountability and performance frameworks for schools that are calibrated to academic results and do not reward inclusion; and depleted community support services. All have contributed to parent expectations that appropriate support for their child’s educational needs would only come with a statutory EHCP. The number of children and young 