PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
SEND Support: Children without an EHCP - 16 June 2025 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

Parents right across the country know that the Tories left behind a SEND system that was, in the words of the last Tory Education Secretary, “lose, lose, lose”. Labour will restore parents’ confidence with a support-first approach, prioritising early intervention and inclusive support in mainstream schools to address needs before they escalate. We will not be removing effective support, but we will also expand schools’ capacity to deliver consistent, high-quality provision to help children thrive, with timely and effective support.

In the last 11 months I have visited nearly all the schools in my constituency, and wherever I have gone I have asked whether people understand why the number of children with special educational needs has been going through the roof. I have received various explanations, such as lockdown, diet, social media, drugs in pregnancy, parenting, increased awareness and over-medicalisation. Is the Department doing any research on what is causing this phenomenon, so that we can treat the causes and not just the symptoms?

My Department, and the Department of Health and Social Care, are keen to understand some of the drivers identified by the hon. Gentleman. I know that he comes to this discussion in good faith, but some people, including Reform Members of Parliament, sometimes do not approach it in a responsible way. I think we need to tread with a great deal of care when we approach and discuss this subject, not least because it is a welcome change in our society that we now better understand where children have additional needs. The challenge, of course, is that the hon. Gentleman’s party did not put in place the support that was required both to identify and to support children with special educational needs and disabilities.

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

One of the biggest challenges affecting the delivery of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities is the extent of local authority funding deficits. They are currently dealt with through the statutory override, which allows local authorities to set a balanced budget without accounting for their SEND deficits. Given that the statutory override expires in March 2026, does the Secretary of State agree that a White Paper in autumn 2025 provides far too little time for the Government to implement meaningful change without extending the override further, and when does she expect local authorities to be able to have the certainty that they need to plan for the coming financial year?

I agree that in addition to longer-term reform, which the White Paper will deliver, it is imperative that we take action now in order to make sure that the school system better caters for children with a wide range of needs. That is why we have invested £740 million to support councils to create more specialist provision in mainstream schools. I have seen some fantastic examples right across the country, and we need to see more. On the precise question about the statutory override, we want to make sure that councils are better supported through the process, and we will set out our position very soon.

We are introducing more training on SEND for new entrants to the profession. That will take effect from September, but there is more that we need to do, including supporting teachers and staff already working in our schools. That is part of the work that the group has under way, and we will set out more through the White Paper. I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s interest in the issue; I know he cares very much about making sure that all children, including those who are neurodivergent, have the support that they need to thrive, which is what this Government are determined to deliver.

I thank the Secretary of State for her comments about the need to address the topic of SEND with great sensitivity, as we risk stigmatising entire families and generations who are affected so adversely by this issue.

In rural constituencies like Suffolk Coastal, the SEND crisis is incredibly severe and acute for many reasons. Is the Secretary of State looking at the decline in population that we face in many of our rural primary schools, and at how that extra capacity could be a huge resource and opportunity in tackling the SEND crisis?

I agree that in areas where we are seeing space opening up in the schools estate, it is allowing us to do things like open more school-based nurseries. It also provides us with the opportunity to deliver more specialist provision in mainstream schools. I have seen some brilliant examples, right across the country, of where that can be delivered. I have also seen brilliant examples that involve the mainstream sector working together with the specialist sector to improve training for staff in order to improve provision overall. This is a big challenge—one that many Members from across the House want to see put in a much better place. We will all have heard anguished tales from parents who have had to fight incredibly hard for the support that their children need. Alongside that, we will all have heard that many staff in our schools feel that they currently lack the training and support they need to ensure that all children are able to thrive, and this Government are determined to change that.

I call the shadow Minister.

Asked whether the Government were planning to restrict EHCPs so that they apply only to children in special schools, the Government’s strategic adviser on SEND, Christine Lenehan, recently said:

“I think, to be honest, that’s the conversation we’re in the middle of.”

Is she correct to say that Ministers are considering that, or not?

We do need to think differently about the system that we have inherited from the Conservative party—one that Members from across the House recognise just is not working. This is not about taking away support for families or children; it is about making sure that there is much earlier identification of need and that support is put in place much more rapidly, including ahead of any formal diagnosis. I urge the shadow Minister to reflect and to show a bit more humility about the terrible state of what he and his party have left behind: a system that is adversarial and fails children, and in which children with special educational needs and disabilities do not get the excellent educational outcomes that should be the right of every child in this country. He should reflect on his total failure.