PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Children with SEND - 21 July 2025 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

We are engaging extensively with families and experts as we seek to improve support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. We have invested £1 billion into high-needs budgets and £740 million into creating more specialist places. We are rolling out schemes, from the partnerships for inclusion of neurodiversity in schools—the PINS programme—to Inclusion 2028, which are laying the groundwork for long-term reform. We are building a system in which every child can achieve and thrive.

I thank the Minister for that answer. On Friday, I had the opportunity to visit the outstanding Springfield primary school in my constituency. It has 500 pupils, 30 of whom have education, health and care plans, with six applications in currently. Can the Minister reassure the parents of those six children and the many, many parents across the country that, while this review into EHCPs is going on, local education authorities will not slow-roll existing applications or fail them as a default in order for them to go to tribunal and try to beat the clock?

We have yet to decide on the future of education, health and care plans, but we are extremely focused on strengthening the support system so that every child can receive timely, high-quality help. We will set out further details about our approach to special educational needs in this autumn’s White Paper. In the meantime, obviously, children should be getting the support they need, and we are putting in the groundwork so that more children can have that.

We know that early intervention is most effective for children with SEN, but too many children in my constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale have been let down in that respect. However, Lancashire is, for the first time, receiving funding for Best Start hubs. Can the Minister tell me how that will improve early support for those children?

As I said, we are already investing in supporting children and their families, including through Best Start family hubs, as my hon. Friend mentioned. We want to ensure that all children have access to a family service professional who is trained to support inclusion, can identify where children have additional needs ahead of starting school, and can support parents to navigate services.