I know how important SEND support is to parents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth, and how badly so many children are being let down by the current system. In my recent constituent SEND survey and through local consultation events with teachers, I have heard about the painful battles parents face getting support for their kids, and how schools are not getting the support and resources they need.
That’s why I have made securing changes to the SEND system one of my top priorities as an MP, including by writing to and engaging with the government about this issue on numerous occasions including meetings with the Secretary of State Bridget Phillipson, and campaigning against attempts by Reform UK to restrict access to home to school transport in Warwickshire.
As you may have seen, last week the government published its Schools White Paper on reforming the SEND system, and I strongly welcome these new measures. I believe they will deliver transformative change to the system and ensure every child gets the support they need.
£7 billion in additional funding for SEND support
I was deeply concerned by suggestions being made in the media that the government’s proposals to reform SEND support would be a cost-cutting exercise, rather than a genuine attempt to reform a broken system. This is something I would have strongly opposed had it been the case, so I strongly welcome the fact that these new plans actually represent a big increase in funding for SEND provision, with over £7 billion of new money.
That includes:
- £200m to train staff to better support SEND children within mainstream schools.
- A new Inclusive Mainstream Fund with £1.6bn in funding to nurseries, schools, and colleges to make them more inclusive.
- Every secondary school will have an inclusion base to deliver small group work for pupils that need it.
- £3.7bn to create 60,000 more specialist SEND places within mainstream schools.
- £1.8 billion in funding so that every local area can create a new Experts at Hand service to provide wrap-around support for schools, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and educational psychologists.
- New Specialist Provision Packages will set out the support children with complex needs should expect.
- These measures will in part be funded by a crackdown on rip-off SEND school fees being charged to councils by private special schools owned in some cases by private-equity investors and foreign sovereign wealth funds. New price bands will be introduced that cap the fees these schools can charge taxpayers, so we can end shameless profiteering and ensure the profits these schools make are fair and proportionate.
Changes to the provision of Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCPS)
I know how important EHCPs are to many parents, and the struggles families in North Warwickshire and Bedworth have faced in securing one for their child. That’s why I am pleased that any changes to EHCPs will not be introduced until 2029, meaning all children in year three and above today will retain their existing EHCP until at least age 16. All children currently attending a special school will also be able to remain there.
From September 2029, pupils with complex needs will still have the right to an EHCP, while all pupils with SEND will get an Individual Support Plan (ISP) entitling them to additional support within mainstream schools. The government estimates 80% of pupils that currently qualify for an EHCP will still be entitled to one under these changes.
At present, in many cases the only way families can access an EHCP is by battling councils through tribunals – a situation that serves nobody’s best interests. Families will retain their right to appeal aspects of an EHCP through tribunal, but my expectation is that the new system will mean a small fraction of these tribunals will be needed in future once all these important new support measures are in place and pupils can receive support from their school.
Government and local consultations
The government has launched a 12-week consultation on these reforms, and I will ensure that parent’s and teacher’s voices are heard as part of that consultation. I would also encourage you to make your own views known through that process. If you would like to submit evidence, please click here.
I know you will all have your own views on these proposed changes, which is why I am organising a public meeting to provide feedback to the government on their proposed SEND reforms. There will be two public meetings, one in North Warwickshire on the 29 April in the early evening, and one in Bedworth at 6pm on 30 April. If you would like to attend one of these sessions, please sign up and click here. The location will be shared nearer to the date with people who have signed up.
If you’re unable to attend but want to share your views, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.
Broader education reforms announced this week
In addition to the changes announced to SEND funding, the government is also taking action to rebuild our education system and ensure every child gets the best start in life after years of cuts to our education system. These changes include:
- Targeted £8bn of funding to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Additional high-quality support for teachers of creative subjects through our new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, and a new oracy framework to support confidence and build public speaking skills.
- A new focus on vital life knowledge and skills in financial, media, and digital literacy.
- New entitlements for all children to access arts and culture, nature and outdoor adventure, and sport and physical activities. As a former Wimbledon umpire and line judge, ensuring every child has access to sport and physical activity is something I am hugely passionate about, as I know the positive benefits this has for health and wellbeing and developing self-confidence and teamwork skills.
- All schools with RAAC concrete structural problems will have had these problems resolved by 2029, so we can end the scandal of crumbling school buildings that built up under the last government.
Ensuring every single child gets the support they need to achieve and thrive is something I am hugely passionate about, and I am excited by the genuinely transformational impact these reforms will have across our education system.