Plans to give kids with special educational needs and disabilities better access to schooling will be unveiled today

TOO many of our country’s children do not get the support they desperately need.

That is the clear verdict of our in-depth review of the support given to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Since being asked to lead children and family policy for this Government, I have spent months listening to the stories of parents and carers. I have been hearing what has been going wrong so that we can put it right.

Families with children with SEND have told me that a lack of the right support disadvantages their children – who achieve worse GCSE results than their peers. 

They’ve told me that too many mainstream schools across the country are not able to provide the right level of support for children with SEND. 

And they’ve told me that councils are spending more and more money delivering support that doesn’t enable children and young people with SEND to thrive.

On top of that, when things do go wrong, parents find themselves in a maze searching for the right people to help them.

Having gathered the evidence and listened to those who have experienced this, today, we take the necessary step of putting this right. We will deliver an inclusive, compassionate, and accountable system that supports every child.

Complementing our steps to level up education standards across the country for all children and young people, we will no longer tolerate unacceptable and inadequate support, making sure that where you are born does not determine the quality of support received. 

Instead, we will implement a national SEND system, learning from the places where support is excellent and spreading this around the country – so that children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties born in Bath get their needs identified and met in the same way as children in Blackpool, or children with severe learning difficulties in Southampton are given the same excellent care as those in Stockport.

We are going to make sure all children with SEND get the right support, in the right place, at the right time. 

We are going to overhaul the culture of mainstream schools so that they are inclusive, can spot the needs of children early and make sure those needs are met – no matter where they are in the country.

We are going to support teacher training to help schools cater for every single child. 

We are going to give children in alternative provision – where children are taught when they cannot attend their usual school due to behavioural problems, and where SEND children are over-represented – a better education.

And we will improve specialist SEND schools for those children who need additional help that mainstream schools cannot provide.

These changes will be game-changing, but they will not come about overnight.

Ahead of them making a lasting impact, we will continue to invest in the system, with record levels of school funding, more specialist school places, increased direct support to families and more assistance to councils delivering education and care.

As a parent, I know that every child is different. I want the best support and care for my children, and I don’t expect any parent to compromise for their children.

I know from speaking with the amazing teachers I’ve met up and down the country, the full lives children and young people with SEND can have, if they are given the right support, when and where they need it. That is what our plans are all about.

The next chapter in our journey to provide this help and improve the system is getting everyone’s views of our proposals. I want those on the frontline, in schools, in healthcare, as well as parents and most importantly children and young people, to have their say so that we can build the system together.

Together, we will create a system that supports all children and families, one that we can all be proud of.