New minister reveals SEND reform principles

The voices of children, their families and teachers will be “at the forefront” of SEND reforms, the new education minister has said, as she promised “there will always be a legal right to additional support”.

Georgia Gould, recently appointed as minister of state for school standards, told MPs in a high-profile Parliamentary debate her four principles for SEND reform, including prioritising early intervention and ensuring pupils don’t travel “miles” for support.

MPs gathered in Westminster Hall this evening for a debate prompted by a petition with over 125,000 signatures calling on government to “retain legal right to assessment and support in education for children with SEND”.

Government is said to be considering scrapping or restricting education, health and care plans – legal documents that guarantee a certain level of support for pupils.

Dame Christine Lenehan, the government’s strategic adviser on SEND, told this newspaper earlier this year that officials were considering a shake up of the EHCPs system that would likely lead to a narrowing or new structure of support.

Part of that “conversation” was about whether EHCPs should only apply to special school pupils, she said.

Four principles for reform

During today’s three-hour, standing-room-only debate, scores of MPs, including those from the governing Labour Party, stood up to raise concerns about upcoming SEND reforms, due to be set out in a schools white paper this term.

Gould, a former leader of Camden Council, told Parliament there are “a number of principles that are guiding me … in the new role”.

“Firstly, that the voices of children, young people and their families, of teachers and those supporting them have to be at the forefront of reform. And over the last year, the secretary of state and my predecessor has spent a huge amount of time with families to make sure that their voices are heard.

“The second principle I wanted to set out that I think we’ve heard from almost every speaker is that children need to get support when issues first appear, that early intervention has to be the basis of reform.

“Thirdly, that children with special educational needs shouldn’t have to go miles away from their families and communities to get the right support. We need to invest in support within our communities

“And…finally, the support for young people to thrive is not just for schools. I think I heard the word collaboration, co-design so many times in this debate.

“So it’s about play, it’s about youth clubs, it’s about local health services. It’s about workplaces that celebrate neurodiversity. This is one in five of our young people. We all know somebody who has special educational needs, and those individuals, they bring so much creativity, so many ideas.”

‘Always a legal right’ to SEND support

Gould added she “saw so many families let down” in her 14 years working in local government.

“So my commitment is as we move forward, that we need to work with the parents who’ve turned up, the parents who signed the petition to get this right for families and to set out reforms that really transform young people’s lives.”

During her speech, Gould also sought to reassure MPs that “the secretary of state for education has made it absolutely clear that under this government, no child will be left behind.

“And we will reform the system so children with special educational needs are at the heart of the education system. And there will always be a legal right to additional support for children and young people with special educational needs.”