Speaking up for SEND

I spoke in a debate on SEND last week.

There were so many MPs that wanted to speak that we had 75 seconds each! On one level, this can only be a good thing to have so many MPs now who want to take up the issue.

My contribution is below. It was impossible to say everything that needed to be said, but there will be much more to say on this most important subject during this Parliament:

In the seconds available to me, I cannot do justice to the cases I have heard of pupils and parents who are stuck in the system.

Ten years on from the passing of the Children and Families Act 2014, it is time to look at where the current system is failing. Local authorities had additional responsibilities loaded on to them, and at the same time they had powers and resources taken away.

It has become harder for them to plan shared resources, and that is a major cause of delays and cost increases in the system.

I draw attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am a member of the GMB [trade union]. We cannot lose sight of the role of school support staff in this equation.

If I can make one appeal to the shadow Minister it is to say this: please rethink the opposition to reinstating the school support staff negotiating body. Classroom-based school support staff spend the majority of their time supporting SEND learners. We cannot resolve the SEND crisis without resolving the workforce problems.

I am proud to have been a SEND pupil. I am open about my differences as an MP. I hope that, on a cross-party basis, we can look back at the end of this Parliament and say, “We did find a system in crisis, and we did change it.”