Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)
It is an honour to serve under you as Chair, Mr Betts.
I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) on securing a debate on this incredibly important subject. The fact that it is so well attended shows how important it is. I pay tribute to all hon. Members who have managed to make their contributions today, ensuring that their constituents’ voices are heard. I would like to be able to respond to all the individual points, but the sheer volume of speakers will make that challenging. I also pay tribute to those present who have prepared speeches but have not been able to deliver them. I know their constituents want their voices to be heard in this debate as well, and I pay tribute to the effort that Members put in to attend and to show such a level of support.
Catherine McKinnell
I will give way in a moment.
The strength of feeling on this issue is clear. Most of all, I reassure the Chamber that this Government are absolutely committed to tackling it. It is key to breaking down the barriers to opportunity to give every child the best start in life, and that includes all those with special educational needs and disabilities, to give them the right start in life to have a successful education and to lead happy, healthy and productive lives.
I warn the Chamber that I will not be able to take many interventions, but I will take one from my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson), who got in so fast.
Catherine Atkinson
My constituent, Hayley, wrote on my social media,
“After years of being unheard or ignored, I feel a small sense of relief that this is now being taken to parliament and discussed, even though I understand there is a long way to go”.
I thank the Minister for her speech. Can I share with her, another time, the testimonies of the many constituents who have contacted me ahead of this debate?
Catherine McKinnell
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I think she speaks for many here today, and many of those watching this debate as well. We are listening; we are committed; we want to work across the sector and with everyone here in order to turn this around. More than 1.6 million children and young people in England have special educational needs, and we know that, for far too long, too many families have been let down by a system that is not working. As mentioned already, the former Secretary of State for Education described the system as “lose, lose, lose”, and I know there is agreement in this room that that is very much the case.
Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way; she is being very generous with her time. Would she agree that a part of the serious problems in many of our local areas was the delay in building new SEND provision under the previous Government? That certainly had a serious effect in Berkshire, and there are huge pressures on families and vulnerable children in my area. I just wanted to relay that point to her again.
Catherine McKinnell
I appreciate my hon. Friend’s concern, and this Government are absolutely committed to strengthening children’s entitlement to excellent provision that meets their needs and that is readily available, locally wherever possible. That is a key focus of any changes that we wish to see made in this area.
Ashley Dalton
I thank the Minister for giving way. This is an issue that has not been raised enough today: the previous Government’s SEND and alternative provision improvement plan, published just last year, contained no specific proposals for rural communities such as mine. Can the Minister confirm that the Labour Government will consider the specific needs, particularly around access, for SEND pupils in rural areas?
Catherine McKinnell
I appreciate the issue my hon. Friend is raising, and I will come on to that, because I appreciate that there have been a lot of comments from Members today on the national funding formula and how it works. I would like to make some progress, so if hon. Members will allow me, there are a number of issues that I would like to respond to, particularly in relation to the hon. Member for Leeds East, who tabled this debate.
Despite the fact that high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities is rising to higher and higher levels, confidence in the system is low, tribunal rates are increasing and there are increasingly long waits for support. Far too many children with special educational needs fall behind their peers. They do not reach the expected level in fundamental reading, writing and maths skills, with just one in four pupils achieving expected standards at the end of primary school. That is a system that is “lose, lose, lose”, as the former Education Secretary described. Families are struggling to get their child the support they need and, more importantly, deserve. So many hon. Members have spoken on behalf of families that they represent and demonstrated that struggle today.
After years in which parents have been frustrated by reform programmes being delayed and by promises not being delivered, this Labour Government want to be honest with families. We are absolutely committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as to ensuring that special schools can cater to those with the most complex needs. We want to restore parents’ trust that their child will get the support that they need to flourish.
We know that early identification and intervention is key to ensuring that the impacts of any special educational need or disability is minimised, or reduced, for the long term. That is why we very quickly announced the continuation of funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention—NELI—programme, to make sure that it can continue for 2024-25. We know that early speech and language intervention will help these children and young people to find their voices.
We also know that there are no quick fixes for these deep-rooted issues. After 14 years, I can scarcely see a system that is so broken or in such desperate need of reform. That is why we are absolutely determined to fix it, and we have started work already. It is a priority for this Department to fix our SEND system, but we know that we cannot do it alone. We have to work with the sector and valued partners, and we have to make sure that our approach is fully planned and delivered together with parents, schools, councils and expert staff—we know they are already going above and beyond for our children, but we can do so much better.
As I have already mentioned, many Members have raised concerns about the national funding formula, so the Government acted as quickly as we could to respond to some of the immediate cost pressures in the SEND system. We know that they are causing incredible financial difficulties in some local authorities, so before the parliamentary recess we announced a new core schools budget grant to provide special and alternative provision schools with over £140 million of extra funding in this financial year, to help with the extra costs of the teacher pay award and the outcome of the negotiations about increased pay for support staff as well. That money is in addition to the high needs funding allocation for children and young people with complex special needs and disabilities.
However, despite those record levels of investment, I know that families are still fighting the system, because it is not delivering. The Department for Education’s budget for 2025-26 has not yet been decided, and how much high needs funding is distributed to local authorities, schools and colleges next year will depend on the next stage of the Government’s spending review, due to be announced in October.
That means that the high needs allocations have not been published within the normal timescale, but we are working at pace to announce next year’s funding allocations. We are acutely aware of the pressures that local authorities face, not only because they are supporting the increasing needs of young people and children, but because of the financial pressures that the Government as a whole face because of the economic climate we have inherited.
It will not be easy or quick to solve those problems, but we really want to work on long-term solutions and we want to work together with others on these important issues. That includes looking at the national funding formula. We will take time to consider whether to make changes to it. We will of course consider the impact on any local authorities and, as my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton) mentioned, on particular areas that have made representations in relation to the formula.
Catherine McKinnell
I really am short of time.
On inspection, we welcome the publication of the Big Listen response this week. We want to work with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children with SEND can better demonstrate inclusion, and we want every school to be driving to be as inclusive as it can be, so that mainstream provision is provided for as many children as possible.
In the interests of fairness, I will give way just one more time.
Ben Maguire
I thank the Minister for giving way and for her comments about reviewing the funding formula. May I take this opportunity to urge her to finally address the per-pupil funding deficit for pupils in Cornwall, who receive thousands and thousands of pounds less per pupil than pupils in the rest of the country? I hope she agrees that pupils in Cornwall, including in my North Cornwall constituency, particularly those with special educational needs, are no less valuable than children in other parts of the country.
Catherine McKinnell
I will say again and again that we are absolutely committed to ensuring that every child’s entitlement to have the best education possible, in their local area and where they need it, can be delivered under our system.
Nothing says more about the state of our nation than the wellbeing of our children. However, one of the great casualties of the last 14 years has been our children’s wellbeing, their development and their opportunities. Under the last Government, we saw relative child poverty soar, the rates of children presenting with mental health conditions skyrocketing, and more and more children languishing on waiting lists.
It now falls to the Labour Government to rebuild opportunities for our children. That is why we have bold ambitions and why we are determined to deliver on them. I thank hon. Members for bringing this matter forward today and all Members who have contributed to this debate.
However, most of all I want to acknowledge the hard work being done by so many people working in education, health and care who support our children and young people with special educational needs. We know that work is challenging, but we thank them for their commitment and their service.
Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)
I call Richard Burgon to respond—very briefly—to the debate.