Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving

Darren Paffey Excerpts

Monday 23rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

We are already investing much more in our schools. Today, we are setting out additional, new investment, including £1.6 billion that will allow schools to consider how best they can meet need, and they will of course consider how best to deploy teaching assistant support, one-to-one interventions, small group interventions and teaching support. Through the consultation, we are considering how we can better support special educational needs co-ordinators in our system, to drive expertise and change across a setting, because some of our best and most talented SEND staff spend too much time sat in offices, when they should be working directly with teaching assistants and others to make improvements for all children in their school.

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for a statement that not only tries to fix the deep cracks that have formed in this broken system in recent years, but sets out a wholesale vision for transforming it. This is long overdue and much needed by parents, students and teachers. She will know that although the system is on its knees, there is a lot of good practice already out there. How will she harness the best that we have in our schools, including in Southampton, to ensure the earliest and fullest support for our children?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I agree strongly with my hon. Friend and, like him, I have seen fantastic practice that works incredibly well. It can be variable, and we will make sure that there are clear quality standards for more specialist provision in the mainstream, and Ofsted will inspect against those. Also, the amount of provision available can vary hugely across an area. That is why I have set out our expectation that every secondary school will have an inclusion base, and we will have a similar number of inclusion bases in local primary schools, so that everyone comes together and does what is necessary to deliver a fully inclusive mainstream system that better caters for children with complex needs and special needs, but also works with the specialist sector to deliver that.