Oral Answers to Questions

David Davis Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Morgan]

I am happy to meet the hon. Member.

[David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)]

19. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed reforms to education, health and care plans on children with SEND.

[The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)]

Given the “lose, lose, lose” system that the last Government left behind—in their own words—we are working hard to reform the system so that every child can achieve and thrive. Any reform will be guided by how we improve support for children with SEND. There will always be a legal right to additional support, which this Government will protect.

[David Davis]

Given that answer, I will quote the Secretary of State. She was saying earlier that the system is so distorted that the financial allocations do not reflect the real needs of children. That means that local authorities have huge deficits through no fault of their own; they are trying to do their job. When she comes up with her new policy in the autumn, will she commit to writing off those deficits so that those authorities can do the job in the future?

[Catherine McKinnell]

As part of our reforms, we will commence a phased transition process, which will include working with local authorities to manage their SEND systems, including their deficits, alongside an extension to the statutory override until the end of 2027-28. We will set out more details about the plan for how we will support local authorities with the historical and accruing deficits accumulated under the last Government and since, due to the appalling situation that we inherited.