Oral Answers to Questions

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

We are introducing more training on SEND for new entrants to the profession. That will take effect from September, but there is more that we need to do, including supporting teachers and staff already working in our schools. That is part of the work that the group has under way, and we will set out more through the White Paper. I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s interest in the issue; I know he cares very much about making sure that all children, including those who are neurodivergent, have the support that they need to thrive, which is what this Government are determined to deliver.

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her comments about the need to address the topic of SEND with great sensitivity, as we risk stigmatising entire families and generations who are affected so adversely by this issue.

In rural constituencies like Suffolk Coastal, the SEND crisis is incredibly severe and acute for many reasons. Is the Secretary of State looking at the decline in population that we face in many of our rural primary schools, and at how that extra capacity could be a huge resource and opportunity in tackling the SEND crisis?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I agree that in areas where we are seeing space opening up in the schools estate, it is allowing us to do things like open more school-based nurseries. It also provides us with the opportunity to deliver more specialist provision in mainstream schools. I have seen some brilliant examples, right across the country, of where that can be delivered. I have also seen brilliant examples that involve the mainstream sector working together with the specialist sector to improve training for staff in order to improve provision overall. This is a big challenge—one that many Members from across the House want to see put in a much better place. We will all have heard anguished tales from parents who have had to fight incredibly hard for the support that their children need. Alongside that, we will all have heard that many staff in our schools feel that they currently lack the training and support they need to ensure that all children are able to thrive, and this Government are determined to change that.