Oral Answers to Questions

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

5. What steps her Department is taking to help improve the SEND system.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

7. What steps she plans to take to reform SEND provision.

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

As we have already heard today and in a packed Westminster Hall debate last month, too many children and families are being let down by the current SEND system. We want children to have support when they need it, without a battle. We are already investing in early intervention and early inclusion; there is new support for SEND in the early years and £740 million available for specialist places.

[Georgia Gould]

Parents and children should not have to wait for support; they should have it when they need it. We are working closely with councils with waiting lists to improve provision and, if necessary, to bring in specialist SEND advice. We will continue to push on that.

[Kim Johnson]

I welcome the Minister’s response and the £740 million investment into the sector. However, although Liverpool has improved waiting times for EHCPs, there remains a shortage of specialist school places and necessary support. Some 8,000 children in Liverpool now require an EHCP—that figure has doubled over the past three years—but almost half of them are educated in mainstream schools that do not meet their needs. More children with SEND are excluded from school and sent into inadequate pupil referral units and alternative provision. What steps will the Government take to ensure that SEND reforms deliver real improvements for families in Liverpool Riverside, and that no child is excluded from education because of a lack of services?

[Georgia Gould]

I recently saw some brilliant specialist provision in a neighbouring Liverpool constituency, but I know that, for too many children in Liverpool and across the country, waiting lists are too long for them to get the support they need. That is why we have already started investing in early intervention. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make improvements, we will help them to identify barriers and put in place an effective recovery plan. This year’s high needs funding increase will help mainstream and special schools with the cost of supporting pupils.