SEND Provision: Autism and ADHD

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Pippa Heylings]

I will come on to what I think is a postcode lottery. We see regional disparities in the care and provision given, so I thank the hon. Member for raising that point.

For many, the wait to get assessments for education, health and care plans can be months, if not years. Lord Darzi’s investigation of the NHS in England notes,

“Waiting lists for community services and mental health have surged.”

The report also mentions how

“Demand for assessments for ADHD and Autism have grown exponentially in recent years”,

with children disproportionately represented among them.

Recent research found that 200,000 children in England are struggling to get an education, health and care plan. That is 200,000 families left in uncertainty, desperate for help and struggling without the support they need.

Cambridgeshire currently has 8,033 students with EHCPs—a 51% increase in the last five years—and of those, 2,593 plans primarily address autism spectrum disorder. Indeed, I was told by the chief executive of Cambridgeshire county council that there has been an increase of 270% in the number of children presenting with autism. Requests for education, health and care needs assessments have risen faster than the national average. Why? We think that is driven by greater awareness of SEND and the statutory responsibilities of local authorities, the impact of the covid pandemic and the overall increase in mental health issues for children, even at a very young age. Those numbers help to underline the scale of the issue, but we should not get drawn purely into statistics and figures, because behind every number and every percentage there is a child, a family or a sibling being failed every single day.

I come to the issue of disparity that the hon. Member for Congleton (Mrs Russell) mentioned. Families who can afford to seek private neurodevelopmental assessments tend to receive help much faster than those who are reliant on public services. For the rest, it is a postcode lottery. NHS England data reveals stark regional disparities in waiting times for diagnosis. For example, the north-west region has the longest average wait of three years and four months, from referral to diagnosis. We therefore have a health inequality element to this too, as certain groups of children are less likely to have their needs identified or met, punished just because of where they live.

For some children, mainstream schools are simply not suitable, and parents and carers bear the brunt of that reality, managing reduced timetables, enduring repeated exclusions and watching their children receive only a few hours of education each day.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for bringing this important debate to the House. Following on from her comments about mainstream education, one of my first jobs after leaving university was as a teaching assistant. I also spent a year in a special needs school. Does she agree that the issues we are seeing are partly the result of the lack of recognition and appreciation over the last 14 years for support staff in mainstream schools and of the role that they play in ensuring that every child has a decent education?

[Pippa Heylings]

I could not concur more. Over the past decade or more, we saw chronic under-investment from the Conservative Government, despite the needs having been recognised in statute, and that has left us in this pressure point situation. We are now seeing the results of that. I have also been told that this is a time bomb, because we will see the impacts in the future in the quality of life, in opportunities, in the NHS and in social services—in all services really—if we do not deal with this situation.

I have also been told about the situation for siblings. When a child is not given the support that they need in school, young carer siblings are often drawn out of their class and asked to be with their sibling during their lunch break or lessons. There is an impact on all those affected.

Universities: Freedom of Speech

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

I commend the right hon. Gentleman for his valiant efforts today to uphold his right to speak on this issue. I recognise the challenge of ensuring that we have taken the time to get this right, because we want to protect freedom of speech and we need to ensure that this legislation, and any legislation, assists in that and does not impede it. We also recognise and support the existing duty on higher education providers to support and secure lawful freedom of speech, as currently set out in the Education Act 1986. It remains in force for Office for Students registration conditions. He is right that we need to get this right; that needs to be upheld, and having this discussion today supports that push to ensure that freedom of speech is upheld. As the Act to which he referred passed through this House and was considered, and as it is now further considered, that sheds more light on the importance of upholding freedom of speech, and he has contributed to that again today.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

In the week that we mark the dark anniversary of 7 October, may I say that I welcome this Government taking these measures to ensure the safety of Jewish students on campus? Does the Minister agree that this shows that this Government truly believe that, regardless of their religion, students should be able to get on with their studies without concern for their safety?

[Catherine McKinnell]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I think that the same principle applies through every aspect of education and childhood, and in every aspect of society too. As a Government, we stand with those upholding and securing those rights.