Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is having discussions with cerebral palsy campaign organisations on the challenges faced by young people with cerebral palsy in mainstream education environments.

The Schools White Paper and SEND consultation document published earlier this year set out our proposed changes to improve help and support for children and young people with SEND across the 0 to 25 years system.

During the 12‑week consultation period, the department delivered an expanded and coordinated engagement programme to ensure we listened to children and young people, families and the sector. This included:

• ​Nine regional events, opened by ministers.
• ​24 children and young people–led sessions, which included young people with a range of special educational needs and disabilities including autism, down syndrome, and cerebral palsy.
• ​Six information webinars for health, education, local authority leaders, social care and parent carers.

Together, these strands ensured broad, balanced and representative engagement while following consultation principles around transparency, accessibility and fairness.

The department is now reviewing consultation responses alongside feedback from the events.

Our reforms are still proposals and not final decisions. We are continuing to listen and carefully reviewing feedback before setting out the government's response and next steps. The lived experience and insights shared by young people, families and professionals will play a central role in shaping the next stage of these reforms.