Special educational needs

What positions have MPs and peers taken on support for children with special educational needs and disabilities over the past twelve months?

A briefing written by AI (Claude) from the Hansard records cited below, prepared 26 October 2026 from records up to 23 October 2026. Check the sources before relying on it.

In brief

Education ministers presented the SEND reforms as keeping legal protection while adding support, as when Bridget Phillipson said "Our new SEND system will deliver a fully inclusive mainstream education, supported by £4 billion of investment." [Source 10]
Backbench and cross-party motions put the emphasis on specialist capacity and legal safeguards, as when Adnan Hussain's EDM said reform "must not result in pupils being placed in mainstream classrooms where the necessary support, environment, staffing or expertise is not available" [Source 19].
In the Northern Ireland Assembly, a DUP member backed reform against a call to halt it, as when Peter Martin said "we do not have the luxury of doing nothing in this situation." [Source 25]

Education ministers – supportive of the reforms

Ministers said the reforms would keep enforceable rights, as when Georgia Gould said "The SEND tribunal will remain as an important legal backstop for key decisions about EHC plans." [Source 1]

Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State, on 29 April 2026: "We all know that the current SEND system fails too many families." [Source 12]
Olivia Bailey, a minister at the Department for Education, said the department was "investing over £200 million to strengthen the SEND offer in Best Start Family Hubs" [Source 5]. Josh MacAlister said the consultation proposes a new "Experts at Hand" offer, giving mainstream early years, school and further education settings access to specialist support without requiring an education, health and care plan [Source 6].

Health ministers – focused on accountability and partnership

Health ministers stressed shared responsibility, as when Zubir Ahmed said the reforms are intended to "build a system with clearer roles and responsibilities for all partners, and more collective responsibility for the outcomes of children and young people with SEND in a local area." [Source 9]

Preet Kaur Gill said the government is "investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce" [Source 15], including £26 million to train more educational psychologists [Source 15].

Backbenchers and motions – concerned about safeguards and capacity

Signatories of the motions differed in emphasis, though several called for more specialist provision, as when Adnan Hussain's EDM (signed by three Independents, two Labour and one Liberal Democrat) urged ministers "to retain enforceable legal rights, mediation and independent routes of challenge for families" [Source 19].

Clive Jones's EDM (six Liberal Democrats and one DUP member) called on the government "to match such local efforts with a national commitment to fund sufficient SEND provision in every community" [Source 18].
Rupert Lowe's EDM, signed only by him, urged "an independent review of diagnostic pathways and assessment standards, including evidence of overdiagnosis, underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis" [Source 20].
Helen Hayes, Chair of the Education Committee, pointed to her committee's finding of "the lack of accountability around these services" [Source 16].

Northern Ireland Assembly – debating its own reforms

Members of the Assembly (not of the UK Parliament) discussed Northern Ireland's separate programme, as when Paul Givan said provisions of the SEND Act and regulations "will commence on 1 September 2026." [Source 23]

Peter Martin said the Children's Law Centre letter calling for the framework to stop was something "I do not agree with... and neither does my party." [Source 25]

Committee witnesses – welcoming ambition, urging more on early years

Sarah Ronan, Executive Director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, told the Education Committee on 9 June 2026 "There is some really fantastic ambition for children that the Government have set out, but we would urge a greater focus on inclusion in the early years for those children." [Source 26]

About the evidence: The records are mostly written answers and a few Commons remarks, so ministerial voices dominate and few backbench speeches are included. The three early day motions have few signatories. The Northern Ireland Assembly decides education for its own nation, so its material is not a view of the UK Parliament. No division records or Lords debate contributions beyond written answers were supplied.

Special educational needs

Sources