28/06/2026
On Thursday I had the privilege of attending the BLAST Lounge (BLAST = Burntwood & Lichfield Autism Support Together) - a support group for families of autistic children & young people. It was a double-act with Dave Robertson, MP for Lichfield, as my counterpart.
This was a great opportunity to discuss the proposed SEND reforms.
After introductions and a chat about Mr Robertson's troubled train journey from London, we got down to business. He’s a qualified teacher and used to teach at Wodensborough High School - a secondary school in Sandwell.
He supports the White Paper.
He said, 1 in 4 children have SEND. The Government sees this as a problem because, if all children are identified as having SEND, long term the country will have no-one to join the military.
He was challenged on this alongside comments made by Wes Streeting, MP (former health secretary) about there being too many children diagnosed with ASD and it being all too easy to get an ADHD diagnosis. He appeared to distance himself from Wes’s comments although he didn’t disagree with his views.
Basically, there’s too many children being identified as having SEN which is costing too much money and the White Paper is a way to stop that from escalating further.
The labour party has set itself a 10-year timeline to achieve success but currently has no tools for measuring what success looks like or how it will be achieved.
Mr Robertson referred to three mainstream schools (didn’t name them) who have “successfully” identified children with SEN, provided early intervention, and four years later, those children were able to be removed off the SEN register because they didn’t need SEN provision.
He talked about the closure of Sure Start centres being one of the root causes for the increase in children being identified with SEN because they (Sure Start centres) provided early intervention and that early intervention is no longer available.
He said Sure Start centres are starting to be funded/re-opened but they can’t be called Sure Start centres 😊 There’s one in North Staffs and one in South Staffs (or there will be).
‘Experts at Hand’ are already live but he couldn’t say where. He expects ‘experts at hand’ will be employed by MATS.
The Government has worked with Speech & Language UK who have agreed to develop a level 4 qualification in SLCN for teachers and TAs so they can deliver SALT to CYP instead of SALT’s. Libby Hill any thoughts on this?
As well as an ‘inclusion hub’ in every mainstream secondary school, the Government wants an ‘autism hub’ in every secondary school too. I don’t know Dave – did he say this because of the audience, I don’t know? He was challenged on this – i.e. our children don’t want to be dumped in hubs.
He was challenged about the labour party's intention to remove children's entitlement to education, to reduce parents’ rights, and to remove/dilute the Tribunal’s powers. He seemed to suggest that the Tribunal will not be affected by the reforms (that’s not my understanding). He also played down any suggestion that there will be any negative impact on children and families because…….all the schools and professionals the government has spoken to or is talking to, welcome the reforms.
It was put to him that the headteachers, SENCOs, governors, we have spoken to, do not want the reforms as proposed. He refuted this repeating his previous comment about the schools the labour party has spoken to are all pro-reforms.
As far as the PM Kier Starmer resigning, Mesiah Burnham taking the reins, and whether Bridget Phillipson (Education Secretary) remains in post or not remains to be seen (he loves Bridget by the way).
Mr Robertson was not keen on the idea of another u-turn (in the same way the labour party did with farmers and OAPs).
He was challenged over the DfE using Gemma Collins in adverts to sell the reforms. He defended the DfE saying that was done to target a specific group of parents – i.e. those who didn’t attend school, with no qualifications, who are not contributing to the economy, and who watch reality TV.
Mr Robertson seems to think that there will be changes to the current proposals as a result of the consultation but overall, the reforms will go through and become law.
Overall, it was a very worthwhile evening. There were some open, honest, and frank conversations with challenge and push-back from both sides. Mr Robertson said he came to listen, not sell, and credit where it’s due, he did. He made some notes and said he’d raise them with civil servants.
Thank you Jill Hart-Sanderson for inviting me along.
On Saturday, I went to the Great Wyrley carnival. Gavin Williamson, MP, was also in attendance. Not one to miss an opportunity, I sought the tories views on the SEND reforms.
The tories are apparently anti-SEND reforms as proposed but believe reforms are necessary.
He referred to the financial black hole and the ever-increasing costs to the state in supporting children with SEND.
I said the Children & Families Act 2014 is good legislation. It works. What is not working is the implementation of it - i.e. LAs deliberately make unlawful decisions every day and there is no accountability and it should not be left to parents to go to the LGSCO or SEND Tribunal. I said it would be better to amend the Children & Families Act 2014 to include holding LAs accountable for their decisions and actions.
He said the Children & Families Act 2014 is too black & white (simplistic) because the legal tests for an EHC needs assessment and EHC plan are too low. He also said the Tribunal needs to change because 99% of appeals are found in favour of parents - again referring to the legal tests being too easy to achieve.
Mr Williamson believes the proposals will proceed through parliament but with significant changes to what is proposed because the present proposals are not realistice or workable.
