Parents’ voices heard – and wishes acted upon, says Shrewsbury MP
The voices of parents in Shropshire have been heard – and their wishes acted upon, says a local MP who has championed reforms to schooling for children with special educational needs.
The Government’s newly-released Schools White Paper, which includes significant changes to SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) support, was today praised by Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley as ‘a huge and exciting step forward that will help many parents and children who have been under onerous pressure for far too long, battling against what was a broken system’.
She said: “Last October, in preparation for these Government reforms to special educational needs provision, I brought together parents, providers and the local authority for a SEND roundtable so I could hear directly about the pressures they face.
“I submitted a detailed report from that discussion to Ministers, and many of the priorities raised locally are now reflected in the proposals.
“Make no mistake. This really is significant. These reforms are an important step towards a more consistent and timely system for children with additional needs.
“When this government came into office in July 2024, it inherited a broken SEND system, and they were committed to change and improvement, in particular making sure that support for children is provided earlier.”
A raft of reforms to the SEND system in England to make it more inclusive, backed by £4 billion funding, were outlined in the Schools White Paper, published on Monday.
Mrs Buckley said: “These newly announced changes include: a legally-backed Individual Support Plan for every child with SEND; national standards so all families receive consistent, high‑quality support; digital Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) aligned with those standards; earlier access to therapies through new funded local Experts at Hand teams; and clearer specialist provision so children with complex needs are not left in a postcode lottery.
“Meanwhile, it should be noted no child with an existing EHCP will be subject to any changes until 2029.
“If you are a parent with concerns about any of these proposals, I would love to hear from you so that I can feed back your views directly to Ministers. Please email me at julia.buckley.mp@parliament.uk”.
