House of Commons · General Debate
13 October 2025 · 7 other contributors
Opened by Helen Hayes Lab Dulwich and West Norwood
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Helen Hayes raised concerns about education committee 2025-10-13 in the House of Commons. Other MPs contributed to the debate.
Key points
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
Presented the fifth report of this Parliament by the Education Committee, titled 'Solving the SEND Crisis'. The report highlights the moral imperative to address the crisis in special educational needs and disabilities provision (SEND), affecting over 1.7 million children and young people, and proposes practical steps for an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable system.
Asked about parental involvement in the process and highlighted that too often parents feel the process is done to them rather than with them. He sought immediate, practical steps to move towards a more collaborative relationship between parents and professionals.
Discussed local authority SENCO involvement and systemic failings in health services as seen in his constituency. He sought elaboration on recommendations in paragraphs 289 and 290 to make provision fit for purpose.
I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for the report—we agree with the recommendations that have been made. Does she agree that the Select Committee reached those recommendations by engaging with communities and local MPs, such as in Corby and East Northamptonshire, which brought together local SENCOs, parents and others to input directly into the Committee’s report? Will she thank them, as I do, and say well done to them for shaping that report and its outcomes?
I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for her statement. As part of the evidence we gathered, we went to Ontario to see its inclusive education system, and I am sure I was not alone in finding that one of the bits of evidence that made the most impression. A couple of things stood out. Ontario focuses on communication from kindergarten, because social integration is vital for children to thrive. Parents there do not have to fight, because dialogue works better. Families are listened to and their trauma acknowledged. All behaviour is a form of communication; we have to understand what these children are trying to tell us.
I thank my hon. Friend for her statement. Does she agree that improving ordinarily available provision alongside effective SEND support can meet many pupils’ needs without the need for an EHCP, as our Committee’s visit to Aylsham high school in Norwich proved? Does she hope, as I do, that the Government’s forthcoming White Paper will not seek to restrict access to EHCPs, but instead will offer earlier and effective support, thereby bringing the need for EHCPs down naturally?
One of the key findings of the report is that there needs to be a clear definition of what an inclusive education means. Does the Chair of the Select Committee agree that inflexible, draconian disciplinary systems at secondary level applied without consideration for reasonable adjustments are one of the things that contribute to a hostile environment for children with SEND? Will the Select Committee consider that and how we might improve education for all children?
I started my teacher training in 2008, and I continued to work as a teacher and to be a teacher trade unionist until 4 July last year. I knew that the SEND system was broken, although I did not realise quite how broken it was until I opened my emails on day one. We all know that the system is broken throughout the country, but it is most broken in Staffordshire, a place that I have the pleasure to represent but which has the eighth highest refusal rate for EHCPs in the country, rejecting more than 45% of requests.