The current system to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has lost the confidence of too many families in West Cumbria.
Don’t just take my word for it. The last Conservative Education Secretary described the system she left behind as “lose, lose, lose” – and even the Tories’ own Deputy Chief Whip said they should “hang [their] heads in shame.”
I agree – but the difference under Labour is that we’re not standing by. We’re taking action.
Since entering government, Labour has restructured the Department for Education to put SEND at its heart and brought in experts to guide long-overdue reform. We’ve invested £1 billion to support children with the most complex learning needs and £740 million to expand specialist provision in mainstream schools.
Locally, Cumberland’s Labour-led council is playing its part too. They’re expanding specialist school places – including 8 new places I helped secure at Hensingham Primary, with 200 more planned by 2026, including 19 at Mayfield this September.
But we know investment alone isn’t enough. I’ve spoken to families across West Cumbria who are battling long waits for assessments, only to find little meaningful support on the other side. I’ve also heard from headteachers and health professionals about their concerns – not just about under-resourcing, but also about the growing pressure to seek a diagnosis.
Across England, autism diagnoses have nearly doubled in five years, with teenage ADHD rates also sharply rising. Some variation reflects greater awareness – a positive step. But there are valid questions about fairness, consistency, and whether children and parents should be battling for a diagnosis in order to get support. For lots of these children it would be better to just provide support as and when needs are identified.
I do not agree with Nigel Farage that diagnosing children with additional needs is ‘creating a class of victims’, or the Chair of Reform UK that children with SEND are just ‘naughty children’. But a growing number of clinicians are warning that many everyday struggles – sadness, shyness, restlessness – risk being treated as disorders. While diagnosis can be life-changing for some, it may limit others unnecessarily. Perhaps it would be better in some situations to have greater support available for children without needing a diagnosis.
That’s why we need a system that puts children’s needs first – not one where parents must fight for a label just to unlock basic support.
To help shape that system, I’m holding a coffee morning for local parents with direct experience of the SEND system. It will be held 10am-12pm on Tuesday 26th August. If you’d like to join, please contact my office. I’ll be feeding your views directly to the Education Secretary ahead of the reforms expected this autumn.
Labour won’t offer token fixes – but we will work with families, not against them, to build a system where every child in West Cumbria can thrive.
Josh MacAlister MP 