Smith: Children will be able to access help without needing lawyers
The government has been urged to ensure that its reforms to special education needs and disabilities (SEND) provision remove “second-rate lawyers” from the system”.
Department for Education minister Baroness Smith responded that the intention was that parents would not need legal representation.
She was speaking in the House of Lords after announcing the schools white paper, which includes significant changes to the SEND system.
“Members across the House all know that our SEND system is not working… It was a system that drove local councils, again and again, to put process above people.
“Support was stripped away, forcing parents to run a legal gauntlet for what should have been their child’s by right: support that all too often just did not materialise.”
The Liberal Democrat’s disabilities spokesman, Lord Addington, sought a commitment “that the government will be looking at how to remove lawyers from the system”.
The peer, who is president of the British Dyslexic Association, explained: “In many cases, there are a lot of very second-rate lawyers who have taken this work on and are milking the system. We cannot go back to this. We cannot go back to this situation where only the articulate and well off are getting the help they need.”
Baroness Smith responded: “Our ambitious SEND reforms will support mainstream inclusion so that children can access help without waiting for lengthy assessments or having to engage with lawyers – including from our £1.8 billion Experts at Hand programme, wrapping professionals such as speech and language therapists around schools, and removing the incentive that [peers] have identified for parents, who are desperate for the support that they need and want for their children, to have to fight through a lengthy process to get an education, health and care plan.
“But for those with more complex needs, new specialist provision packages, designed with experts and parents, will define the support required. All this is backed by £7bn more for SEND in 2028-29 compared with 2025-26.”
The white paper says the SEND tribunal should be “a genuine last resort and so we will invest to improve mediation and school complaints processes”.
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