‘Effective’ SEND support won’t be taken away, minister says
Education: Secondary / Sun 22nd Feb 2026 at 05:36pm
THE government will not be withdrawing “effective support” from children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) under its planned school reforms for England, the education secretary has said reports the BBC.
Bridget Phillipson told the BBC the government would be “spending more money”, not less, on supporting children with SEND as part of its efforts to overhaul the system.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygnnz6d9lo
David Forman
2026-02-23 11:08:24
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, dismissed claims the investment would be enough to deliver meaningful reform. Wrack said: "It is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that Send provision can be adequately overhauled with this low level of funding, or that the associated workloads for teachers could be in any way offset by throwing a bit of money in their general direction." See NASUWT statement at https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/proposed-send-reforms-could-set-schools-up-to-fail.html
David Forman
2026-02-24 11:51:41
Only last month the Centre for Health and the Public Interest published a report on private company involvement in delivering services for ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. A Freedom of Information exercise delivered 19 responses out of 42 Integrated Care Boards. Amongst the findings were: "33% - the profit margin of one of the private equity owned providers of NHS ADHD services; £164 million – the estimated overspend by 32 ICBs in England on ADHD services in 2025/6; £314 million – the estimated spend by 32 ICBs in England on ADHD services in 2025/6; 19 - the number of companies which provided £1.9 million worth of ADHD services to NHS patients over a 3 year period where there was no evidence of a contract with the NHS; 14 - the number companies who provided £3.5 million worth of ADHD services to NHS bodies over a 3 year period who were not registered with the Care Quality Commission." See report at https://www.chpi.org.uk/reports/how-the-under-regulated-market-in-nhs-funded-adhd-services
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