Speeches by McKinnell.

“We have not made any decisions yet about future changes on education, health and care plans. The settlement from the spending review means that we can make a significant investment in the provision available for SEND pupils in mainstream schools, as well as protecting the provision that is currently in place. To clarif…”

“Do you want to come in here, Alison?”

“We know that local authorities have seen a significant increase in the number of assessment requests for education, health and care plans. This is contributing to the difficulty of ensuring that children and young people receive the support that they need quickly, because we need to make sure that the services are deli…”

“No, I think it is the opposite. We desperately need to move away from this adversarial system where parents feel they need to fight for every bit of their child’s education and for their child to get the education they deserve. We feel that the system, as it should for any child—our focus is on all children getting an …”

“As I said, some of this is already there but it needs to become much more consistent in the way that it is delivered across the country. We are looking at a whole range of areas to support schools to provide a much stronger offer and to meet the needs of the children within cohorts. I have mentioned a few. Since taking…”

“Okay, in broad terms, the point that I hope should be reassuring for parents—and that is an important part of this conversation—is that good already exists, what works already exists and it is already evident in the system. Since coming into Government last July, the first thing we did was restructure the Department fo…”

“That is a question that covers probably everything that we will discuss throughout this session, so I am conscious of that.”

“You touch on the really challenging point that we are at with confidence of parents in the system. We know that it is not where it should be. Many parents and families are having to fight really hard for their child’s education and we want to change that completely. We want to build a system that restores confidence. W…”

“I am Catherine McKinnell. I am the Minister for School Standards.”

“I should have said thank you very much for having me here today. I know how hard you have all been working as a Committee on the challenges facing the SEND system and investigating that. I recognise that you are all here because you care profoundly about the children and young people with special educational needs and …”

“The changes that we have made to the fair access limits will ensure that more children have access to the fund, because year-on-year demands have increased. When we brought forward the legislation, which was the biggest overhaul in children’s social care in a generation, the opposition parties voted against it. We are …”

“indicated dissent.”

“Every child deserves the opportunity to achieve and thrive in education. That is why this Government have—as Labour Governments always do—prioritised education, with the Department’s budget for day-to-day cash spending increasing by almost £6 billion compared with the last financial year. Within that, we have increased…”

“My hon. Friend makes a really important point, and I was about to respond to a question that she raised in her very good contribution to this debate. We will set out the details of our approach to SEND reform in a schools White Paper, which we intend to publish in the autumn. We recognise that we need to support mainst…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Combined Authorities (Adult Education Functions) (Amendment) Order 2025. It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Mr Stuart. The draft order was laid before the House on 19 May 2025. If it is approved, the Department for Education will transfer an addition…”

“I appreciate the hon. Member’s interest in this issue, and his support for the outcomes of the draft order, which, as he acknowledged, is technical in nature. I appreciate his concerns about devolution, and the extent to which local areas are empowered to maximise outcomes from the funding. The intention is very much t…”

“I join Members in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on securing a debate on this incredibly important topic in this very timely week and on his powerful opening speech. I was truly saddened to hear of the deaths of his constituent Joe Abbess and Sunnah Khan at Bournemouth b…”

“The right hon. Member is right to recognise how fundamental swimming is, but it is really important to recognise that it is not enough, as has come across very strongly in this debate. But being able to swim is the foundation that every child should have. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, it takes a cross-Governme…”

“As I said, we are working with sector organisations on the content of the curriculum, and we are working with the sector on the delivery of these programmes. I could go into detail on Ofsted and the changes we are making on accountability, but I do not believe there is time in this debate. However, I take the challenge…”

“We are investing significantly to make mainstream schools more inclusive for SEND students. By strengthening our evidence of effective inclusive practice, we are equipping teachers with proven tools and strategies to deliver excellent inclusive education supported by expert teaching and a world-class curriculum. We wil…”