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  • 7/7/2025
Early Years Minister Stephen Morgan has said that Labour is "working closely" with its MPs on plans to reform the current system for supporting children with special educational needs.Speaking to GB News, Morgan stated that the Government are hoping to "deliver reform to make sure the system is fit for the future".FULL STORY HERE.

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Transcript
00:00Today in Westminster shall we speak to early years minister Stephen Morgan who joins us now.
00:05Very good morning to you Mr Morgan. Good morning. Stephen, these, you know, appropriately enough
00:12you're representing early years for kids at school and those early years could be transformed really
00:20with the right support as proposed in this bill. You're absolutely right Eamon, I mean what we've
00:29announced today is our best start in life strategy. We want to make sure that every child wherever they
00:33live in the country they get the best start in life and more support for parents. This is on top
00:38of what we announced yesterday in terms of best start centres across our country in every local
00:43authority area. We know that when we invest in early education it makes a big difference to children's
00:48lives and improves their life chances later in life. So a really good strategy that we're announcing
00:53today we're going to be working with the sector to bring about change on quality, on access and on
00:59different places. So hopefully this will make a big difference up and down our country.
01:02What about the best start in life for children with special educational needs? Because we're being
01:07briefed in the papers this morning that the government is poised to scrap the system which
01:12ensures that pupils with special needs such as autism and ADHD get personalised support at school. Can you
01:19confirm this morning that this is something that the government is looking at scrapping?
01:22We inherited a system which was failing families and failing vulnerable children so we're listening
01:30really carefully to what experts, parents and others have to tell us. The previous government
01:35said the system was lose, lose, lose. We know it's broken and that's why we're working really hard
01:41to make sure the system is fit for the future. In my brief it's really important that early identification
01:47and intervention on SEND will make a big difference and that's a key part of the work that we're doing
01:53ahead of a white paper that will come out later this year. So are you looking to scrap the system
01:58for children with special educational needs? I talk to parents all the time obviously in my own
02:05constituency on visits that I do and those that write to me and they would agree that the system just
02:10isn't working at the moment and our priority is to get it right at the right place for every child. We've put more
02:17money in to SEND, we put one billion in high needs funding in last year, we've put more money in for capital,
02:24so more places in mainstream settings as well. Our best start centres, there will be dedicated professionals in those
02:30centres to support children with SEND. So the money is going in, the investment is going in and we want to deliver the
02:34reform to make sure the system is fit for the future. Okay, so we're not clear on whether we are going to
02:40scrap the system. But we're having, you know, you're talking there that you're speaking with parents. I've got a view
02:46from a parent here who says they've got a daughter with special educational needs. Without the support
02:51that she's given at the moment, she would struggle even more at school. What do you say to parents who are
02:57parents of children with special educational needs this morning who are worried and are panicked by these
03:03headlines this morning? Well, that parent sounds just like my sister who had to fight to get the EHCP for my
03:11nephew and then doesn't get the support now he is in school. So we are listening carefully to what
03:17parents say to make sure we do everything we possibly can to deliver the right support in the right
03:23place. I won't get into the kind of metrics now of how we deliver that. That's for consultation
03:28and engagement with parents and many others. We will set up more detail in the white paper later this year,
03:33but parents will recognise the system is broken. We want to work with them to get it right for the future.
03:38We are hearing the government saying this isn't about saving money, but obviously backbenchers and we saw
03:44them mounting pressure on you last week about welfare reform. Clearly backbenchers are going to feel
03:49like this is the Treasury once again coming here and saying we need to find cuts where we can, even if that
03:55is towards children with special educational needs. Well, all Labour MPs stood on a platform to reform the
04:03SEND system. We are working closely with them. There have been lots of debates in Parliament.
04:07Bridget Phillipson is listening carefully to what MPs have to say, as am I. It is really clear to me
04:13that early identification and intervention on SEND makes a big difference. There are lots we can learn
04:18from good practice across the country, in particular in nurseries, and we really want people to
04:23contribute to this review to make sure we get it right for the future. Stephen, thank you very much.
04:29Indeed, we will leave it there. Stephen Morgan is the Early Years Minister. Thank you.

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