- Portsmouth MP’s Stephen Morgan and Amanda Martin meet with local parents and organisations to discuss SEND
- Labour is listening to residents as it reforms the system, ensuring children with SEND are included not sidelined
- Action will see local schools equipped to meet children’s needs
Portsmouth MP’s Stephen Morgan, have met with local families and organisations across the area to discuss the improvements that Labour plans to make to the system of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and the extra investment the government is putting into schools to meet children’s needs.
Amanda and Stephen hosted another successful roundtable in Baffins, building on the earlier session held at the start of the consultation. The event brought together parents and experts to share their views on the government’s proposed SEND reforms.
The Labour government has kickstarted engagement on plans to help more pupils with SEND have their needs met in local schools.
This conversation will feed into the government consultation on reforming the SEND system so families don’t have to battle to get support, following extensive engagement to develop these plans since Labour entered government. Labour’s plans will modernise the education system so that inclusion is at the very heart, and that every local school is able to meet children’s needs.
The government’s reforms will ensure:
- Every child who needs extra support will have a personal plan, that sets out the extra help they’ll get to succeed, matched against high national standards.
- In every classroom teachers will be trained to meet the needs of children with SEND, based on the latest evidence, and backed by £200 million of investment.
- New dedicated school funding, similar to the pupil premium, to deliver proven SEND programmes such as small-group intensive language and communication support will transform day-to-day experiences for children.
- Every secondary school will have an inclusion base where they can deliver additional support and small group work – following £3.7 billion investment to build inclusion bases, open up access to buildings and create over 60,000 more specialist places across early years settings, schools and college.
- In every corner of the country, families will be able to send their child to school with confidence, with Experts at Hand to provide more professional support like speech and language therapists for those with speech, language and communication needs.
- Extending Best Start Family Hubs to all areas, with a SEND expert in every one delivering outreach, and advice, ensuring families get the support they need both at home and through their education setting.
The MP’s intervention comes as the current SEND system is failing children. Children with SEND are twice as likely to be absent from school– with over one in ten days missed. Since 2019, outcomes for children with SEND have stagnated – nearly a third are not in employment, education or training, twice the rate of their peers.
Families are dragged through a bureaucratic, traumatic system – with waits of months and years for EHCPs just to begin to get support, and tens of thousands of parents forced into legal battles every year. Only 46% of EHCPs were completed within the 20 weeks target in 2025, harming their life chances.
Conservative Shadow Ministers have themselves admitted that they ‘did not do enough on SEND and as a result they should ‘hang [their] heads in shame’. In a damning indictment of the SEND system they left behind, the previous Conservative Education Secretary labelled the system as ‘lose, lose, lose’.
Commenting, Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said:
“I am very grateful to the families and professionals who shared their experiences of the SEND system so openly.
“Their insights were powerful and valuable, and helped to demonstrate clearly both what is not working for children and families, and where positive change is urgently needed.
”The discussion reinforced the need to move away from a one‑size‑fits‑all approach, strengthen early support, and ensure provision is protected and expanded so that every child can achieve and thrive.
“I will be feeding the points raised directly into ongoing discussions on SEND reform, including sharing residents’ views with Bridget Phillipson MP as part of shaping Labour’s approach.”
Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, said:
“I know from speaking to parents, carers and schools across my constituency that support for children with SEND is a top priority. That’s why I’m delighted that this Labour government is tackling the SEND crisis head on.
“It was wonderful to meet with local parents and organisations to hear how we can get our vision of inclusive education right.
“These reforms will ensure that children with SEND get the right support earlier, when and where they need it, without parents having to fight to get the better education – and the results – their kids deserve.”
Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Secretary of State for Education, said:
“Children have been let down for far too long by a system that is in crisis.
“Labour’s plans will transform the system so families don’t have to battle for support, and children with SEND are included, not sidelined. Inclusion should be at the heart of everything we do so that every child, no matter their background, can achieve and thrive.
“I’m delighted that MPs like Amanda and Stephen are supporting families and school staff to feed into our consultation to ensure we build a system that works for all.”
