Downing Street Has Not Formed Plan to Deal With Upcoming SEND Rebellion – Guido Fawkes

EXC: Downing Street Has Not Formed Plan to Deal With Upcoming SEND Rebellion

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Downing Street is yet to form a strategy to deal with an upcoming rebellion over special educational needs provision. Two overnight splashes in the Times and the Guardian have brought the issue to the fore…

Ministers including Bridget Phillipson are making headlines by refusing to guarantee current SEND provisions will be legally guaranteed for children with special needs as the government looks for cost-savings in an efficiency drive for the system, which currently costs £11 billion. A white paper for later in the year is due to involve focussing SEND provision in mainstream schools as opposed to investment in specialist institutions. Costs have skyrocketed in recent years…

Backbench Labour MPs have briefed the papers anonymously while campaigners and charities are already rearing their heads now that there is talk of reform. A Downing Street source tells Guido they are “still working out what to do” on the potential revolt, adding that “proposals weren’t due until the autumn anyway.” On that front Guido hears the current plan is to “just play it long and try to sort the rebels over the summer.” There is time – and a jolted No10 will not be keen on a repeat of the welfare debacle…