In an interview with The i Paper, Steven Kinnock said he was working with the Department for Education (DfE) to “boost inclusivity” and enhance expertise in mainstream education.
He made the comments while discussing new guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which will introduce compulsory training for care staff working with individuals with learning disabilities and autism.
Families often have difficulty finding SEND schools that can cater for their children in their areas. By law local authorities – facing their own funding crisis – must pay for transport. The County Council Network said in March that 31,000 children were travelling to school each day by taxi, with the cost in 2023-24 hitting £1.4bn.
“We want to boost expertise in mainstream schools, helping to really work with people, young people who have complex needs, and rebuilding trust in the system. We feel that what we inherited is really a mess,” he told The i Paper.
He added: “From that diversity comes really positive experiences, not just for the young people who are autistic or have learning disabilities, but also for all of the other young people in that class who really can see the benefits from having that diversity and that energy in the classroom.”
Kinnock questioned if diagnosis was the best way to deliver SEND support (Photo: Getty Images)Autism training follows parents’ campaign
Oliver’s parents, Paula and Tom McGowan, have campaigned for improved training to prevent tragedies like their son’s and to improve care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
Kinnock also addressed the impact that proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which supports disabled people, could have on people with autism and learning disabilities.
“We need to ensure that we have a social security system that facilitates that and enables that, rather than writing people off and labelling them in a way that is not helpful to anybody,” he added.
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