Greg Smith is MP for Mid Buckinghamshire since 2024 having previously served as the MP for Buckingham from 2019.
I was in the Chamber for Prime Minister’s Questions last week when Chris Coghlan raised the tragic case of 13-year-old Eivie White.
It was an intervention that genuinely moved me, and one that I hope everyone in Parliament, whatever their political allegiance, took the time to reflect upon.
Eivie took her own life after eight years of refusals by her local authority to support her autism. Six months later, her best friend, also aged just 13, took her own life. These are heartbreaking circumstances, and a devastating reminder of what can happen when children and families are failed by the system that is supposed to protect and support them.
Chris told the Prime Minister that Eivie’s case was one of 200 cases relating to avoidable child suicide and 1,200 testimonies from children concerning alleged misconduct by 134 local authorities. With the police now involved, he asked a question that should concern every parent and every Parliamentarian; given the consequences of local authority failures, does the Government still intend to weaken children’s legal protections, particularly their rights at tribunal, as part of its SEND reforms?
The response from Louise Haigh, speaking in place of the Prime Minister, acknowledged the tragedy and the need for reform. She confirmed that Education, Health and Care Plans would remain and that tribunals would continue as a key legal backstop. But acknowledging the problem is not enough. The Government must ensure that its reforms strengthen, rather than undermine, the ability of families to secure the support their children need.
I was particularly struck by Chris’s intervention because it reflects concerns I have been raising for some time. In my constituency of Mid Buckinghamshire, I regularly hear from exhausted parents fighting for support, children waiting months for suitable placements and schools struggling to meet increasingly complex needs.
This is not a party-political issue. Chris and I sit on opposite sides of the House, but we share a conviction that children with SEND, particularly those with the most complex needs, must not be forgotten in the Government’s plans.
I welcome the ambition to improve early identification and strengthen support in mainstream schools. Many children can and should thrive in mainstream education when the right help is available. But we must be honest: for some children, even the best-supported mainstream setting will never be appropriate.
For these children, specialist provision is not a luxury. It is often their last realistic opportunity to stabilise, re-engage with learning and build a future. Independent special schools account for around 33,000 placements out of 638,700 children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is a relatively small but essential part of the system. Restricting that capacity in the name of inclusion would be a false economy, with the consequences falling on the children who need help most.
There is also a compelling economic argument for getting this right. Research by Sonnet Impact found that appropriate SEND provision can generate at least £380,000 in lifetime value to society for each child with complex needs, after accounting for education costs. The alternative, failing to provide the right support, can mean family hardship, lost opportunities, long-term dependency and, in some cases, involvement with the criminal justice system.
We must also pay much greater attention to social, emotional and mental health needs. Anxiety, trauma, emotional dysregulation, school refusal and persistent absence are too often treated as behavioural problems rather than signs of unmet need. These children need understanding, appropriate support and the right environment.
The Government has an opportunity to get these reforms right but it cannot allow a lengthy transition to leave a generation of children without the specialist education they need today. Nor can it pursue short-term savings at the expense of children’s futures. Parents must retain meaningful rights to challenge decisions, and those rights must be effective in practice, not simply exist on paper.
That is why I am proud to be a Patron of the SEND Matters Coalition, alongside Chris Coghlan. We share a belief that parents must be heard, that children must come before political considerations and that reform must protect the specialist capacity on which some of our most vulnerable young people depend.
On Wednesday, Chris and I will both be at the launch of the SEND Matters campaign in the House of Lords. It will bring together parents, Parliamentarians and people working in specialist education to make sure the voices of those most affected are heard.
Our Party political differences should never prevent us from standing together on something as important as this. Eivie’s story is a reminder of the devastating consequences when children are not listened to, and their needs are not met.
The test of SEND reform must not be how many specialist placements can be removed or how much money can be saved on paper. It must be whether children receive the education, protection and support they need to fulfil their potential.
Children with the most complex needs must not become an afterthought. They must be at the very heart of the Government’s plans.
Greg Smith is MP for Mid Buckinghamshire since 2024 having previously served as the MP for Buckingham from 2019.
I was in the Chamber for Prime Minister’s Questions last week when Chris Coghlan raised the tragic case of 13-year-old Eivie White.
It was an intervention that genuinely moved me, and one that I hope everyone in Parliament, whatever their political allegiance, took the time to reflect upon.
Eivie took her own life after eight years of refusals by her local authority to support her autism. Six months later, her best friend, also aged just 13, took her own life. These are heartbreaking circumstances, and a devastating reminder of what can happen when children and families are failed by the system that is supposed to protect and support them.
Chris told the Prime Minister that Eivie’s case was one of 200 cases relating to avoidable child suicide and 1,200 testimonies from children concerning alleged misconduct by 134 local authorities. With the police now involved, he asked a question that should concern every parent and every Parliamentarian; given the consequences of local authority failures, does the Government still intend to weaken children’s legal protections, particularly their rights at tribunal, as part of its SEND reforms?
The response from Louise Haigh, speaking in place of the Prime Minister, acknowledged the tragedy and the need for reform. She confirmed that Education, Health and Care Plans would remain and that tribunals would continue as a key legal backstop. But acknowledging the problem is not enough. The Government must ensure that its reforms strengthen, rather than undermine, the ability of families to secure the support their children need.
I was particularly struck by Chris’s intervention because it reflects concerns I have been raising for some time. In my constituency of Mid Buckinghamshire, I regularly hear from exhausted parents fighting for support, children waiting months for suitable placements and schools struggling to meet increasingly complex needs.
This is not a party-political issue. Chris and I sit on opposite sides of the House, but we share a conviction that children with SEND, particularly those with the most complex needs, must not be forgotten in the Government’s plans.
I welcome the ambition to improve early identification and strengthen support in mainstream schools. Many children can and should thrive in mainstream education when the right help is available. But we must be honest: for some children, even the best-supported mainstream setting will never be appropriate.
For these children, specialist provision is not a luxury. It is often their last realistic opportunity to stabilise, re-engage with learning and build a future. Independent special schools account for around 33,000 placements out of 638,700 children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is a relatively small but essential part of the system. Restricting that capacity in the name of inclusion would be a false economy, with the consequences falling on the children who need help most.
There is also a compelling economic argument for getting this right. Research by Sonnet Impact found that appropriate SEND provision can generate at least £380,000 in lifetime value to society for each child with complex needs, after accounting for education costs. The alternative, failing to provide the right support, can mean family hardship, lost opportunities, long-term dependency and, in some cases, involvement with the criminal justice system.
We must also pay much greater attention to social, emotional and mental health needs. Anxiety, trauma, emotional dysregulation, school refusal and persistent absence are too often treated as behavioural problems rather than signs of unmet need. These children need understanding, appropriate support and the right environment.
The Government has an opportunity to get these reforms right but it cannot allow a lengthy transition to leave a generation of children without the specialist education they need today. Nor can it pursue short-term savings at the expense of children’s futures. Parents must retain meaningful rights to challenge decisions, and those rights must be effective in practice, not simply exist on paper.
That is why I am proud to be a Patron of the SEND Matters Coalition, alongside Chris Coghlan. We share a belief that parents must be heard, that children must come before political considerations and that reform must protect the specialist capacity on which some of our most vulnerable young people depend.
On Wednesday, Chris and I will both be at the launch of the SEND Matters campaign in the House of Lords. It will bring together parents, Parliamentarians and people working in specialist education to make sure the voices of those most affected are heard.
Our Party political differences should never prevent us from standing together on something as important as this. Eivie’s story is a reminder of the devastating consequences when children are not listened to, and their needs are not met.
The test of SEND reform must not be how many specialist placements can be removed or how much money can be saved on paper. It must be whether children receive the education, protection and support they need to fulfil their potential.
Children with the most complex needs must not become an afterthought. They must be at the very heart of the Government’s plans.