Lucy Powell

Lucy Powell

Labour (Co-op) — Manchester Central

Speaking in the House of Commons on 12 December 2024

Debate

Business of the House

Contribution

I thank the hon. Lady for raising the issue of special educational needs. She is entirely right: the crisis that was left in SEND support in our schools was appalling—it was one of the terrible legacies of the Conservative Government— and demand is higher than ever. This is one of the big issues facing the education sector, which is why in the Budget, as the hon. Lady rightly pointed out, we announced an extra £1 billion for SEND, the biggest uplift that it has received for many years. Of course, that will not solve all the problems overnight; it is a down payment on the work that we will do, and are already doing, to reform SEND and get the resources in, which is vital to our education sector. The hon. Lady also raised the issue of teachers’ pay. I am proud that one of this Government’s first acts was to agree to the independent pay review body’s recommendation of the pay rise that they had long deserved, and we will continue to support our education sector in respect of all its needs.

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