Premature announcement of Education for All bill undermines democracy

Commenting on the announcement of the Education for All Bill, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT - The Teachers' Union, said:

"The government appears to be making announcements on SEND reform before the consultation on reforms has even closed. Teachers, parents and pupils will be confused and concerned over this development as they have been promised a voice in these plans.

"While a bill would naturally follow a white paper, right now, schools are more focused on the bills they cannot pay due to diminished levels of funding.

"In order to reserve funds to spend specifically on SEND, schools will require an increase in funding - especially if they are to accommodate larger numbers of pupils with more complex levels of SEND, as per government proposals. It is not yet clear when or how such funding will materialise. Our current calculations suggest that the government's proposed investment will be nowhere near enough. Meanwhile, teachers are holding classes for SEND pupils in staff rooms and portacabins, and buying resources with their own money.

"NASUWT will be responding to the government's SEND reform consultation in full and expects that the expert voices of teachers will be fed into the government's plans. That is how democracy works."