Challenging the Education Secretary to listen to Hitchin families on SEND reforms

PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP

WEDNESDAY 27^th MAY 2026

Alistair Strathern, Member of Parliament for Hitchin, has called on the Education Secretary to listen directly to local families as the Government moves forward with major reforms to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision.

Over the past year, the Hitchin MP has held a series of consultation workshops with parents, carers, and education professionals across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, gathering detailed feedback on both the challenges within the current system and the Government’s proposed reforms.

Following these discussions, Strathern has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, urging her to ensure that the voices of Hitchin families are central to shaping the final reforms. He recent held a meeting with her to put the case in person.

The workshops have already helped drive progress as Strathern has fed back findings to the Department for Education.

Reforms so far to SEND provision include:

• Significant increases in funding for specialist SEND provision, including the largest in the country for Hertfordshire 

• Plans to clear the majority of local authority SEND deficits, including in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire

• Increased investment in specialist staff such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists

• Stronger expectations on schools to deliver inclusive education

Local families welcomed these measures but also shared areas where further work was needed to ensure the proposals worked for their families.

A key issue highlighted was accountability, particularly around the proposed new Individual Support Plans (ISPs), which are intended to extend structured support to more children beyond those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and to ensure local authorities do far better in delivering their obligations to young people. 

Alistair Strathern MP said:“Families across Hitchin have shared with me powerful and often difficult experiences of navigating the SEND system. 

“While the Government’s reforms offer a real opportunity to fix a system that has been broken for too long, it is absolutely vital that we get these changes right. That means listening carefully to the families who rely on this support every day.“These reforms are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a SEND system that truly works. 

“But success will depend on whether families feel heard, supported, and confident that their children’s needs will be met.”

Strathern raised all of these issues directly with the Education Secretary in a recent meeting, stressing that reforms must reflect the realities faced by families in Hitchin and surrounding areas.

Strathern has pledged to continue working closely with local families and to press the Government to ensure that the final reforms deliver meaningful and lasting improvements.