Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans, joined SEND campaigners – including the co-director of Special Needs Jungle from St Albans – to demand that the Prime Minister protects legal rights to support for children with SEND, as his government seeks to reform the SEND system.
The Save Our Children’s Rights group, whose campaign is supported by Daisy, are urging the government to protect the current legal rights that children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) have to tailored support, in their upcoming Schools White Paper detailing proposed reforms in this area.
This follows recent reports that the government is considering restricting eligibility for EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans), which give children with SEND legal entitlements to any necessary educational support.
The group, along with Daisy and other Liberal Democrat MPs, convened at Downing Street to present a petition signed by 132,789 people.
Beforehand, the campaigners, Daisy, and a number of her Liberal Democrat colleagues visited the Department for Education, to make their calls known to the government.
Daisy said:
“Across our local area and beyond, children with SEND and their families have been waiting far too long for a SEND system than works.
“In their upcoming White Paper, it’s vital that the government brings urgent improvements, rather than restricting access to support further by removing current legal rights to it.
“We need real improvements, driven by the changes children and their families are calling for, not further barriers to stop people getting the support they need to thrive.”
Daisy also spoke in support of this petition when it was debated in Parliament in September 2025, saying:
“These top-down reforms are taking up valuable political oxygen among the political leadership and the senior leadership team at the council, taking them away from helping families. The drip-feeding of information on the changes the Government are considering is causing enormous anxiety, too. Children, parents, carers and teachers cannot wait any more. As many other hon. Members have said, they are at breaking point. Please, we need action.”
This continues Daisy’s long-standing campaign on improving access to SEND support locally and nationwide, including through her calls for fairer funding for Hertfordshire, which currently loses out significantly compared to neighbouring counties.
