Gina Miller: SEND Children Like My Daughter Are Citizens With Rights, Not Problems
For decades, families across the nation have waged a relentless battle for the rights of children with special educational needs and disabilities. Now, the government's newly published white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, presents a potential turning point. However, as campaigner Gina Miller emphasises, this document must be underpinned by immediate action, transparent milestones, and substantial funding to effect real change.
A Personal Campaign Born from Conviction
Gina Miller's advocacy journey began in 1988 with the birth of her eldest daughter, Lucy Ann. Lucy was later diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism, propelling Miller into a lifelong fight. Her core belief is unequivocal: children with SEND are not problems to be managed but are citizens endowed with rights who deserve every opportunity to flourish. This conviction has seen her campaign from school gates to the heart of Westminster, securing legal provisions in the 1996 Education Act and engaging in numerous public battles to uphold the law.
The White Paper's Promise and Potential
The government's white paper is hailed as a seminal moment. It pledges a broader curriculum, richer opportunities, and an education system that refuses to write off any child. It correctly identifies that too many children, particularly those with SEND, are being marginalised, excluded, or allowed to slip through the cracks in a system that is increasingly failing. The language of "achievement" and "thriving" is a welcome shift, echoing decades of advocacy by parents and campaigners for ambition and inclusion to be foundational, not peripheral.
Several elements of the white paper are commendable. Its explicit focus on children pushed to the margins—whether due to unmet SEND needs, repeated exclusions, or poverty—is long overdue and must become a paramount policy priority. For years, families have witnessed their children being squeezed out by a system obsessed with narrow exam metrics rather than supported as whole individuals. The paper's emphasis on re-engaging families and communities is also encouraging, recognising parents of SEND children not as "difficult customers" but as experts and essential partners in reform.
Positive Signals and Practical Challenges
The plan to recruit 6,500 additional teachers is a positive step. Inclusion is not merely a slogan; it is a critical staffing and workload issue. Many classrooms are overcrowded and overstretched, with staff retention, especially among teaching assistants, in crisis. Properly distributed and trained, these extra teachers could facilitate earlier intervention, differentiated teaching, and better support for children with complex needs.
Opening a formal SEND reform consultation is, in principle, constructive. It acknowledges the current system's failures and that change cannot be unilaterally imposed from Whitehall. A genuine consultation could unite families, practitioners, disabled people's organisations, and local authorities to co-design a robust, future-proof system.
Four Critical Concerns for Meaningful Reform
However, good intentions and promising headlines are only the beginning. Drawing from her experience, including standing in the 2024 general election, Miller outlines four paramount concerns:
- Urgency: A new vision, consultation, and extra teachers do not immediately help a child awaiting assessment today or a family facing repeated rejections. The white paper must be accompanied by clear, near-term milestones: faster assessment timelines, action to reduce backlogs, and interim protections for children at risk of exclusion. We cannot ask another generation to wait patiently while their formative years pass by.
- Depth: The promise of a broader curriculum is about reshaping what we value. If accountability and inspection regimes continue to prioritise narrow academic outcomes, SEND children will remain risks to be managed. Similarly, if funding does not match the scale of need, inclusion language risks becoming a rationing exercise disguised as reform.
- Coherence: The white paper treats SEND largely in isolation. Other policies—accountability frameworks, high-stakes exams, behaviour regimes—powerfully shape these children's daily experiences. Without joined-up thinking to make the mainstream environment less hostile to neurodivergent and disabled children, even the best SEND reforms may be undermined.
- Genuine Consultation: Past reviews have often seen the insights of parents, carers, and disabled young people diluted or ignored. A consultation that is mere window-dressing will deepen mistrust. A meaningful process must centre lived experience, share data openly, and demonstrate how feedback shapes final decisions.
A Cautious Optimism for the Future
Despite these reservations, Miller sees a crucial opportunity. For the first time in years, the government is employing the language of rights, inclusion, and community, rather than solely "cost pressures" and "demand management." The commitments to more teachers, a richer curriculum, and a focus on sidelined children can form the foundations of a more humane and effective system—if the government has the courage to build on them with decisive action.
