LAST week, the government released the Schools White Paper, which outlined major reforms to SEND education, and provides a plan to tackle attainment gaps between students.

We provided £4-billion in additional funding, with £1.6-billion being invested in making mainstream schools more inclusive, and £1.8-billion earmarked to create a national bank of experts, such as educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational therapists.

Additionally, the government will be launching Mission Coastal, thanks to the efforts of Cornwall’s Labour MPs as part of the Coastal Parliamentary Labour Party’s campaign. Mission Coastal is based on the London Challenge that ran in the early 2000s; which sought to raise standards in the poorest performing schools, narrow the attainment gap between pupils in London, and create more good and outstanding schools. London Challenge was widely considered successful, with schools being encouraged to work together whilst the government provided advisors and specific, bespoke interventions, as well as allowing successful schools to share best practices with other schools.

Today, Mission Coastal will address barriers linked to geography, poor infrastructure, weak transport links, and long‑term deprivation. When the Conservatives left office in 2024, SEND provision for Cornish children was appalling; only two per cent received their Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans within the 20-week time limit. Nationally, 50 per cent of children received their plan within the limit, which whilst still being disappointing, was leagues better than we were facing in Cornwall. Mid Cornwall can no longer be an education desert, and the Government understands this which is why, on top of this, I’m delighted that A Levels will return to St Austell College after a decade.

The Mission Coastal program will encourage local Cornish schools, academy trusts, and local partners to work together, sharing best practice and innovations to strengthen provision and create better opportunities. The creation of local partnership boards will bring together teachers, school leaders, councils and community representatives to coordinate this action. In areas where challenges such as low parental engagement persist, Mission Coastal will take a “test, learn and grow” approach – building evidence of what works and scaling up successful practice.

These efforts come as the Government clears 90 per cent of Cornwall Council’s SEND spending debt, covering around £70-million of a £78-million debt. For too long, councils across the country have been paralysed in the face of soaring SEND costs and an inflexible system, but our Labour government is tackling both those issues head on. Reforms to SEND will ensure every child with special educational needs and disabilities will be entitled to a legally backed Individual Support Plan (ISP), tailored by teachers and specialists and moving away from a “one-sizefits-all” model. Additionally, children with more complex needs will see their Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) strengthened, as well as a “triplelock” of protections which will ensure no child will see themselves removed from specialist schools, nor see their funding cut.

We have a moral, economic, and social duty to invest in Cornwall’s next generation, and reforming our education will be key.