𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Redundant churches should be turned into schools where children with special educational needs can receive the help they need, according to Richard Tice. The Reform UK deputy leader claimed children are travelling for up to 90 minutes by taxi for specialist classes.

He denounced the state of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, saying: “[At] every single level the SEND system is broken and we at Reform are determined to be at the heart of reforming it and improving it.” Setting out his vision of classes being provided in churches, he said: “Imagine a system where children don’t have to travel in a taxi every day 60-90 minutes to a specialist school.

“Imagine, for example, using redundant churches five days a week that are currently only used one day of the week.”

He added: “What a great thing that would be, for the Church of England to show real leadership.”

His comments come just weeks after the County Councils Network warned the system is on “course for total collapse” with “cumulative deficits projected to hit a staggering £18billion by the end of this parliament”. It claimed cash is being “withdrawn from children in the mainstream school system in order to support overspending for SEND – with an estimated £150million being transferred in the last financial year”.

Mr Tice had previously warned of a “crisis of overdiagnosis” and called on schools to “stop labelling people”.

But at a press conference in Westminster, he said he was “sorry”, stating he had “offended a number of people talking about SEND”. He said this demonstrated that “everybody is unhappy, frustrated, angry, furious about what is going on within the SEND system”.

Mr Tice announced a new “working group” to develop Reform’s SEND policy, which will be led by Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the former Tory minister and current Reform Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.

According to the House of Commons Library, in January, nearly one in five children in England – more than 1.7million pupils – had been identified with special educational needs.

Mr Tice said: “Nobody’s disabled. People are differently abled.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said the Government would set out plans for SEND in the new year, adding: “We have acknowledged it is an area which needs comprehensive review.”

A Labour source said Mr Tice had displayed “brass neck” after previously criticising the parents of children with additional needs, adding: “Nobody will trust them to have the right answers now.

“It’s only this Labour Government that is going to fix the broken SEND system after years of parents fighting to get the support their children deserve, but we’re not waiting for the 2026 Schools White Paper to transform children’s lives.

“We’re investing £3billion in more than 50,000 places so that children can go to school close to home, putting early intervention in nurseries and our Best Start Family Hubs so that more children get the education that should be theirs as a right.”