Minister gained’t rule out assist cuts for youngsters with EHCPs amid Ship overhaul – UK politics reside

Helen Hayes, the Labour chair of the Commons schooling committee, has mentioned that the federal government ought to decide to retaining schooling, well being and care plans (EHCPs) to maintain the belief of households who’ve youngsters with particular academic wants, Peter Walker stories.

A charity supporting individuals with consideration deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD) is making ready a authorized problem in opposition to an NHS belief that has briefly stopped accepting referrals for adults over 25, Rachel Corridor stories.

As Peter Walker stories, Neil Kinnock, the previous Labour chief, mentioned the federal government ought to think about a wealth tax, in an interview with Sky Information.

At this time the Day by day Telegraph has splashed on the proposal.

In their story, Ben Riley-Smith, Dominic Penna and Hannah Boland quote 5 commerce unions additionally supporting a wealth tax.

A few of them them are leftwing unions lengthy related to requires wealth taxes. Unite informed the paper it had “led the campaign for a wealth tax inside and outside the Labour party”. Steve Wright, normal secretary of the FBU, informed the paper that “introducing a wealth tax to fund public services, a generous welfare state, and workers’ pay must be a priority in the second year of a Labour government. And Matt Wrack, the former FBU general secretary who is now acting general secretary of Nasuwt, called for an “immediate introduction of a wealth tax”, which he mentioned had “very significant public support”.

However two unions seen as much less militant and extra aligned with the Labour management (which is cautious of ‘tax the rich’ rhetoric) have backed the thought. Christina McAnea, normal secretary of Unison, informed the Telegraph: “A wealth tax would be a much fairer way of raising revenue to invest in public services and grow the economy.”

And Paddy Lillis, the final secretary of Usdaw, mentioned: “We know wealth in this country is with a small number of people. [A wealth tax] is one way of raising money quickly.”

Stephen Morgan, the early schooling minister, informed LBC that the federal government proposals to overtake particular academic wants and disabilities (Ship) provision can be about “strengthening” the system.

Requested if he might say dad and mom of youngsters with Ship had nothing to worry from the plans, that are resulting from be introduced within the autumn, Morgan replied:

Completely. What we need to do is make sure that we’ve obtained a greater system in place on account of the reform that we’re doing that improves outcomes for youngsters with further wants.

However, requested if the plans would contain scrapping ECHPs, Morgan replied:

We’re taking a look at all issues within the spherical. I’m not going to get into the mechanics immediately, however that is about strengthening assist for the system.

Right here is the letter to the Guardian, signed by dozens of particular wants and incapacity charities and campaigners, that’s lined in our splash story about opposition to proposals to limit entry to schooling, well being and care plans (EHCPs). (See 9.34am.)

Right here is John Harris’s column on the subject.

And right here is an extract.

Since Labour gained the election, rising noise has been coming from Whitehall and past about drastically proscribing the authorized rights to devoted provision that underpin the schooling of a whole lot of 1000’s of youngsters and younger individuals. These rights are enforced by the official Ship tribunal, and embodied in schooling, well being and care plans (EHCPs), which set out youngsters’s wants and the supply they entail in a legally binding doc. Opposite to what you learn in sure information shops, they aren’t any type of “golden ticket”: dad and mom and carers used to unreturned cellphone calls and lengthy waits nonetheless often need to struggle their native councils for the assistance their plans set out. However – and as a particular wants father or mother, I communicate from expertise – they often enable stressed-out households to only about sleep at night time.

For about 40 years, such rights have been a cornerstone of the Ship system. However their future is now unsure: councils, particularly, are frantically lobbying ministers to get dad and mom and their pesky rights out of the best way. Late final yr, a authorities supply quoted within the Monetary Occasions held out the prospect of “thousands fewer pupils” gaining access to rights-based provision. Even supposing EHCPs are most sorely wanted in mainstream faculties, a senior adviser to the Division for Training lately mentioned {that a} consideration of whether or not EHCPs ought to not apply to youngsters in precisely these settings is “the conversation we’re in the middle of”. There are whispers about households who at the moment have EHCPs being allowed to maintain them, whereas sooner or later, youngsters with related wants can be waved away, one thing that threatens a stereotypical two-tier mannequin, one other factor with worrying echoes of the advantages catastrophe.

The vast majority of UK households are feeling financially safe, with 70% of individuals assured sufficient to plan a summer time vacation, in response to a survey. PA Media stories:

The variety of individuals feeling financially safe has risen this quarter by three proportion factors to 58%, whereas confidence that the UK financial system is enhancing has risen to 17% from one in 10 three months in the past, the KPMG Shopper Pulse ballot discovered.

The survey of three,000 UK adults, taken in early June, discovered 50% really feel capable of spend freely, though 14% say they’re nonetheless having to actively lower their discretionary spending to pay for necessities, and three% of are incurring debt to take action …

Regardless of the quarterly enchancment in financial confidence, half of individuals (51%) really feel that the financial system continues to be worsening – though that is down from 58% within the earlier quarter.

These saying that the financial system is getting worse cite the price of their groceries (79%), utilities (74%), and the final state of public providers the place they reside (42%).

Linda Ellett, head of client, retail and leisure at KPMG UK, mentioned: “Shopper confidence has rallied over the past quarter and solely a fifth of shoppers now really feel insecure about their monetary circumstance. Companies might be hoping that this enchancment brings about elevated spending confidence through the summer time months.

“But macroeconomic confidence still looms large, with half of consumers still to be convinced that the economy isn’t worsening.”

Good morning. Lower than every week after the federal government needed to abandon the primary pillar of its welfare reform plans 90 minutes earlier than a vote it was in any other case prone to lose, the federal government is now going through one other revolt over plans to reduce assist accessible to disabled individuals. However this row impacts youngsters, not adults – particularly pupils with particular academic wants who’ve schooling, well being and care plans (EHCPs) that assure them further assist in faculties.

As Richard Adams and Kiran Stacey report, though the plans haven’t been introduced but, campaigners are alarmed by stories that entry to EHCPs is about to be restricted.

The Occasions has splashed on the identical situation.

The Occasions quotes an unnamed senior Labour MP saying: “If they thought taking money away from disabled adults was bad, watch what happens when they try the same with disabled kids.”

Stephen Morgan, the early schooling minister, was giving interviews this morning. He was presupposed to be speaking in regards to the authorities’s Giving Each Little one the Greatest Begin in Life technique being introduced immediately, however as a substitute he principally took questions on EHCPs.

On Occasions Radio, requested if he might assure that each baby who at the moment has an EHCP would proceed to maintain the identical provisions, Morgan wouldn’t affirm that. As a substitute he replied:

We completely need to be sure that we ship higher assist for susceptible youngsters and their dad and mom and we’re dedicated to utterly getting that proper. So it’s an actual precedence for us.

When it was put to him that he was not saying sure, he replied:

Properly in fact we need to be sure that each baby will get the assist that they want. That’s why we’re doing the broader reform and we’re publishing the white paper later this yr.

Right here is the agenda for the day.

Morning: Nigel Farage attends a gathering of Kent county council the place his social gathering, Reform UK, is in energy.

11.30am: Downing Avenue holds a foyer briefing.

11.30am: Keir Starmer and different leaders attend a memorial service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 7/7 assaults.

2.30pm: Yvette Cooper, the house secretary, takes questions within the Commons.

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