Oops, we did it again... The Government must now listen to more than 100,000 people who do not want to lose SEND rights

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We did it! Again! Yesterday evening, the Save SEND Legal Rights petition started by Tee-Jay, a fantastic autistic campaigner who is just 15 years old, galloped past the post of the 100,000 signatures needed to spark a Parliamentary debate. We want to extend a massive congratulations to Tee-Jay, who is now our coalition’s Save Our Children’s Rights (SOCR) official hero!

It leapt the final hurdle after video boosts yesterday by MrGTeacher and actress Kellie Bright, among many others, and the ongoing sterling work of the Save Our Children’s Rights community volunteers who have worked relentlessly to push the petition for the last month. It made a huge difference.

If you’re new here, read about Tee-Jay when he first started his petition last April. This is such a massive achievement. If young people like Tee-Jay can see the harm the Government’s proposals to cut SEND rights will cause, why can’t they?

At SNJ, and at SOCR, we can get behind the proposals to improve support earlier, to boost SEND training (we will have more on this very soon), and to make mainstream schools more inclusive. The current legal framework allows for all of this—this is what was intended, back in 2014. If you can’t make it work with the laws we have, you definitely aren’t going to make it work without them.

Parents are angry

Right now, anger is boiling over among SEND families. Many charities, SEND organisations and groups also do not want rights removed. But we, along with our SOCR campaign partners, are some of the only organisations with enough guts to say it plainly. This article on EdPsy hits the nail on the head when it discusses the “cautious optimism” lot. The trouble is, some who may express concerns quietly are hoping to scoop up lucrative government contracts (or already have). Make of that what you will. In our view, charities should be independent, not behave like they are part of some massive government quango.

But if your organisation has been wandering in the shadows, not sure of what to do, the water is warm, and our consciences are clear at the SOCR campaign, why not sign up?

When you think about it, it’s really disgraceful. We’ve shared articles from Chris Coghlan MP and Measure What Matters about the conduct of management in LAs, and the DfE has said and done nothing. We’ve run hundreds of articles about LA shenanigans and their Halls of Shame (and yes, the DfE has read them). The DfE has listened to hundreds, if not thousands, of parents over the last year, most of whom have experienced some level of unlawful behaviour from councils. It has said and done nothing. What it has done instead is decide that none of that matters, and the easiest way to solve the SEND emergency is to strip many of those troublesome rights away, so poor councils don’t have to put up with complaining parents and their disabled kids wanting stuff. Like an education.

What we need you to do now

Right now, we really need you to keep sharing the petition—there are still two weeks to go before it closes. And of course, if you haven’t signed it already, please do so. It’s NOT saying we hate all the proposals; it’s a very limited petition and the Save Our Children’s Rights campaign has a very limited goal: to stop the plans to cut the 20 SEND rights that are being targeted, and any others they may come up with.

You can also keep your MP up-to-date about the campaign and petition because when it’s time for the debate—if and when it is agreed—we will want every single one to crowd into Westminster Hall and tell the SEND Minister why the plans are wrong-headed. Last time 90 showed up-a record. Let’s aim to beat that. Of course, if the Government wants to avoid this, they can always do the right thing and change course now before they are actually forced to by public feeling.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham got a good reception at the Labour conference. He seems a good sort, hailing from my home village of Culcheth near Warrington (though I don’t expect he was drinking Snakebite and Black in the Harrow back room in his teens like yours truly). I can’t believe he would think it’s a good idea to do something so egregiously cruel (cut SEND rights, not necking S&B, though it’s close). Changing course, like drinking S&B, is not for the faint of heart. I do not think Andy Burnham is faint of heart. I hope he and Lucy Powell will do what’s right.

Promoted

A word from Tee-Jay

Tasha has dark glossy straight hair and is squinting in the sun. Tee_jay has dark straight hair with a side part and glasses — Tee-Jay and his mum, Tasha

“I started campaigning and the petition because I saw the changes planned that will reduce our legal rights and I couldn’t ignore what it might mean for real people. For me, this isn’t just policy. It’s everyday life. That’s why I felt so strongly about starting the petition and making sure voices like mine and other children and young people with SEND are part of the conversation.
“I never expected it to reach 100,000 signatures. Seeing that number is honestly quite emotional because behind it are 100,000 people who have taken the time to say that these rights matter. But somewhere along the way this stopped feeling like just a petition.
“This is no longer just a petition. It has become a family.
“It’s our petition. Our campaign. Our voices and our futures. People have come together. Shared their experiences. Supported each other and kept this going. Reaching 100,000 feels so powerful because it shows just how many people are standing together and saying that these rights matter. What started as a petition has become something so much bigger and I think that’s what makes this milestone so special.”
Tee-Jay Chetwynd

A final thank you

To close, we at SNJ want to join SOCR in congratulating Tee-Jay for his courage and tenacity, and his parents for being great supporters. Thank you to the Save Our Children’s Rights community who worked so hard to get this over the line. You know who you are, and you’re amazing.

To quote from what we ran yesterday on the SOCR website, “To every person who shared the petition, put up a poster, had a conversation or encouraged someone to sign, it all mattered. This milestone belongs to every one of you. Thank you for giving your time, your energy and your voice. Please keep signing and sharing the petition to show how much we care about the legal rights of children and young people.“

And if you want to help SNJ keep going with our work, please donate, even a few pounds counts. If everyone who reads SNJ in a single month donated one pound, we could pay our team, build a new website, and still have enough left over to do much more.

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About
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Tania Tirraoro

Founder, Co-Director at Special Needs Jungle

Founder & co-director of Special Needs Jungle. (She/Her) Autistic parent of two young autistic adults Devoted Grandma. National SEND advisor, journalist & author. Tania also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
She is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.

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