A Reform UK council leader’s claim that children are being ‘overdiagnosed’ with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has been condemned by the Education Secretary as ‘shameful’.
Derbyshire County Council’s leader, Cllr Alan Graves, last week said that he agreed with his party leader Nigel Farage when the latter said there was a ‘massive’ overdiagnosis for ‘general behavioural disabilities’.
Cllr Graves also suggested some schools encouraged parents to apply for SEND support their children did not require.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC she thought the comments were ‘reckless’ and ‘frankly shameful’.
‘It's really damaging and I think it's shocking. And parents will be really concerned about those comments,’ she added.
‘Some councils like Derbyshire are now, under Reform, taking a very reckless approach in terms of the language they're using.’
To learn more about Reform UK, check out: Reform UK: What Britain’s fastest rising party stands for and Reform UK’s ‘Doge’ witch-hunts will achieve little.
