UK politics: Send children’s legal rights to extra support will be protected, says education secretary – as it happened

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson pictured on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg at the weekend Photograph: Jeff Overs/PA

6.20pm BST

Early evening summary

• Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has announced that the government will roll out up to 1,000 “Best Start” family hubs across England, building on the legacy of Sure Start. She described the Tory decision to close Sure Start centres as “vandalism”. (See 5.22pm and 5.43pm.)

• Phillipson has said that the government will protect the “legal right to the additional support children with Send [special educational needs and disabilities] need” when it reforms the Send system later this year. (See 6.09pm.) But the government has not said that all Send children who currently get extra help because they have an education, health and care plan (EHCP) will continue to receive that when the changes are implemented.

• Reform UK has told its members it is introducing a less stringent “common sense” vetting system for would-be candidates after complaints the previous checks were too strict, despite a recent series of controversies linked to the party.

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

Updated at 6.23pm BST

6.09pm BST

Phillipson says government will protect 'legal right to additional support' that Send children need

Trott also asked Phillipson to confirm that no child would lose extra support they are currently getting through an EHCP as a result of the reforms to Send provision the government is planning to announce in the autumn.

In response Phillipson said:

This government will make sure that all of our children get the best start in life, including children with Send, and that is why, through the school white paper later on this year, we will ensure that all of our children, including those with Send, get better outcomes than they have at the moment.

But many opposition MPs continued to press her on this, and Phillipson subsequently gave slightly firmer assurances – but without saying that EHCPs will survive in their current form.

In response to Robbie Moore (Con), who asked for an assurance that children in mainstream education would not lose the “precious legal protections” they get through an ECHC, Phillipson replied:

Isn’t it fascinating how many members opposite suddenly have a keen interest in support for children with Send.

And he blithely says “whatever the challenges” of the Send system. “Whatever the challenges”? They’re the challenges that [the Conservatives] left behind.

They are challenges that this Labour government will rise to.

There will always be a legal right to the additional support children with Send need, and we will protect it.

But alongside that, there will be a better system with strengthened support, improved access and more funding – something the party opposite failed to do in 14 years. They left a terrible mess behind – families, children failed. A degree of humility and understanding from any of them would get us a lot further along the way.