Coffee House Shots12 Jul 2025

Amanda Spielman on the SEND row and Labour’s Ofsted blind spot

As Labour looks to get a grip on public spending, one rebellion gives way to another with the changes to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system threatening to become welfare round two.

On this week’s Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Lucy Dunn is joined by The Spectator’s Michael Simmons and former Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman to explore what the government is planning – and why so many Labour MPs are worried. Is the system failing the children it's meant to support, or simply costing too much? And can Labour afford to fix it without tearing itself apart?

Listen for: Amanda on the unintended consequences of the 2014 SEND overhaul; why teaching assistants may not be the silver bullet schools think they are; and Labour’s mess over Ofsted. Michael Simmons also outlines the fiscal timebomb threatening local authorities; the cultural shift post-Covid that’s changed how we approach education; and why one Labour insider is warning, ‘If you thought cutting support for disabled adults was bad, wait till you try it with children.’

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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