Meeting with Minister Gould on the SEND White Paper & the Armed Forces community

On Thursday, as Chair of the Armed Forces Community APPG, I and APPG officer Alex Baker MP, met with Minister Gould, Minister for School Standards. The meeting followed our January APPG session focused on Service children with special or additional educational needs, and provided an opportunity to raise the concerns highlighted then, particularly in the context of the forthcoming White Paper on SEND reform.

During the discussion, we raised a number of key issues affecting Armed Forces families:

• The difficulties faced when moving between education systems across the UK, particularly between England, Wales, and Scotland.

  
  

• Challenges in securing school places in advance of moves, with allocations often delayed until families have a confirmed new address rather than being linked to their future posting location.

  
  

• The need for a dedicated specialist or postholder within local authorities to support Armed Forces families.

  
  

• The value of further research, potentially by organisations such as the Royal British Legion, with appropriate guidance and support from government.

The Minister expressed a strong commitment to engaging with Service families as part of the consultation process following the publication of the White Paper and promised to follow up with a letter to Alex Baker MP and myself setting out the next steps.