Lib Dems call for free school meals expansion

Extending free school meals (FSM) and a new national body for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) were among the proposals set out by the Liberal Democrats at their party conference in Brighton recently.

In her speech to the conference on 15 September, the party’s education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, pledged to be a ‘constructive’ opposition to Labour and said giving an additional 900,000 pupils a free school would lead to ‘better academic progress, better behaviour and concentration, better health outcomes’. She also called for a national body for SEND, which would take responsibility for supporting children with the most complex needs. This new body would pay any costs above a certain threshold, helping to end the ‘current postcode lottery that is leaving parents in many areas struggling to access the support for their child they need’.

Ms Wilson also reiterated the Lib Dems pledge for a qualified mental health professional in every school, criticised Labour’s plan to add VAT to independent school fees, and called on the government to scrap the two child benefit cap. She said the decline in public services had left teachers and schools acting as a ‘fourth emergency service’ for young people and their families.

Greensheets will have news from other party conferences in the coming weeks.