Debate contribution: Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Debate contribution by Ms Cara Hunter on 18 May 2026.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

18 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5548851

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you. Mr Deputy Speaker. I propose the motion on behalf of families across the North who are watching the clock tick down to their child's nineteenth birthday with a profound fear that no parent should ever have to carry. Right now, too many families In Northern Ireland are enduring that. For their children, turning 19 means falling off a cliff edge: no groups, no games, no fun, no help getting into employment and no socialising. The school gates close; the therapists stop calling; and, often, transport stops arriving. Routines change for ever as the structure that has held their child together since the age of three simply disappears. After years of children with special educational needs having structure and specialist support in education, when those young people turn 19, they and their families are suddenly left to navigate a fragmented and inadequate system all on their own. Families call it a "cliff edge", and the truth is that they are absolutely spot on. Before going any further, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the people who have made the motion possible: not us, the politicians, but the parents, carers and campaigners who have refused to let the issue be ignored. They have refused to be silent. I pay particular tribute to Alma and the extraordinary work of Caleb's cause, a campaign born out of love, frustration and a fierce, unbreakable belief that every young person with special educational needs deserves dignity, a future and, of course, to be seen. Alma, what you have done in Caleb's name has changed hearts and minds in the Chamber and far beyond it. Caleb's cause highlights the point that every family who has a child with special educational needs endures this when their child reaches the age of 19. The motion is yours: you are the reason that it is before the House today. There is a truly human cost to delay. I have sat in many rooms across my constituency with mothers in their 40s, 50s and 60s who are exhausted, frightened and grieving the loss of the system that has always been there to support their child. One mother said to me, "I am not afraid of dying, but I am afraid of dying first". That speaks to the experience of many mothers and fathers of children with special educational needs. They are terrified because they know that, when their child grows up, an adequate support system will not be there. That is really concerning, given that there are now over 70,000 children in the North with special educational needs, which is almost one in four pupils. Year-on-year, we have seen a profound increase in the numbers, yet we still do not have the system organised to support them once they hit the age of 19. That is not just a policy gap. I feel strongly that it is a failure of dignity, care and long-term planning. It is a failure that the Assembly and Executive must put right.

We are falling behind. Let us compare ourselves with England, where an education, health and care (EHC) plan provides legal entitlement to support for children and young people up to the age of 25; Scotland, where the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 guarantees coordinated provision into young adulthood; or even with the South, which is legislating to put adult disability services on a statutory footing. If we do not act, this falls on families' shoulders. Families face uncertainty; fragmented services; wildly inconsistent provision, depending on the trust area that they live in; and the enormous emotional and practical pressure of becoming, all at once and, often, well into one's seventies and eighties, a case manager, an advocate, a transport provider, a therapist and a carer. Families should not have to fight endlessly for the rightful support that their children need to live meaningful lives, yet, sadly, in the current system, that is exactly what we ask them to do. The cost of inaction is evident. The human cost of the cliff edge is staggering. Young people often regress, with skills that took years to build being lost in a matter of months. Mental health deteriorates, parents leave the workforce, siblings become carers before they have finished their own education and, too often, the only respite that a family gets is from a crisis admission. Today, the SDLP asks for, first, a clear statutory entitlement to support that follows the young person, not the postcode; secondly, consistent, high-quality provision across trust areas so that, whether a child is in Coleraine or Bangor, they have exactly the same support, adequate to meet their need; and, lastly, a duty on the Ministers of Health, Education and the Economy to work together so that we provide for every child as an equal.

805 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:37 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification