Biography
Baroness Spielman has engaged extensively on education and children's welfare through 18 debate speeches, with particular focus on special educational needs, school admissions, and child protection within the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill. She has also contributed to debates on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, supporting amendments to raise the minimum age of eligibility, and raised concerns about employment support for autistic young people. Her contributions draw on her experience as chief inspector of children's social care and education, bringing practical expertise to legislative discussions.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“…Once a child is defined and sees themselves that way, such as through having a SEND label and then perhaps a child disability allowance claim, it is now all too likely that they will become an early PIP claimant, at which point their chances of ever moving into stable employment are increasingly poor.”
Record by topic
- Learning disability & autism156th of 89926.0
- Mental health456th of 8808.0
- Assisted dying170th of 3714.0
- Palliative & end of life care452nd of 5682.0
- Unpaid carers243rd of 2832.0
What they’ve said
“My Lords, if reducing unemployment is a serious government priority, the proportion of young autistic people beginning sustained employment must be improved substantially.”
Unemployment: People with Autism · 2026-06-25 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…But of course it is right to address the issues of special educational needs. We have the worst of all worlds at the moment: a hugely expensive system that leaves many parents, and many schools and teachers, unsatisfied.”
King’s Speech · 2026-05-19 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Nearly three-quarters of children in care have special educational needs—often conditions they were born with that can make them particularly challenging to bring up and to educate—and often complicated physical or behavioural needs as well.”
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · 2026-03-25 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…If a more general exception were made for special educational needs—that is already close to 30% of children—the pressure on parents and pupils would be to game this, and the proportion of children with a special needs label would rise to truly stratospheric levels, at which point the phone ban would clearly have no me…”
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · 2026-02-03 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…e debates today are of tremendous importance and, I think, of comparable difficulty to the painful debate about assisted dying, though that other Bill has rather overshadowed this clause. However, I think, in effect, that what we are talking about here does have some of the characteristics of a Trojan horse.”
Crime and Policing Bill · 2026-02-02 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.