Email Andy Burnham and help him find the missing million

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<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">I’m emailing to tell you about the missing million. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">As you start your new important job, I know one of the first things at the top of your in-tray will be SEND reform. It’s so important that, as you get to grips with this vital issue, you do not forget about children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">Right now, DLD affects 1.3 million children and young people across the country. But have you ever heard of it?  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">Hardly anyone has, including ministers, educators, and other professionals. So, these children are left out. They’re underdiagnosed, under recognised, and under-supported. They’re denied the happy childhood that should be their right. They’re the missing million.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">This is why I’m sharing Speech and Language UK’s report, <a href="https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-missing-million-report.pdf">The missing million</a>, with you today. Speech and Language UK are the largest charity in the UK that supports children with speech and language challenges, including those with DLD. And I’m standing with them to call on your new government to make sure children and young people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) aren’t overlooked in your SEND reforms.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">Imagine how much we’ll miss out on if the missing million are left behind. Imagine the ideas we’ll never hear, the communities we’ll never build, the progress we’ll never make. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">As your new government considers how to take reforms to the SEND system forward, we hope you will grasp this once-in-a-generation opportunity. Don’t let a change in government change the conversation. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">Throughout your career, in Westminster and as Mayor of Greater Manchester, you have been clear that you want an education system that tackles disadvantage, enables children to thrive, and catches problems early.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">Around 30% of pupils with SEND have speech and language challenges recorded as a primary or secondary need. Putting this 30% – including the missing million with DLD – at the heart of SEND reforms will help your government get inclusion right – so that every child can get the education, and the future, they need and deserve. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">Otherwise, they will continue to be failed – and you will have failed the ‘30% test’. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">This means recruiting or training more speech and language therapists or specialist teachers or creating inclusion bases for children and young people with DLD. It also means talking more about DLD in the new SEND training  in schools, and putting clear information about conditions like DLD on the NHS website.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">These are just a couple of Speech and Language UK’s recommendations – you can read more in <a href="https://speechandlanguage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-missing-million-report.pdf">The missing million report</a>.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">I urge you and your team to meet with representatives from Speech and Language UK to discuss these issues further.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">And, finally, I ask that you offer a formal and meaningful apology to the 1.3 million children and young people with DLD, who have been neglected by all systems and successive governments. We cannot change the past – but recognising these failures is a crucial step in creating an education system that supports all children, and ensuring the missing million will never be ignored again. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">I know that you and your government will be committed to giving every child the best opportunitiesy in life. This cannot happen unless children and young people with DLD are considered from the start.  </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">We can’t let another generation lose out on vital support. And we can’t lose out on a generation. </div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW58919154 BCX8">I look forward to hearing from you.  </div>

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Don't let a change in government change the conversation