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Hello, I'm Susan Hume and this is the Today in Parliament podcast for Monday the 23rd of February.

Coming up, some MPs fear that governments shake up of special needs education in England

will mean some children have support taken away,

but the Education Secretary says she wants to prevent problems down the line.

If we step in earlier and support families, we reduce the need for send support later on in school,

but that's because we've met that need more quickly.

Also, as Peter Mandelson is arrested,

some MPs questioned why the Prime Minister appointed him to his senior post.

Because there are many people in this place and across the country

who would not have touched Peter Mandelson with a barge pole.

And calls for a minister to resign over his previous job in a labour think tank

that investigated a Sunday Times journalist.

So when is the member for Makerfield going to be sacked if he won't do the decent thing and resign?

But first, the government has unveiled its shake-up of the special educational needs system in England,

with the legally binding Education Health and Care Plans or EHCPs being reserved in future only for children with the most complex needs.

The Education Secretary Bridget Philipson told MP she hoped fewer children would require the plans,

thanks to earlier intervention, to help them learn.

The number of young people who have an EHCP has more than doubled in a decade,

but many parents still struggle to get support for their children with special educational needs,

as Bridget Philipson acknowledged. Parents who are tired of fighting, fed up with sending their children with special educational needs, as Bridget Philipson acknowledged.

...