Former health secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt has backed controversial claims that young people are being "overdiagnosed" with mental health conditions, as he endorsed calls for radical reform of the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system.
The Conservative MP for Godalming and Ash argued in the foreword of a Policy Exchange report that society has "lost sight of the fundamental reality that child development is a messy and uneven process".
The report, titled "Out of Control", which argues that definitions of mental ill health and neurodivergence have been socially expanded, overwhelming support systems. It calls for a complete reinvention of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) to ensure children with the most severe needs receive support faster.
In its foreword, Hunt wrote: “Mental ill-health and neurodiversity now accounts for more than half of the post-pandemic increase we have seen in claimants of disability benefit. Spending on Send provision has sky-rocketed and risks the financial sustainability of local government.
“Rather than assuming that more money or more of the same is the answer, we need to ask more fundamental questions. Is a cash transfer – or a label that means young people are treated and come to see themselves as different – the right way to help them? What about the importance of good work, physical activity, social connection? These factors are too often deprioritised in our policy prescription.
“Across the political spectrum, and amongst a growing range of practitioners, it is now recognised that there is a level of ‘overdiagnosis’ our system. We need to cut through the complexity to better understand the drivers of demand we are seeing.”
He added: “Our laudable desire to ensure young people are happy and well-supported is at times manifesting in excessive impulses to medicalise and diagnose the routine, in a manner that can undercut grit and resilience.”
Send spending has increased by £4.5 billion since 2015, with requests for support rising annually.
There were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025, up 10.8% from the same point last year.
Sources used: "PA Media", "Daily Mail", "The Independent", "Evening Standard", "The Guardian", "The i", "GB News"
Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
