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We need 100,000 signatures: Please help get autism & SEND water safety debated in Parliament!

Autismx2Mum
Hi everyone,
I am new on here, please be gentle!!!!
I have joined up to post on here because I need your help to change a system that is currently failing our children.
I am backing a petition I came across on the UK Parliament petitions page to fund autism & SEND-specific water safety and swimming lessons and make them a standard inclusion in EHCPs.
As many of you know, water safety is not just an extracurricular activity or a luxury for our kids — it is a literal life-saving necessity. Autistic children face a tragically higher risk of accidental drowning, often due to a lack of danger awareness or a tendency to elope toward water. We have all seen and read far too much in the media recently about these tragic incidents and it is a constant, terrifying worry for SEND families. Yet, standard swimming lessons are completely inaccessible to them (well, where I am based) and finding specialised, funded SEND lessons with trained instructors is an uphill, often unaffordable battle for families.
>> We need 10,000 signatures for a Government response.
>> We need 100,000 signatures to force a debate on this in Parliament. 
If we reach this goal, the Government will be forced to look at this issue on a national scale. No child should be denied the right to be safe around water just because they have additional needs.
How you can help right now:
  1. Sign the petition: It takes less than a minute. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/782232#progress
  2. Fill in your details: Make sure to complete the short form on the official Government site.
  3. Check your email: You must click the verification link in the automated email you receive, or your signature won't count!
  4. Share it: Please share this link on your personal social media, in other SEND groups, or with school communities.
Let’s get this issue onto the national agenda and protect our children. Thank you so much for your time and support! Blue heart
Parents

  • I'm really sorry to break this to you, but not even 100,000 signatures can force a debate in Parliament and it definitely does not mean it will be debated in the House of Commons. It does mean that the petition will be reviewed by the relevant committee to see whether it's in the government's power to do something about the issue. If it is, it will be debated in Westminster Hall, which is a smaller chamber in the same building. Regretfully, most MPs don't bother to turn up for such debates. A government minister will have to turn up to state the government's policy about the issue... and that's it. There's no vote. The most this sort of debate might do is lodge the issue in a minister's mind so the government might do something... or not. 

    Writing directly to the minister responsible for the issue might have a better chance of success. Or not. Or writing to you own MP - if they are a member of the ruling party in Westminster (the Labour Party at the moment) *and* they have an interest in the issue. 

    I signed the petition for WASPI women to get some backdated pension because we weren't properly notified of the rise in retirement age. It was debated in Westminster Hall... and the government ignored it, despite tons of publicity. By all means sign the petition, but don't get your hopes up that signing a petition does much. At least gaining the support of a sympathetic MP (by writing to one) has a chance of the issue being brought up in the House of Commons. If the MP wins the jackpot of being able to introduce a bill (something to be voted on), there's a slim chance the government might get interested enough to take the matter forward, but few MPs are selected to win the jackpot and many campaigners immediately shout at that MP to take forward their issue.

    Take a look at this BBC article that explains the process about petitions:

     www.bbc.co.uk/.../uk-politics-parliaments-37685894

Reply

  • I'm really sorry to break this to you, but not even 100,000 signatures can force a debate in Parliament and it definitely does not mean it will be debated in the House of Commons. It does mean that the petition will be reviewed by the relevant committee to see whether it's in the government's power to do something about the issue. If it is, it will be debated in Westminster Hall, which is a smaller chamber in the same building. Regretfully, most MPs don't bother to turn up for such debates. A government minister will have to turn up to state the government's policy about the issue... and that's it. There's no vote. The most this sort of debate might do is lodge the issue in a minister's mind so the government might do something... or not. 

    Writing directly to the minister responsible for the issue might have a better chance of success. Or not. Or writing to you own MP - if they are a member of the ruling party in Westminster (the Labour Party at the moment) *and* they have an interest in the issue. 

    I signed the petition for WASPI women to get some backdated pension because we weren't properly notified of the rise in retirement age. It was debated in Westminster Hall... and the government ignored it, despite tons of publicity. By all means sign the petition, but don't get your hopes up that signing a petition does much. At least gaining the support of a sympathetic MP (by writing to one) has a chance of the issue being brought up in the House of Commons. If the MP wins the jackpot of being able to introduce a bill (something to be voted on), there's a slim chance the government might get interested enough to take the matter forward, but few MPs are selected to win the jackpot and many campaigners immediately shout at that MP to take forward their issue.

    Take a look at this BBC article that explains the process about petitions:

     www.bbc.co.uk/.../uk-politics-parliaments-37685894

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