Young people are being overdiagnosed with mental health conditions, a former cabinet minster has suggested.
Ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt backed calls to radically reform the Send system and argued society has “lost sight of the fundamental reality that child development is a messy and uneven process”, in the foreword of a Policy Exchange report.
The report titled “Out of Control” argues that definitions of mental ill health and neurodivergence have been socially expanded, leading to overwhelm in the system.
One in five children in England have special educational needs and disabilities (Send), the report states, placing huge pressure on support services.
The report, which focuses on addressing the rise in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders among children and young people, calls for a reinvention of education, health and care plans (EHCPs), and for children with the most severe needs to get the support they deserve faster.
In its foreword, Sir Jeremy 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.”
The Conservative MP for Godalming and Ash also said: “As a society, we seem to have lost sight of the fundamental reality that child development is a messy and uneven process.
“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.”
Since 2015, Send spending has increased by £4.5 billion, with requests for support rising annually.
In total, there were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025, up 10.8 per cent on the same point last year.
The Policy Exchange report recommends that EHCPs be limited to students in special schools and that mental health support be targeted at those “that most need it, rather than blanket offers”.
The report also argues the length of time a person must have a condition to be eligible for Personal Independence Payment should be doubled from nine to 18 months, in addition to the Children and Families Act 2014 and 2015 Send Code of Practice being replaced with a new statutory regime.
The government is expected to publish a white paper detailing how it will reform support for Send in the autumn.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has previously said there will “always be a legal right… to the additional support… that children with Send need”.
A co-author of the report, Jean-Andre Prager, said: “Our health and disability benefit system needs to be fundamentally reformed, and this includes not just working-age benefits but also how we support children.
“Child Disability Living Allowance is from a bygone era, and our understanding of disability has fundamentally changed in the intervening more than 30 years. We need to reconsider the assessment and eligibility criteria of this benefit and create a more robust process.
“We need to have a more open and honest debate about the incentives in our health, welfare and education system and consider first principled questions to make sure support is aligned correctly.”
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